Our last full day in Cambodia has been one of mixed emotions.  So much has been accomplished these last few weeks and yet I feel I am leaving with tasks undone.  Wonderful connections with a variety of different organizations have come to fruition.  The scope and mission of Safe Haven has become more refined and defined and I am anxious to more forward.  Two years in not a long period of time in which to build a handicap school, staff it and be ready to open our doors but two …

Pierre, Roman and Soloth pull up in a van they have engaged to take us out to the village of Smatch and a neighboring village for both handicap assessment of CP children there and to see the work being done by CFI on the mosquito net factory.  Hasan and Lauren are already comfortable in their seats and Hasan, God love him, has brought bags of freshly baked chocolate croissants for the 2 hour drive.  Cher, Lina and I pile in and we have exactly 45 minutes of smooth sailing before …

I’ve just come back into my hotel room jacked up like Cher on a 12 pack of Mountain Dew.  It’s been a great morning.  Normally, I take my Cambodian kids out shopping together for new clothes and lunch but I’ve decided this trip to focus more on spending time together and less on “presents.”  The change of venue thrills the boys, for whom shopping with the girls is its own form of slow torture.  Instead, we head to a nearby boutique villa for a morning of swimming in the pool.  …

Reporting from Chicago – After he fled Sudan’s civil war as a child in the 1980s, Garang Mayuol knew in his heart that he would return.
In 2001, he was among about 3,800 young Sudanese men, known as the “Lost Boys,” who were settled in the United States. From refugees to American …

According to Wikipedia, the average weight of an American man AND woman is around 164-167.  I mentioned this because the 3’x5’ coffin style elevator at our hotel says it can hold 6 people and 400kg.  After barely fitting Cher, three Asian guys and myself in it yesterday, I am here to tell you there is no way 6 big old Americans could cram themselves into that space, let alone fall within the weight range without the chance of said elevator plunging to the ground.  Frankly, it is likely it could …

Cher wakes up particularly chipper this morning and not just because she smells good.  Today we are bringing Srey Leap to the Russian Market with some of her friends to go clothes shopping and Cher is anxious to spoil her little Stung Meanchy princess a little bit.
Before we can play, however, there is work to be done.  First up is a meeting with Saloth, the former head administrator with Handicap International.  Now she works with my friends Pierre and John at CFI, The Coalition Of Financial Independence, who will be …

Vantha’s Tuk Tuk, which was in deplorable shape 2 years ago, qualifies as a disaster waiting to happen today.  Its frame rattles with death throes as we lurch along, large tears in the upholstery and a make shift automatic gas feeder that pretty much is an old gas can duct taped to the side with a rubber hose running into the tank.  Each time we lurch to a stop, a thin stream of gasoline runs out from underneath.  Cher and I eye it warily hoping the Tuk Tuk is not …

My sister is very chipper in the morning.  I am not.  As I groggily open my eyes and start to come to terms with the fact that I must eventually give in to coherency, Cher skips about the room like Pollyanna.  “Breakfast?” she chirps at me as I try to pry my eyeballs open.  I stagger out of bed and pause when I hear what sounds suspiciously like bed springs creaking.  Now I have stayed in enough hotels to recognize certain things and for a brief moment, it appears someone …

As usual the countdown to leaving for Cambodia involves a lot of scrambling, last minute packing and good old fashion swearing.  While I careened my jeep around Rose Bowl detours in Pasadena in an effort to get Cher and I to all the last minute stops we have to make, my little sister clutched the side of the door, eyed me warily and announced if she wanted to be involved in a crash – she’d much prefer to take her chances on the back of a moto in Cambodia.  By …

Cher and I have become extremely popular at the Khmer Market.  On our third trip there in less than 24 hours, the owners are practically rolling out a red carpet and the security guard is ready to invite us home to dinner.  No surprise considering we have officially bought them out of baby formula stages 1 &2; powdered milk; diapers, bibs; baby spoons; wash clothes; baby biscuits and of course, Mountain Dew.  We pile into our van from Shinta Mani and the driver heads on over to the orphanage.  For …