A Day at the Zoo

A long time ago I wrote a blog about the animals in Cambodia. Since then I have had two pets, that have both died. But I have finally decided that if pets die so easily, I will not take the pain. So, my mom, Janaya and friends went to a Cambodian zoo, Phnom Tamao Zoo, where we saw lots of animals. We took a tuk-tuk 1 hour out of the city so the zoo was in the country. It was much a nicer than I expected. This zoo was started as a refuge center for animals hurt in accidents and illegally trapped. The animals were very healthy and had large cages, many of them right in the woods.

First, we went into a place where you could walk right amongst the animals. There were monkeys, deer and big birds (like herons and pelicans). Some very small deer and crocodiles were in their own separate cages. Another very large cage had some different birds. I really liked the otters and I got to feed them some fish. The zoo had a very large group of moon bears which had large cages with all sorts of climbing equipment.

For lunch, we sat and rested on a platform and in hammocks while a stir-fried chicken dish was prepared for us. Even though we had packed sandwiches and snacks, this is how the Cambodians would eat on a day at the zoo.

I liked the elephants the best because they were not in their cages and were taking a bath in the woods. We had to hike a short trail to see them, but then we were really close. The baby elephant had been hurt in a trap and had an artificial leg.

At the end of the day, we walked through the first exhibit again and saw all the animals being fed. The monkeys, the warthogs and the birds all ate their fish together. It was very interesting.

Acacia

Logos Bible Camp

A couple weeks ago I went to Bible camp with my school. All of Logos High School students are required to attend a week long camp 6 hours north of Phnom Penh. The camp was Jombak Hoas and we participated in low and high rope courses. We were split intogroups and participated in the activities in our groups. We repelled off of trees and swung on a gian swing, but also did activities that required teamwork to accomplish the goal. My favorite activity was the giant swing. I was nervous, but it was really fun. My favorite low ropes activity was called the dancing cable, where we relied on our teammates and trees to get across a long cable. We also did a compass walk through the jungle. My team came in fourth out of five teams after missing a trail and deciding to just go straight through the jungle. It was good that a camp leader was close behind us.

The camp was in the woods and much quieter than Phnom Penh, very refreshing. We slept in hammocks or bungalows. I chose a bungalow, which had many geckos, the large kind that we don't have at our house. Some girls were so afriad that they called guys in every night to scare them away. The bathrooms had many spiders.

One night the teachers had a special surprise for us. The freshmen were asked to perform their "tribal dance." Supposedly every grade does this. Not true. After performing our tribal dance we were told there was no such thing. Freshmen initiation.

We had devotions in the morning and evening, did activities duing the day and hung out the rest of the time. The theme of the camp was sacrificial service and the teachers led devotions on that theme. One day we went and built toilets for a local village.

All together it was a great week.

Teaching a new course at RUPP

Reflections on my first week of teaching

Last semester, I spent my time at the university earning trust amongst the staff, helping individual teachers with their laboratories and presentations, writing new experiments, teaching Infrared spectroscopy and incorporating it into the curriculum and starting my research. When I returned from my Christmas break, I was suddenly asked to teach a new laboratory course in Green Chemistry for the second semester. Three young teachers have left or are about to leave, to pursue master’s degrees in other countries. This left the chair in a bind, with a curriculum to teach, and not enough staff. So, all of the foreigners here (three in the department this semester) were asked to teach. I was asked to teach three sections of a new Green Chemistry laboratory course.

Now this is exactly in line with one thing I had hoped to do this year, as I have also wanted to teach such a course at Messiah College. But planning a new laboratory course with limited resources has been challenging. I was assigned a lab space that is ill-equipped, so I will be moving things around, and buying what I can at the local markets.

On Mondays and Wednesdays I teach a set of third year students that are called the “private class.” For many years, the university only accepted the best high school students, and they were allowed to attend the university without charge. More recently, the university has realized that there are more students who want to attend, and they are accepted as fee paying students, or the “private class.” A portion of these fees is all the money that a department receives from the university to run its programs.

I have yet to pin down my class list. This is given by the study office to the class monitor – as he or she is called. On the first week of the term, students do not know exactly which classes they have been assigned to so it has been more chaotic than I would prefer. But I’m going with the flow. Students do not choose any of their courses. Once they enter the university with a particular major, their courses are set by the department. No one changes majors either. I’ve asked them to sign in an English spelling of their name, alongside the Khmer one – but I may just go with numbers! At least for attendance and grading. It is hard enough for this old brain to learn 80 familiar English names.

Class began Monday with my students spending nearly 10 minutes cleaning the benches and sweeping the floor. This is automatic for them. There is no budget for any cleaning or garbage pick up. I do have an assistant in the class, who will learn the material with the students, and hopefully teach the course next year. Monday was a little rough. My assistant brought in copies of the notes for the day, but had not copied my schedule. Slowly, or so I thought, I talked through the schedule and my expectations. Since this is a lab course, I have planned weekly assignments, or reports. This is not something they are accustomed to I can tell. We also talked about academic honesty and plagiarism, things discussed at Messiah College, but even more important here.

My introduction to green chemistry involved a demo of traditional packing peanuts and the new starch ones, in a beaker of water. I don’t think the students had ever seen packing material before. They don’t buy things in boxes here, and they don’t get care packages in the mail! I encouraged them to talk about what they saw, in Khmer, and I think they got the idea of Green Chemistry. (Ironically, the old packing peanuts were green, and the starch ones were white!)

At the end, my assistant kindly told me that I had gone too fast. It was then that I realized I had used far too many big words. Before the end of the day I had typed a glossary of all these big words, and I will pass that out this next week.

Wednesday class went much better. By then the class monitor had passed out my schedule and the first notes to all the students. (They in turn pay him for the copying costs.) I could tell that many students had read my notes – things were underlined and highlighted. At least on the pages of the students sitting in the front row... (One never knows about the students sitting at the back.) I tried to bring laughs to the classroom, and tie the ideas of green chemistry to issues relevant to Cambodia. It went well.

On Fridays, I teach the scholarship class. These should be the brightest kids. Class today was broken into two periods, as there was a presentation from a Korean University in the middle of the morning that I was asked to accommodate. But the students were here, and waiting when I got here. They didn’t seem too excited when I told them we would have class from 8:00 – 8:45, the presentation was from 9:00 – 11:00 AND then we would meet again until 12:00. But as my American students know, there is no time to be wasted when learning chemistry!

To my surprise, they then proceeded to ask me if we could switch class to another day. This is common place here. Another one of their Friday classes had been cancelled (odd subject, no teacher) and they wanted the whole day off. No Registrar’s office setting a schedule here. But, not a bad idea. If my children have a long weekend, maybe we can head out early to the beach!

Every week will be a learning experience. I’ll keep you posted.

Roseann

Another Lena!

Lena’s (Lynat's) house church.

Not by plan, I ended up going to three different church services Sunday January 24^th. How this came about is a long story. I guess it is all connected to teaching English. Free English classes at the drop in center, Bright Spark, has allowed me the opportunity to get to know Cambodians better. I learn things first hand from my students that statistics might verify, but are more indelible in people.

Because this is a Christian drop in center and my lessons are free I see a very narrow group of students. They definitely want to learn but are limited in their means for yet one more educational expense. My students mostly come to school by bicycle, with a few motorbikes in the lot.

Religious faith seldom comes up in class as I have all I can handle communicating simple English. A student will often ask me what I do. I tell them in English “I am a youth pastor.” I am pretty sure they don't know what that means as they have few here. At Christmas I was given the opportunity to give a message at the Bright Spark Christmas party. Seeing me speaking up front with a Bible in my hands finally helped some understand what I do back in the US.

An older adult student, a parent who came with her daughter, saw this as an answer to her prayers. Lynat (sounds like Lena) is my oldest student and a faithful attendee. After we returned from Christmas vacation she enthusiastically invited me to “sponsor her house church which has 20 to 30 percent children attending.” After a couple conversations I understood she needed a Bible teacher for the adults and older children, sometimes twenty to thirty people attend. Final syllables often get dropped in regular conversation. Thus I always call her Lena because she never pronounces the t. While her English is a work in progress, her faith is fluent.

At my Friday class I try to confirm my intent to visit her house church. I don't think we communicate. She has my business card and phone number but I don't know how to contact her. I know she attends the 7:00 AM service at New Life Church, which we have been meaning to visit.

To no surprise, no one in our family accepts my invitation to 7:00 AM worship. I head out on my motorbike with a general idea of where to go. Finding any business is challenging because house numbers aren't always sequential. Low and behold I turn onto the right street (I can't find a street sign) and easily find the church.

I arrive on time but no Lena to be found. At 7:30 she arrives sitting in the same row about ten seats down. We are still singing so she comes over to greet me, bringing her older daughter who speaks better English. I get her phone number and a promise to send someone to the drop in center to escort me to her house. The church she attends is charismatic and the largest Khmer church in town. Quite different than the expat church I attend. This is my first service of the day.

I get home in time to catch the tuk-tuk to ICA, International Christian Assembly. It is probably the most diverse church in town. They attract few Khmer as it is all English with no translation available. Having been to the Mennonite church, which has no English translation, I understand the frustration. This is my second service of the day.

At 3:30 PM I wait outside Bright Spark for my escort. As we drive to Lynat’s house, I gain new respect for her effort to learn English. She takes about a 5 kilometer bike ride to get to class. After a couple dirt roads I pull up to a short gate to her tiny lot, chickens fleeing for cover. She lives in what could be a two room wood house. I realize I am at the edge of town as her security is minimal and her house is one story wood. In Phnom Penh most houses have high concrete walls and steel gates. They surround two and three story post and beam brick houses.

Lynat's yard is full of kids and everyone is happy to see me. She introduces me to her husband. He gives me a little information on his life. He survived Pol Pot and the Vietnam rule in a refugee camp on Thai border. He got funding for some medical education from his church. He is able to support his family and give his children a good education. That does not mean he has a lot of extra money, but they are focused on helping their children, and the neighborhood children as well.

A Logos preschool teacher is my translator for the Bible study. She is Cambodian, but fluent in English. She smiles many times as I tell the story. I think she has some Bible education but does not want to be the teacher here. I teach from the book of Matthew as that is where they have been studying. The lesson is about who really keeps God's laws, the Pharisees or Jesus' disciples who do not practice ceremonial washing before meals. I do my best to explain the historical context of the conflict in the story. After the Bible study we have a prayer time. After everyone shares their prayer requests, we all pray at the same time. I like this style of prayer time. No one is trying to impress anyone with the content of their prayers.

After the prayers Lynat has snacks for everyone, incredible hospitality for such simple people. It is beans and rice with some sugar sprinkled on top. It is good but I feel guilty being treated so well. In addition to being given a snack, she sends a mango home with me. She is “so happy” to have a Bible teacher for her house church.

I recently read someone commenting about how the North American church spends an inordinate amount of money serving and teaching those who know so much, and comparatively so little on those who are new to the Christian faith. I attended three services this Sunday, but Lena's was the church that blessed me. For knowing so little, her life speaks volumes to her neighbors about a loving(generous) God.

Holiday in Thailand

The Beach

We arrived at the beach just in time for supper at the Juniper Tree. The suppers at the guesthouse were all western and the lunches were all Thai. Some meals we had included Mac and Cheese, Thai soup, and Shepherds pie. The guesthouse included a pool (on New Years Eve we stayed up to 12 in the pool), family houses, and two buildings with rooms.

The beach had a very awkward tide system. At low tide it revealed a sandbar, which at full moon was very big. While at high tide a boat that was before the sandbar was at a water level up to my neck. The crabs at the beach came out of their holes and made very small or small sand balls. This beach was a very shelly beach. Some shells had living organisms in them, while others didn’t.

By: Austin Sachs

Edited by: Computer and Mom

More on the Beach...

One morning we took a ride on a fishing boat to Monkey Island. Monkey Island was fun. When we got there, there were no monkeys on the island. Then our boat driver made a weird monkey sound and they came down from the hills. The driver brought some bananas and we fed them to the monkeys. When the bananas were finished, we skipped rocks for a while, and Dad and I walked along the rocks on the shore. On the ride back home we saw some jumping fish.

On another day, Dad and I went on a kayaking trip. Mommy said that we should go along the shore, but Daddy wanted to go to another island next to Monkey Island. It was a very hard and tiring trip. When we got to the island, we sat in the boat and rested and drank some water. Then we paddled back.

by Acacia

Bangkok

You’ve heard a lot about the beach, but not much about Bangkok. Austin and Acacia’s favorite parts were probably all the western food that we got to eat. But we saw a lot of other stuff too. We took the sky train to many places.

On our first day we went and got tickets for the water taxi. Then we ran, and just caught the boat as it nearly left the dock. We rode it for a while and finally got off at a stop to see an old fort. Right behind the fort was a park. We walked through it and then went to get fruit shakes and iced coffee – yummy! Next we went to a market entirely of fruits and veggies. I’ve never seen sooo much pineapple. There was suppose to be the largest flower market nearby there as well – but we never found it. We stopped at a temple with the world’s largest reclining Buddha and then called it a day. Pizza Hut for supper.

My favorite part of Bangkok was the weekend market, Chatachuk. It was huge. We did some souvenir shopping. They sold tons of stuff there. Plenty of variety, everything from souvenirs to produce to homemade popsicles – which we tried.

We also went and saw a Thai stick puppet show. The puppets are controlled by three people – one has a stick for one arm and hand. Another person has a stick for the other arm and hand, and the head. Another person moves the feet. The people are dressed all in black. They did a few numbers on stage, and then ended up walking around the audience. One really surprised me by grabbing my neck from behind.

The next day we went to the snake farm. It was like a zoo and Acacia enjoyed it. I enjoyed the ride on the long boat in the canals to get there. Then it was time to go back to Phnom Pehn. We caught our flight back and next thing we know we are back in Cambodia.

by Janaya

Teaching English

Teaching English

When we first interviewed with Mennonite Central Committee and they suggested I teach English, both Roseann and I laughed. Being a native speaker of English does not mean one can pass on much if any of what is used. When you take your first foreign language you realize how little you know about language in general. My first foreign language was Koine Greek, a dead or unspoken language. It is a very sophisticated language, but thankfully unspoken. Read, write, translate, were the tasks of the class.

Fast-forward to Cambodia. Now I need only to listen and speak, no reading or writing. Speaking a foreign language is a whole different task. Thankfully I was doing this before I started teaching English. I now share a common frustration with my students, to hear a foreign language and speak it. I never realized how fast native speakers talk.

Teaching began long before I was ready or even understood the enormity of the task before me. So what do you do when you know nothing? Get to know your students and let them get to know you. I was given two partnership assignments. One was with the Council on Agriculture and Rural Development. The other was with the Evangelical Fellowship of Cambodia's drop in center called Bright Spark in Toul Kork. My work at EFC is more regular and in a setting I am familiar with, youth outreach. It is probably most telling of the state of things in Cambodia.

Public school students in Cambodia attend classes for only half a day, for all grades. I think this is mostly due to lack of funds being used for Education. In parts of the rural provinces there are no High Schools so students who want to continue most move to a city to finish their education. When I went to work at the drop in center I assumed I would be teaching neighborhood kids. With a lack of schools the neighborhoods this drop in center services is all Cambodia. We did introductions and most students were from provinces I had not heard of. I also thought my students would be high school age. Most if not all attend a University or Technical school. They have come to Phnom Penh to get a good education and find a good job.

Most families understand the importance of education in securing a good job. The majority of Cambodia is still rural and agricultural. So, while international trade is not a huge sector of Cambodia's economy, many businesses want employees who are fluent in English, the language of international trade.

The Evangelical Fellowship of Cambodia seeks to have an outreach with youth who are working to improve their lives. Most of the students in my class want to work in business and are working hard on learning English. One student wants to be a doctor and I can tell by his fluency he has spent much time studying already. Another student would like to be a translator. She will have many years of study yet to take. One student told me he would like to teach English and laughed. I suggested he teach Khmer to English speakers.

I have between twenty-five and thirty students in my class each day. They come with good attitudes but are very hesitant to speak English in front of their peers. Making mistakes in class is not what they are comfortable with. This greatly inhibits the amount of learning that can take place. To master the lesson one needs to practice verbally. While I point this out every time I ask for volunteers, they all seem happy just to listen.

My class is very popular for a couple of reasons. One is that it is taught by a native English speaker. I know correct pronunciation and intonation. Where their Khmer teachers can explain meanings better because they know Khmer. I speak clear, correct English, at least to their ears. They have begun to pick up that I am not good at spelling. The other big draw is that the class is free. Classes at the University or technical school are expensive and large. Through a grant from Global Family we are able to provide text books as well.

One program sponsored by MCC called IVEP brings Cambodian youth to the USA to learn English by immersion. In such an environment they have to use the language daily. I mentioned this program to my class and they were all interested. Such opportunities for them are extremely rare.

Our textbooks are British and I don't know how they were chosen. Sometimes it takes me several readings to understand the instructions, and I am a native speaker. I teach parts of speech through actual settings students might encounter. This allows for lots of pictures and forming a context for when such language will be used.

By design I speak only English in class. This forces students to realize that to truly understand the language, they have to use it. They have to ask their questions for me in English. This is probably the main reason my class is so quiet. They don't yet have the words to ask the the questions they have. If my Khmer teacher used only Khmer I would have been extremely frustrated, but I started my Khmer class with no language study. My students have all had previous language study. For them to understand me I often write what I am saying on the board. This forces me to slow down and helps the students see the correlation between what they heard and what it looks like in writing. Class goes very slow and we cover very little in one class period but without comprehension nothing is really learned.

After a couple months teaching we are using every seat in the classroom. While this should be encouraging, it makes class more difficult. I have far less time to interact with students one to one. Practice is the foundation of learning. My next task is to equip the classroom. I plan to visit some other english teaching schools to see what is available.

Christmas in Cambodia - 2009

Christmas in Cambodia - 2009

I'm trying to get my kids to blog about our holiday time in Thailand, but they are slow, so I’ll write about our Christmas celebration first. Christmas is not a holiday in this Buddhist country, so while MCC gave us the day off, most people here were working on December 25.

I worked until noon on Christmas Eve – I couldn’t bear doing more than that with the kids home, and the holiday upon us. We spent most of the afternoon and evening playing card games together - something we do often these days. We also went to Ron’s work place – a youth drop in center run by Evangelical Fellowship of Cambodia – Kingdom Equipped Youth. They threw a Christmas party for any youth who wanted to drop by. There was a band, several soloists and Ron gave a sermon through an interpreter about the tradition of the Christmas tree and what it means to Christians. Everyone got a number when they arrived, and door prizes were given. My challenge was to hold all five of our numbers and be able to recognize them in Khmer should they be called. (I guess I’m the best with my Khmer numbers…) Well – we didn’t win any prizes – or I didn’t recognize our numbers if they were called! That evening we enjoyed more cards, and managed to put together a plate of three kinds of cookies: no bakes, snickerdoodles and Russian teacakes. No match for Ron’s Mom, but it was a start.

Christmas morning did not see us up bright and early – nothing new there. After breakfast we celebrated our Christmas. Austin accompanied us to the singing of Christmas carols – one chosen by each person (a Kroeker tradition – although it lasts much longer in that context). Ron read the Christmas story and then we opened gifts. Our tree was a live plant, decorated with white LED lights, and cheap stars that we found here. Unable to easily find wrapping paper, Ron put a Cambodian twist on the stocking tradition and basted together Kramas as gift bags. Most everything was in these bags. Acacia received some colored paper, balloons, two play animals and a fish bag from my family (our shopping). Janaya received a fish bag and a silk purse from my family. Austin plans to golf for his gift. Janaya found in her bag a can of Pringos, some Thai candy, a package of Oreo cookies, a gift card for some personal ice cream and had a case of pop / soda under the tree. Austin found in his bag a can of Pringos, some Thai candy, a package of Oreos… Acacia found in her bag a can of Pringos, some Thai candy… You get the picture. Pretty easy Christmas for us. Really, there wasn’t much here that the kids wanted, so this worked out fine. Janaya also got a new set of ear buds, Austin got more pencil lead and pencils, Acacia got a DS game - things they asked for. I got a can of smoked almonds. Ron a jar of blueberry jam. Simple pleasures.

From there we went to our church for a Christmas service. This was the only service on Christmas day in town so many people were there. We came home from church and prepared our Christmas dinner: duck (the New Year’s tradition from the Sachs family – although these were really small ducks), fresh green beans in garlic and mashed potatoes. We also had pumpkin pie and more cookies! First Christmas meal we have eaten together in shorts and bare feet – every one of us. Later that afternoon Ron through a Christmas party for his English class – since it was a normal day for most of them.

We did have a good Christmas together. Later, we skyped with both some of my family, and Ron’s parents – we missed seeing them in person this year. But we didn’t miss the snowy cross-country drive. A different, and simple Christmas this year – celebrating our Lord’s birth.