Banteay Meanchey

Last Sunday after our wonderful Easter service and lunch, myself and a teammate, Carolyn, headed out to Banteay Meanchey, a province on the northern Cambodian-Thai border.  It is a 6 hour drive, and you don't get the usual stops to pick up snacks and bevies (as our friend Vic would say), but rather bump and bounce your way down the road hoping we don't hit a water buffalo or a bus (which is always a real fear).  We arrived at 10:00pm, checked into our hotel, called our husbands to say we made it safely, and were both pleased to find clean sheets, hot water, and a TV.  When staying literally in the middle of no where you always wonder what you are going to get.

We were visiting some projects with an organization called Kone Kmeng, and on Monday we got to see what they do out in these rural areas.  First we sat in on a training to the village chief, pastors, police, teachers, and community members on child protection and child trafficking prevention.  Then had lunch (again an experience), and headed to the schools, the main purpose in our visit.

We got to visit their catch-up school and supplemental school programs for kids who wouldn't normally be able to attend school because of the poverty that holds them back.  Learning from the pastor who runs this program was great, and we walked away with some incredible resources, contacts, and ideas. We always say things take longer in Cambodia, here is a perfect example, it took 2 days, 15 hours of driving, and 2 tired women to hold this meeting with this man.  This is how things operate here, but at the end of the day it was all worth it.  The things that are happening out there, and the ways God is moving was incredible to see.  We were thankful to witness it.

But the best part of the trip was interacting with the kids, seeing their life, and watching their faces as they laugh at two white, American women trying to speak Khmer.  However, the drive home was the worst part, yet the most entertaining.

We have been told an American road trip is getting from point A to point B as fast as possible, with very few stops.  A Cambodian road trip is part of the journey and they will make numerous stops to enjoy the travel time.  Well this is what happened, and here are our stops:
1.) One hour in - stop to buy eggs (they drill a hole in the egg, empty it out, scramble it, inject it back it, heat them over a fire, and then you buy them to eat as a snack.
2.) 15 minutes later - stop to say hi to a friend and drop off a package.
3.) 15 minutes later - stop to eat a sit down dinner, and this restaurant is no Chipolte.
4.) 3 hours in - stop to get gas. And use the bathrooms of the house next to the gas station.  I was taken to the master bedroom of some Khmer woman and there I used her restroom.  Carolyn was taken to another part of the house.
5.) 4 hours in - Stop at a road side stand to buy oranges (for me and Carolyn) and fish paste (for the Cambodians).
6.) 7 hours in and 12:30 midnight - arrive in Phnom Penh.

Above photos: lunch preperation, lunch, 4th grade classroom, students greeting us as we walked in, 6th grade classroom, and then us talking with the 6th graders.