Pure Gold

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So I was browsing on http://www.bongthom.com/, Khmer classified ads online, and this one caught my attention. I particularly appreciated the disclaimer at the end:

_______________________________________________________________

Beat up Honda Dio
Was once a Honda Dio 50cc 2-stroke.Is now:

Crashed 17 times, body held together with sticky tape and super glue. Has been repainted many times with cheap spray paint with out masking or concern for uniformity.

Only has first gear now, automatic gearbox will not shift out of first… ever again.

Exhaust is sealed with “bondo” thus when it gets hot it smells of melting plastic, has not caught fire yet, but most likely will catch fire soon, the exhaust is right below the fuel-oil-air intake so once it catches fire it will most probably explode.

During crash 12 of the 17 crashes I managed to destroy the headlight and control panel. now head lights are two small (yet bright) bicycle LED lamps (AA batteries included!). No turn signal switch, No horn switch, No headlight switch (thats ok as there is no headlight), No speedometer, No millage (no idea…) None of the other things you would expect on a control panel, No panel.

front shocks are frozen, no front suspension.

huge hole in the back tire, repaired with epoxy resin, will surely blow out at high speed in traffic while in fron ot a big truck with no breaks.

The under seat storage area is vast, huge, will hold about 4 severed adult human heads, however the lock is broken and on speed bumps the seat and rider are likely to rise up about a foot or so.

Lock for the gas works… some how it still works. Tail light works… also amazing.

No Papers, No Plates, No “card cradey”. 100% unregisterable.

I have used this little scooter as an off road, rice paddy stomping, mud slinging, rain riding toy. This scooter was never intended for any of that.

good points, it always starts (unless it has no gas)… thats it.

asking 3,000$US. will not accept less.

 
BongThom-ID: 363283
Category: VEHICLES – For Sale
Location: Phnom Penh
Price: $3,000.00
Brand: Honda
Contact Name: James stone
Phone: 092996817
Email Address: 
posted by member: Jstone Total # of previous postings by member: 2 

NOTE: The classifieds ads service as provided through the Bong Thom dot Com web site is a a public access forum and as such the contents of the advertisements are submitted by third-party users. The Bong Thom dot Com web site does not endorse any product or service advertised through this service.

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I’m here, and with my head almost in the right place to blog

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Hi everyone,

I am sitting in the airconditioned office, trying to find the words to describe the last few days. I read once that change happens in an instant, but transition takes time. This is exactly how I feel now. Anyone can buy a ticket and get on a plane, but it takes time to get my head into the right place once I’m here!

Probably because I was so busy before I left, and partially because of my lack of organisation (sorry Fiona!) when I got here I was so tired that I couldn’t really think straight. I was met at the airport by Malis, who is a wonderful Khmer (pronounced “K-my”) girl who is the admin person for Empowering Cambodia. To, the tuk-tuk driver who took Jo, Christine and I around last year, picked us up and brought us home. Then, after I’d showered, Malis took me to Jars of Clay for dinner, and I met her husband.

As Jars of Clay is a popular meeting spot for expats, I also met K and S, Kiwi’s who’ve been here about 4 years. I saw K and S today at church, and they invited me to their place for lunch – which happened to be just 4 houses down from my house! They run a “House of Healing” here. S was a community nurse in NZ, and K a pastor. We spoke mainly of how the corruption here in the health system cripples the Cambodian people – sometimes literally. It did give me a beginner’s insight to the basic problems that the Khmer suffer. It is possible now that there are no more hospices in Cambodia, as funding has become scarce for the few that were left. This means that people have to go to the government hospitals to die – where they have to pay for very basic treatment to simply die with dignity.

Friday: in the morning I re-introduced myself to Phearin, my counterpart here. We did devotions with the ladies at Sew Empowered, then he made me fried eggs for breakfast. I spent most of the morning on the computer, head still spinning from the flights and tiredness. In the afternoon I went with Phearin, on the back of a moto scooter, to “Lucky Supermarket”, as he was concerned for my stomach, and didn’t want me to shop at the local Russian Markets.

I just want to say, firstly, that I had every intention of living inside the Khmer culture as much as possible. But when I walked into this supermarket, and was confronted with Harvey Fresh UHT milk, I knew I had to make some compromises! The shelves were filled with imported products from around the world. Also, there were vegetables and fruit from all over, including made up stir fry packs, just like home! I’m not sure where the meat comes from, but it looked for the most part to be the same quality as home. K and S said they get vegetables and fruit from the markets, as it is so much cheaper, and meat from Lucky.

As I was waiting for Phearin to run some errands, I walked to Lucky Burger, a cross between Hungry Jacks, McCafe and il Gelato. It was great. One serving suggestion Aussie gelato shops should adopt was when I asked for 1 scoop of gelato in a basket, they first put in a pre-molded circular waffle, so that the people eating out of the buckets don’t miss out on the waffle :)

Inbetween Lucky Supermarket and Lucky Burger was my first “International Book Centre”. It was a stationary lover’s heaven downstairs. As I was waiting for Phearin, I decided not to get lost in the books upstairs this visit! (BTW, K and S have lots of books here… new best friends :) )

Tomorrow is Monday, and I’m excited because every day I stay here, is one more day’s worth of culture and understanding. I imagine it will be hard for quite some time, but I should be able to contribute soon :)

Blog from the ‘plane…

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23/06/2011
I’m currently on the aeroplane from KL to PP. There’s about 40 minutes left to go, then I’m in Cambodia for 6 months. The only reason I know there’s about 40 minutes to go is because I have my laptop open, with the time in the corner, and I heard the captain, who speaks english very well, say that we had a delay leaving KL, and that it was expected that we would arrive in PP about 4.10pm.
This all feels rather strange! It was very warm in KL – walking from the plane along the tarmac, through customs because I booked online myself, then in the KL airport, where you are indoors one minute, and outdoor the next. If anyone is coming to visit, get the online prices, then go to Flight Centre or somewhere and get connecting flights from Perth to Phnom Penh, so you don’t have to go through the rigmerole of transferring your luggage over yourself!
So, between driving my luggage trolley all over the air port, and being outside for half that time, I feel that my time in KL has been put to good use acclimatising me to my future! I need to move slowly and drink lots of water, and dress apppropriately, and I’ll be fine.
Listening to “Our God is Greater” reminds me that he is! This trip, ‘medium-term missions’, was not in my plan. I am here by the grace and will of God. He will strengthen me, sustain me, help me, lead me, guide me and provide for me. He is the author, orchestratror and key participant in this adventure – he is the hero of my story. I get to play the coolest part – willing and humble side-kick, so to speak.
We’ve just started the descent, so i’d better pack up this laptop.

Injustice

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Today I met up for coffee with my friend Dee, who is in Perth working for YWAM (Youth With A Mission). She told me 2 stories:
1000 girls a year are trafficked into Australia, into the sex industry. They are SOLD to brothels and pimps. Here in Perth. There are Thai girls, sold by their parents to go to a “job in Australia”. They have a bedroom, which is also their “office”, and they are jailed there. If they are caught, they are deported home. Broken girls, full of pain and shame, are returned to the families that sent them here.

I didn’t know, didn’t think, didn’t stop to realise that when we talk about brothels, or the sex industry in Perth, that is in part what we are talking about.

She is, with some others from YWAM, going out on the streets of Perth, around Stirling Street area, at night, and talking to the girls, but also to the guys. She said that if she stands still for about 10 minutes on the street, heaps of guys proposition her. They are guys in suits, on their way home from work. She asks them if their wives know where they are.

The other story:

Apparently the child trafficking industry is looking for younger babies, for markets in the Middle East. There are camel races, where they take the babies, tie them upside-down by their feet to the camels, and start the race. Obviously the babies start to cry. The louder the baby cries, the faster the camel races. The babies die by the end of the race.

God, our world is so very badly broken! Give us eyes to see what is going on right in front of us, and the courage to do something about it.

45 Days

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In 10 minutes, it will be 44 days until I fly out to Cambodia.

That does feel fairly strange, intimidating, scary and impossible!

My friend, Heather, from work, is moving to London in 3 weeks, and she assures me that the above emotions are normal, and that everything will be fine.

There is heaps to do still, from organising finances, clothes, getting my guitar restrung to writing my will. And, updating my blog – so I am doing something…

Thank you everyone for reading / subscribing. I hope to write at least once a week from now til I get back home!

Going to bed now. Good night. Sweet dreams of the strange and exciting paths your life may take.

86 Days

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The following is extracted from an email I wrote a little while ago. I’ve included it to preserve the time line of preparation :)

It’s about 86 days until I come (yay!), so I thought I’d just send you a quick update to let you know where I am at.

Flights: I’m just about to book flights to Phnom Penh – at this stage I’m planning to travel from 23/06/2011, and then leave PP on 23/12/2011, to get back just before Christmas.

Accommodation: Thank you Patrick and Carol for your previous offer of a room at your house/office.

Preparation: I’ve had a very interesting past month, with not that much time spent directly preparing. My car was hit by another vehicle, and was written off. As I have been given the use of a car from friends in the church, this has helped speed up the getting-out-of-debt-and-saving process by about $3K. This was not my idea of God’s provision! :)  I have had a sore back for 3 weeks, but the chiropractic clinic has helped wonderfully with fixing me up.

Jo and I are on the finishing end of moving into our friend’s home, and renting out Jo’s house. This has been great for downsizing my “stuff”. It has been a little uncomfortable emotionally, adjusting to a new space, and I can’t help but compare this to moving to Cambodia – it’s like a “practise run”.

I have also had the chance to start teaching piano again to children, and am tutoring a bible college student in Greek. This has been great for getting me thinking in terms of the best ways to facilitate education/tutoring, as well as looking at different resources.

Cambodia

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The reason I have this blog is that I am going to Cambodia, and I would like friends and family to be able to stay updated.

WHO? I will be volunteering for an aid organisation in Cambodia – Empowering Cambodia.

WHAT? I will be doing  variety of different things, from working with children, teaching music, to admin support and tour guide.

WHEN? I go at the end of June, 2011. That’s a lot sooner than I imagine.

HOW LONG? At this stage, the plan is to go for 6 months, then come back for Christmas.

And the most important:

WHY?

I first heard of Empowering Cambodia through Max Williams (Partners Against Poverty) last year. When preparing to visit with my sisters, I felt God say to go and work with Patrick and Carol Kelly for 6 months “next year”. July to December was as far away as possible, whilst still meeting the requirements of “in next year”. :)

There are a lot of GOOD things that I can do with my life. There are a lot of interesting things out there and I have a curious mind. There is much injustice that I could be working against. There are people to love all around me. But, sometimes, there are GOD things that I am called to do particularly. I have learnt that when I forsake the good things and do the God things, then I am most blessed. I walk in peace and freedom, even when I don’t see clearly. God is always with me – but when I’m walking in his plan for my life, in obedience, it’s really special.

AND NOW? If you want to know more, sign up to receive my posts, or email me at jennirobbins at msn dot com.

First time for everything…

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Hi.

This is my first, awkward, attempt at blogging about me, what I’m doing, and what I find interesting.

It feels weird to be writing something that can be viewed by anyone. The people who I think will be reading this will be family and friends who want to keep up with what’s going on in my world. I was even asked today at church if I had a site that I’m updating … so here it is! Thank you for reading!