My daughters have a flair for drama. They all disappeared upstairs one day and came down in fantastic outfits and covered with face paint. Reia dressed up Maika in hearts, and I’ve given her an extra dose of angst in this black and white effect.

My wife came up to me midway through the event and invited me to see a picture that left her “breathless.” I followed immediately, wondering what kind of picture would have such an effect on her. She led me to Emily Shur’s table.  Last night she was showing a portfolio of images from Japan, forsaking the popular idea of Japan in favor of the “banality” that most Japanese see every day.

As she flipped through her stack of large prints, I did a double-take. I was looking at a picture of the apartment building where we lived for the past two years. Imagine the odds of that. Tokyo is one of the largest cities in the world. Our place was a five minute walk away a train station on the edge of the city, and she walked by and took a picture of our parking lot, and then we met and saw it in Santa Fe.

Here’s the photo as seen  on her blog.

White Buildings, Takao, 2009 (Emily Shur)

Yesterday, I dropped off a toy stroller at a friend’s house. I hesitated to leave. I realized it was the pull of that stroller. One year we gave the twins a pair of toy strollers for the birthday, and they’ve never outgrown them. My kids have imaginations run wild. When they pretend, I can’t help but smile. Seeing the stroller go, I remembered the delighted smiles when my daughter first saw it.

Something significant is slipping away, but it’s not the stuff. Seeing these things reminds me that my kids will never be that young again. The lesson here is not to cling to what I can’t hold onto, but to open my eyes and see the blessings of today and live with nothing held back. Time is moving, and I’m moving with it. It’s only grace that gives me hope, because everything else is passing away.

November 8, 2004

On December 15 we left Tokyo headed for Bangkok and then Phnom Penh. I was anxious. I’d been to Cambodia six times but never with my family. Would they like it? Would they connect well with the people there? Phnom Penh is not a great place for tourists, especially families. How would they react? At least the kids were eagerly anticipating lots of animals: dogs, chickens, geckos, and monkeys.

We flew to Bangkok first using frequent flyer miles and took a cheap flight to Cambodia the next day. Gani, a Cambodian friend-of-a-friend, picked us up at the airport. Cool and appraising, he had a large bass speaker filling up most of his trunk. I’m glad to know him now. He took us to the apartment where we planned to stay for our first five days. It was in a giant concrete block of a building. We walked down a narrow passage, climbed several steep flights of steps, and passed our neighbors on their balcony — their building was about two meters away from ours. We could see the length of their apartment through the open door. Apartments in Cambodia are long and narrow, often with three or four floors shared by an extended family.

Our apartment had an iron gate with a giant, thick padlock. We were instructed to lock ourselves inside every night. All our neighbors did the same. I wonder why they don’t build locks into the gates.

The girls loved riding through Phnom Penh in Tuk-Tuks (motorbike taxis)

Later we  rode by tuk-tuk to the new city mall, next to the “Olympic Stadium” (built for a canceled Asian Games in 1963 and appearing mostly abandoned). We ate pizza: deep dish, “Meat Lover’s Special,” Asian BBQ sauce, $11. At some point, Hitomi confided that Phnom Penh was a lot rougher than she’d expected. “I told you,” I said. I was relieved her face wasn’t filled with stress or fear.

The streets of Phnom Penh are crazy with cars, motorbikes, bicycles, and people all making their own rules. The sidewalks are trash strewn and usually blocked by parked cars. Skinned chickens and pig parts hang from food stands. The blocks are filled with open store fronts boasting TV’s and refrigerators, punctuated with open air markets spilling out fruit, vegetables, and more meat. Massage parlors offering legitimate and illegitimate services declare “$5 per hour.” We saw one playground. The kids looked and declared it was, “Hot!”

An atypical view of a sidewalk in Phnom Penh (riverside area)

Yet in the midst of all the outward frenzy, life is slow in Phnom Penh compared with Japan. That’s what a Japanese mother told us a few days later. It took her six months to adjust, but now she enjoys Cambodia and says it’s a great place to raise kids.

I got up the first morning at 6:30 and waited for the others. Eventually, we all got up early every day. Life in Southeast Asia starts before sunrise. You’ve got to take advantage of the coolest part of the day.

Feeding monkeys at Wat Phnom

We endeavored to experience the city. We went to Wat Phnom, the oldest and  best known temple in Phnom Penh. We didn’t go for cultural reasons. Our mission was to feed the monkeys. The park has a healthy population of relatively friendly little beasts. A vendor sold us lotus pods and showed us how to extract the seeds. The monkeys take them one by one in their little hands. But monkeys are aggressive and clever, good at sneaking up on you from behind and grabbing things quickly. Several times they managed to take a whole seed pod. Two monkeys pulled hard on Hitomi’s skirt, with hands and teeth, and I had to stop them from climbing up. At one point, Mari backed up to close to a wall, and a monkey jumped from it right on top of her head. But it was all in good fun. As we were leaving, Mari felt a surge of affection and moved as if to hug a monkey. I grabbed her as the little fellow gave every indication of being about to go berserk. (Someone passing by told us that the monkeys were very calm, but they go crazy if you play with them. You don’t want to be around crazy monkeys, trust me.)

After the monkeys, we visited the elephant. Every day you can get elephant rides at Wat Phnom. We contented ourselves letting the twins feed it bananas. Reia, being more cautious (smarter?), kept her distance.

Another day we ventured to the riverside area, alongside the muddy waters of the Mekong River. It’s not the most beautiful sight, but there is a spacious, wide-open feeling and a cool breeze. After some coffee at a Chinese restaurant, we set off walking. Walking in Phnom Penh is no easy task, mostly due to traffic and heat (remember the sidewalks do double duty as parking lots). We went to “Friends,” an NGO and restaurant located near the National Museum. We didn’t eat but went inside their gift shop. I was attracted to a rack of children’s books in Khmer. I bought one of each, about twenty in all, for $27.

Friends is an NGO that, among other things, operates a gourmet cooking school and trains street kids to run restaurants. On the way out, I spotted their cookbook for sale. From Spiders to Water Lillies is undoubtedly the best looking cookbook I’ve ever seen. It’s full of wonderful photography — not typical food pictures, but dishes in their Cambodian context. I will buy it, just not yet. I checked, and it’s not available on Amazon. However, I understand you can order a copy in the USA from the NGO’s office. Call (541) 779-0103.

Did I say there’s not much for families to do in Phnom Penh? Not in the touristy sense anyway. We ate at different restaurants, returned for pizza again, and bought pirated DVD’s to watch at night. One day Gany took us around to show us how people live. We visited a couple of homes and an apartment that are for rent. The apartment was a typical skinny stack of long rooms. We entered the ground floor and I thought it was a bit tight. Then we went up a level and saw more rooms. Then another level and another. The place had at least eight rooms and must be 3 times as big as they place where we live now — all for $300 per month. I think Cambodians usually live in these places with their extended families, not as a family of five.

A “Saturday school” where Japanese kids learn in their own language

Gany helped me pick up a cell phone in the evening, which I needed for the volunteer trips I conduct several times a year. I wanted his advice, and I needed him to show the vendor his Cambodian ID card. I had been enviously eying unlocked iPhones for less than $100. I might have bought one, but Gany took my to an honest shopkeeper who explained that the cheap phones are “China phones” — fakes made in China. They work, he explained, but they are not made from genuine parts. They look cool — like the real thing — but they’re slower and don’t work as well. They’re known to break suddenly, so it’s best to find a shop offering a six month guarantee. A real iPhone costs $700 in Phnom Penh. I settled for a $29 Nokia that works just fine and a $5 SIM card, and I was glad to save the money.

Kids in Andong Village playing a game

On Sunday we went to Andong Village. I’ve written about Andong before,and some of the funds we raised for “Christmas in Cambodia” were earmarked for the kids there. Andong is a shanty town that is home for more than 1200 displaced families. Most of them were evicted from a slum in Phnom Penh in 2006 and forcibly relocated to a bare patch of ground outside the city. There are few good jobs nearby, the local well is tainted with heavy metal, and the kids had no school for the first two years. My Cambodian friend worked tirelessly alongside the people of Andong from the beginning, helping them build their first and subsequent shelters, putting in drainage pipes to lessen the flooding, counseling families, and doing much more. He started a small church as well, with a focus on holistic ministry, and in 2008 he opened a school that now serves 120 kids in four grade levels.

A mother and children in Andong

I’d never visited on a Sunday, so we all went to attend a church service. It was simple and nice but incomprehensible for us (being in Khmer). Afterward I passed on a gift of $600, donated by family, friends, and readers here. They plan to use this money to take a large group of children on a special  outing to a beautiful place outside the city. They needed time to plan, so it won’t happen until New Year’s Day or so. They promised to send pictures that I’ll post later.

Afterward, we walked with a young Cambodian woman, a volunteer English teacher, over to the shanty village. This was our first encounter as a family with Cambodians in their homes, and they happened to be among the poorest of the poor in Cambodia. Once again, I didn’t know how Hitomi and the kids would respond. Happily, they just dove in. The kids spotted dogs — lots and lots of dogs and loads of puppies — and chickens, too.  That’s was enough to make their day. When we saw a group of kids playing, they edged in close as if they wanted to join. The only downsides were Maika getting scratched by a chicken, and then they all got scolded by an old lady for moving in on her newborn chicks. (We weren’t letting them touch animals, but sometimes they were magnetized away for a moment or two.)

The girls and the kids we met

The village chief solves a dispute between a little girl and an angry man
(it wasn’t clear what got him so upset)

A boy, his bike, and his bricks

Our time at Andong was eye-opening and encouraging for me. I’m so glad my wife and daughters responded as they did.

Medicines for kids living with HIV at Wat Opot

The next day we boarded a bus and traveled 55km to Wat Opot. Hitomi was worried about five long days with little on the schedule, but I was anxious to get there and start making real relationships. Travel is nice, but getting immersed with people in a new place is so much better. From my experiences of bringing many others, I knew the time ahead would be very rich.

About 50km outside Phnom Penh I had the bus driver and several passengers all helping me look for the place on the highway where we had to stop and get off. We didn’t miss it. After disembarking I flagged a passing tuk-tuk who drove us the rest of the way, about 3km down a dirt road. As we made the last turn, I saw Huett, the art teacher, sitting outside the local coffee shop — a shack with a rickety shelf of bamboo where we sometimes sit cross-legged and sip the dark beverage mixed from packets of Nescafe.  We arrived a minute later, and a few kids came to greet us with the familiar cry, “An-DEE, An-Dee!” Finally, my family had come to this place where I have so many heart connections now!

My daughters looked around and very soon spotted the dogs. Puppies, a litter of them  just reaching toddler stage, appeared from behind a building.  That was enough to lure them away. Some of the kids at Wat Opot joined them, and that was that. We could have left them alone most of the daylight hours after that. We never had the heart to tell them that those puppies are being raised for special occasions, like weddings — not as presents but as dishes. Yes, they are puppy chow.

We bunked in the hospice, because there weren’t any patients, and it isn’t easy finding space for a family of five. My wife says it smelled like a hospital, but I didn’t notice. The next two days we spent getting into the flow.

Her morning medications

At 6:30 every morning the kids living with HIV came to take their medicine. They must take their ARV’s (antiretroviral drugs) on time every day. If they don’t, they may fail a course of therapy, and then those drugs won’t work anymore. Because they are poor, they have very few alternative drugs available. Simply put, they must take their meds with near perfect discipline, or they will die.

We popped out of bed just before they lined up, if not sooner. Most of the children left for school by 7am, leaving only the youngest. But the elementary age kids returned about 11am.

We left our daughters on their own for large parts of the days. They would come back periodically with bumps, scratches, or small animals they had caught like geckos and frogs. They needn’t have gone far. The large basin in our bathroom that we used for showering had a young family of frogs living inside it, and a gecko lived in the corner behind a cabinet. Frogs are also food, and Wat Opot has a large pond filled with them.

Cooking up a snack to share with her friends

One day I pulled out my Khmer books and made a  rough sign up sheet on a piece of notebook paper. Very quickly I had a crowd of kids all around me reading and checking out books. I quickly explained they must write their names and the titles, take care of the books, and return them. Then they could borrow again. On previous visits I saw the kids didn’t have enough books in Khmer, and I noticed an girl earnestly reading a boring looking book that was clearly below her age level. I hoped these books would be a hit, and my expectations were exceeded. My only regret is that I didn’t buy more copies — especially of the longer books. Next time I go, in February, I’ll do that.

A boy checks out a book

What does it take to start a library? I was inspired by Room To Read, which creates libraries around the world. I’ve written previously about Room To Read, and I even met Miss Universe and Room to Read’s current CEO at one of their fundraisers in Tokyo (I volunteered as the event photographer). Starting a library is very simple. All you need are books and a simple system. Simple ideas are the best, and Room To Read has grown with incredible speed. I respect the organization, but I’m disappointed they only work with government schools. In a country as corrupt as Cambodia, where government schools are often “schools” in name only, why not set up libraries at private organizations intent on serving their communities? Why lock an organization behind a rule? (A bit of background: I tried to get Room To Read to start a library at Wat Opot, and I was willing to raise the funds for it, but my attempt failed because the local office stuck to the script.)

Back to my story, each time I pulled out the books a crowd formed. Many kids were signing out books, and  they seemed to be returning them.

Another night a young girl came and showed me a book about the solar system. She came to Wat Opot recently, at the age of 14, infected with HIV. That means she was likely infected by a sexual act, either by abuse within her family or by some visiting pedophile.

“What is this?” she asked, pointed to the blackness around the revolving planets. “Space,” I said. She made me write it down: “O-u-t-e-r S-p-a-c-e.” What dreams have been born in moments like these? What visions of freedom set loose by mere words?

I had a very short time to help the kids learn the system and understand the benefits, but I turned the project over to another volunteer (simply by handing him a paper bag).

On the bus!

When I raised money for Christmas in Cambodia, I said we would take the kids on a special trip. The big event was planned for Christmas Eve. Friends, family members, and others who I don’t even know pitched in about $1500, and the first $1000 went to Wat Opot. They reserved two buses with seats for 65 people, enough for all the school age kids plus some staff and volunteers. The destination was Kirirum, a beautiful mountaintop hideaway outside Phnom Penh. Kirirum boasts cool breezes and a freshwater swimming hole overshadowed by tall pine trees. (Note: Only a portion of the $1000 was needed for the trip and Christmas celebrations. The rest went to cover other needs, which I left to the director’s disgression.)

Traffic (the truck is carrying workers to the city who can’t afford any other way)

The night of the 23rd all the children were restless. I started to get frustrated at their hyperactivity during the evening, but then I realized they were just anticipating the next day. Eventually everyone went to sleep. Our family drifted off about 9pm.

The first excited voices of children drifted in at 4am. I stayed in bed for another 45 minutes. By that time, I could see shapes walking about in the darkness and the flicker of our neighbor’s TV. I knew most of the kids were up. I walked over to the new dormitory at 5am and found the director in the office and kids lined up outside with wet hair, carefully combed, and wearing their best clothes. The mosquito nets had been put away, and we could have loaded them into the buses and left right then. Only the buses hadn’t arrived. They weren’t scheduled to depart until 6:30. No problem. They came, we boarded, and we were off in good time.

We stopped at a bakery for breakfast

Kirirum was a three and a half hour drive away. After an hour on the road, we pulled over next to a bakery and the staff bought big bags of baguettes. All the kids had a special allowance for the day, so some bought extra pastries. But when I boarded my bus, the driver had a wrench, and he was working on the brake pedal. “It’s no problem,” someone said. But this isn’t the first time I’ve been on a broken down bus in Phnom Penh. I suspected it was worse, and it was. They talked about replacing the bus with another, but it’s not that simple. Most buses aren’t allowed to drive up the mountain road where we were going. Thankfully, someone quickly made a decision to press on in the remaining bus. We had fifty seven people in thirty five seats. Fifty seven happy people, most of them quite small. No problem.

Buying lunch from a market vendor on the way

An hour later we stopped to buy food for lunch, because the vendors on top of the mountain are expensive  compared to the stalls in town. The staff negotiated for chicken and pork. We had packed our own rice and vegetables. I bought an iced coffee and paid 12 cents to use a public restroom. We drove out and turned uphill.

Pit stop

Most Cambodians aren’t used to driving long distances, and that includes the kids at Wat Opot. They get car sick. The next time we stopped was a restroom break. A few children plopped on their knees and threw up. We traveled on, and the older girl seated just behind me cradled her head in misery. A boy at the back, Leak, was waving a plastic bread bag. I don’t know about Leak, but as we switched onto a dirt  road the girl finally lost it. I felt sorry for her. It’s not just that she got sick, but she is a very cool young teenager, and you know how that is.

The pine trees of Kirirum

When we finally arrived, after another round of puking that fertilized some grateful pine trees, we spread out straw mats and had a feast. One of my requests, when providing the money, was that the kids could have a big meal. Well, it was huge, and we somehow finished it.

The staff getting out the food

A simple but tasty feast!

We finally walked over to the water, and it was clear…and COOL! The kids dipped their feet in, and it was a shock. They normally swim in warm, brown ponds; this was chilly by comparison. As they hesitated, Mark, an American who is volunteering at Wat Opot, suddenly rushed by and dove in wearing his shorts. Pretty soon, everyone followed.

There is nothing quite the same as swimming in a cool mountain lake, so restful and peaceful. Tourists flock to the place, but on this weekday we were almost alone there.

In deep water

In shallow water

The lake is really just a widening of the stream as it flows through a shallow bowl formed of rocks. Just below where we stopped it narrows into a gentle waterfall (which is a roaring waterfall in the rainy season). I led some small children around the corner to the place where water ripples over two large rocks, and they held back in fear. I realized that they probably had not seen a running stream before. For their own good, I picked them up and set their feet in the running water. I think I enjoyed the discovery almost as much as they did.

Kids approaching the little waterfall (our daughters, Reia and Mari, are with them)

Reia with Nia Pia and Srey Mao

Mari and Srey Nu

Older kids and staff

Note: Most Cambodians swim in their clothes, except for children who
swim in their underwear or, if they’re young enough, in nothing at all.

Some of the older kis and staff after the little kids had moved downstream

One thing happened at Kirirum that I want to mention separately. Socheat, a boy about ten years old, came to me with blood pouring out of his foot. He’d stepped on something, probably a sharp stick. Mark was nearby. I squeezed the sole of his foot and coaxed the blood out, because puncture wounds need to bleed. My wife got her band aids and antiseptic gell. The bleeding slowed, and I patched him up. Hitomi was asking me if it was okay, and I didn’t know why she was so anxious: just a kid with a cut. About thirty minutes later, she mentioned it again, and it finally dawned on me that Socheat has HIV. His blood IS a big deal. That’s why he made a big deal about it (not crying, but getting quick attention). I didn’t have any cuts on my hand, so the risk of touching his blood for me was extremely minimal, but working with these kids means I can’t forget what they have. I guess I needed some kind of a shock to realize that.

The group photo minus myself and a few kids who were still car sick at this point

Leak (Leyek) heads for the bus carrying a pine branch as a souvenier

We spent the rest of the morning and afternoon, until everyone was ready to return. Mercifully, I don’t think anyone got sick on the way back. The bus had a TV mounted on the ceiling just behind the driver, and one of the kids had brought a set of Karaoke DVD’s. As we drove and the sun set behind the rear window, we transformed into a rolling party. I looked back during one particularly uproarious song and saw Leak at the center rear. He was actually standing behind the last seat due to the lack of space. He had on a red silk shirt, unbuttoned, and the fading light was pouring in through orange curtains draped at his shoulders. He was dancing, but it was almost like he was conducting the whole bus from the pulpit — like the high priest of hip-hop. Everyone looked back and cheered. It was another one of those moments you just have to see and remember. The day Leak danced at the back of the bus.

On the bus with Leak in the back (during a calm moment)

The next day was Christmas, our last day at Wat Opot. It passed quickly for me. Part of the day I spent interviewing the director and some kids on video. Preparations were under way in the dining area, for a party in the evening. Decorations had been pulled out of storage. Bright silvery shapes were hung above, and the “Christmas bush” — a leafless Cambodian plant they’ve used for years — was brought in and covered in festive lights. A group of kids folded origami hearts and other shapes and put them in the branches.

We took out the face paint on Christmas morning (that’s Mari at the bottom)

At 5pm we ate a wonderful meal: cold noodles with some sort of green leafs and flowers on top all drenched in a curry sauce. Mmm, a specialty of the cooks’.

Then they turned down the lights. Wayne, the director, gave his annual speech. He is a self-described “Buddhist follower of Jesus,” and he took some time to say that both Buddha and Jesus taught a message of compassion. Then he yielded the floor to the man who serves as caretaker in the children’s dormitory. He is a Christian pastor, and he talked about the Christmas story and the meaning of Jesus’ birth. After he finished, the kids all applauded. I’m honestly not sure if they clapped because they liked what the adults said or because the talking was finally over!

Finally, Wayne led everyone in singing “Happy Birthday” to Jesus.

Now the next part may sound strange, but keep in mind Wat Opot is a far off place in the countryside of Cambodia. When Cambodians want to celebrate, they turn up the music and dance. That’s exactly what they did. For the next hour or two we all twisted, laughed, and danced — from age 2 to 62 give or take — under speakers suspended from the rafters blasting everything from Cambodian hip-hop to the Macerena. Yes, the Macerena. What a night!

Sorry about the lack of pictures, but it was dark and I was having fun (and I didn’t bring my flash either).

We went to bed exhausted and packed before breakfast. The kids came in as usual to take their medicine, looking  more tired than usual. After breakfast we said our goodbyes. The elementary kids had gone to school (on a Saturday!), but the older kids were around. Our kids sat with a group of them while we wrapped up whatever details remained (a pad of paper to the art teacher, my bag of books to Mark, etc.). Then we left feeling grateful and happy-sad. I’ll see you again soon my friends…

A view at Wat Opot

Pulling in a catch of catfish from one of the fish ponds

Harvesting rice in one corner of the property

Older kids and staff working to plant some Papaya trees (the rice plot is behind them)

A small vegetable garden project that’s working well

NOTE: Wat Opot is by no means a “wealthy” project. In fact, they generally spend all the money they have every month. If you would like to contribute once, or monthly, you can find out how at this link: http://www.watopot.org/donate/

We went to the main road by Tuk-Tuk and ended up catching a van to Phnom Penh, along with about twelve other people. As we waited for the bus, which never came, Maika said something that touched us. She wants to learn to speak Khmer, so she can talk to her new friends. Reia and Mari agreed. Then we all started practicing the words we’d learned on each other.

Our last night in Phnom Penh wasn’t uneventful. We met up with two Japanese friends, plus a third Japanese man who they had just met. We all had Chinese food and had a great conversation. Mr. Sasaki lives near us in Tokyo, but every year he spends two months living in Phnom Penh. He went for the first time a few years ago, and he was so moved that he quit his salaried job and became a school photographer — so he could travel there each year. He volunteers at a small school started by a Japanese NGO. His friend teaches Japanese at a university during the week and, on Saturdays, at the school for Japanese children. (See the photo of the Saturday school above.) The third man has been surveying rice fields in Thailand and Laos looking for patterns that affect productivity (he uses a camera mounted on a remote controlled plane). The restaurant where we ate is owned by a nice lady from Szechuan, China. I’ll go back. The food was very spicy but tasted great.

As we left, we had one last reminder of the realities of life in Cambodia. A girl with a large spoon and a plastic grocery bag was sifting through a bin out front. Apparently, the restaurant disposes of all the leftover food in this bin, probably with the intention of kindness. I suppose the girl was happy to bring the food home to her family, if she has a family and a home. We boarded our tuk-tuk right next to her, and I told Reia what she was doing. She must see; we all need to see and have our hearts broken. Jesus once said that when we see a girl like that, we’re seeing him. What we offer to her; we offer to him. But in Cambodia there are so many.

We returned home to Japan two days ago. On the train from Narita I looked around at the other passengers clutching bags and suitcases, wearing warm clothes and heading home surrounded by abundance. I thought of Cambodia, and I thought those people on the train don’t know what they’re missing. The wealthy seldom see their own poverty. That’s why I bring Japanese to Cambodia.

It’s late. I needed to finish this now before the details slip away. Tomorrow is New Year’s Eve, and life goes on. To anyone still reading, wow, I salute you. If you haven’t already, I invite you to subscribe to the RSS feed and stick around.

Please scroll down for images of receipts and a final update…

Vinat standing in front of the new dorm for young children and girls

UPDATE

I said that I would post receipts, and I’ve really been dragging my feet. I guess going in Photoshop and creating images of receipts is not that motivating. But I really do want to communicate well with all of you who gave generously to show love for a bunch of children in Cambodia you’ll most likely never meet.

This is an image showing the total amount given through PayPal (click to enlarge). PayPal deducts handling fees, but they are very low compared to most services that receive donations.

This is the PayPal receipt showing that I donated all the funds to Wat Opot directly. You can also confirm by visiting the following website where detailed records of donations to Wat Opot are posted online (all the funds I donated are listed as “Project Friends”):

http://www.partnersincompassioncambodia.com/index_files/fin1.htm

If you visit the link above, you’ll notice I donated a lot more than $605. That’s because friends and family in Japan and the USA gave money to me directly, which I passed on. All total, I was able to give: $1005.62 to Wat Opot and $600.00 to the NGO at Andong Village.

I received a report that the Andong Village NGO took two full busloads of kids and staff (nearly 100 people) to Kirirum (the same place the Wat Opot kids visited). The Andong kids also had an incredible day they will not soon forget. I wish I could have been there to share it with them and take pictures.

Thank you all!!

=====  UPDATE =====

The period to give has ended, but if you really want to contribute we can still find a way. Although the counter below shows $630 (31 percent raised), I also received offline donations. The real total is about $1200. My kids outdoors’ school friends also had a fundraiser that brought in about $400, and we’ll put in some money, too. We may actually come close to the $2000 mark after all. I plan to have a full report posted by the 2nd week in January. Thanks to all the donors and to those who told their friends!

===== UPDATE 2 =====

I’ve posted a full report and images of receipts here: http://www.photosensibility.com/2009/12/29/christmas-in-cambodia-2/

===== ============

Please join me in  something very special this Christmas. For the past two years I’ve been regularly visiting a community in Cambodia for children orphaned by HIV/AIDS. It’s about 50km outside of Phnom Penh. They take care of 74 kids on a very small budget, and life there is generally pretty happy.  On Christmas day I’ll be there with my wife and daughters. I’m hoping to raise $1000 between now and December 12th to bring as a gift.

Click to give safely and securely via PayPal

*** You don’t need a PayPal account. See the
Second Comment for detailed instructions. ***

Here’s what the children at Wat Opot will receive:

• a wonderful Christmas day with lots of food, small but cherished gifts, and celebration
• a rare super fun trip by buses to a nearby lake on one of the days just before Christmas
• money for important ongoing needs, because the budget has been running short this year

And you will receive the knowledge that you were part of something wonderful and real. I will post a full report so you can appreciate what happened, with pictures and video, plus images of receipts accounting for all the money given.

Small gifts add up (and large gifts add up, too): $5, $25, $200…

I will pass on one hundred percent of the gifts that come through, minus only bank transfer fees. Full disclosure: I’m doing this privately, based on your trust, not as an organization. Please only give if you are comfortable with letting me handle your cash.

How funds will be divided

I hope to raise at least $2000. The first $1000 will go to the Wat Opot Children’s Community as mentioned above. The other half, or the amount that comes in, will help children in Andong Village. The families in Andong Village all lost their homes in Phnom Penh in 2006, because developers took over the slum where they lived. They are among the poorest of the poor in the city. My Cambodian friend runs a local NPO that provides a school for the children and many services for their families. I will visit Andong Village several days before Christmas, and I will entrust the money to him through the NPO that he leads.

My friend in Andong Village and the director of the Wat Opot Children’s Community are leaders with integrity who I trust, and they work through registered non-profits in Cambodia with accountability.

Here are some links to earlier posts I’ve written about the children at Wat Opot and the work at Andong Village.

Wat Opot Children’s Community:

A poem about kids living with HIV

A photo and some background about the kids at Wat Opot

Loving means seeing (a reflection after returning frm one of my trips)

When babies die (another reflection after seeing a baby die of AIDS)

Andong Village:

A photo story about Andong Village

A story of hope – video (the history, school, and kids at Andong)

If you have questions you can contact me by leaving a comment (I read them all and respond if needed).

You can help in a big way by spreading the word:

• Put a link on your Facebook profile (click the “share” button at the bottom of this post and follow the steps)
• Put a link on your blog, or tell a few friends by email (but don’t spam anyone)

Don’t feel any pressure to contribute. If you see this as an opportunity, then give wholeheartedly.

This is Nak and me. My Facebook friends might recognize this as the source of my profile picture. It’s not that I love the picture so much, but it always reminds me of the kids in Cambodia. Nak almost died of AIDS in 2006, but medicine became available just in time to save him. Now he is one of 20+ kids at Wat Opot living with HIV. (I’ll give a prize to anyone who can guess where I got the “England” hat!)

This is Kunthy, who captured my heart from the start. You can see an older picture of her in my “poem” link above.

Here in Japan, my kids’ outdoors school declared that the proceeds from our annual fund raiser will go to kids in Cambodia through us. They don’t raise a whole lot, but maybe it will cover the cost. Maybe not, we’ll find out today actually.

By the way, in the next two days I’m going to launch a small fund raising campaign using my blogs and Facebook. I’d like to raise $2000 to bring with us. A portion will go to give kids in two places Christmas feasts and fun, and whatever extra will go to the ongoing expenses at each place. Stay tuned and please think about pitching in.

Here is a video of the kayaking event, including excerpts from a couple kids’ speeches (one in Japanese and the other in English). The third speaker, a young woman, is on Japan’s national whitewater kayaking team — she’s the daughter of our teacher/coach.  I interspersed images of the event with pictures of the kids. If you understand Japanese, you’ll see the pictures more or less line up with what the speakers are saying.

The song, “Every Child has a Beautiful Name,” is by an old Japanese rock band named Godiego. It’s a classic feel good tune with a simple message. My wife recommended it, and it’s perfect.

Okay, after that long-winded intro, here’s the video.

This looks really good in HD if you’re on a fast connection

In November of the year when daughters in Japan turn seven, it’s a tradition for their families to dress them in kimonos and take them to a shrine. The year of their third birthday is also marked, and boys are especially honored in the fifth year. The Japanese shorthand for the tradition is 753 (shichigosan).

Our twins turned seven this year. We didn’t take them to a shrine, although our friends invited us to bring them to a church service just for kids. Then we took  them to a photo studio that specializes in kimono pictures. This video documents that experience.

In recent years, the Japanese have added the tradition of dressing their daughters in “princess” dresses as well. Sure, it’s another Western incursion, but we went for the whole nine yards. We were there for three hours. I took 200+ pictures, more than one per minute. I edited those down to 45 for this video.

I recommend watching in HD, or download the video from YouTube for (by far) the best results. BTW, here is a photo I took of Reia on the same occasion two years ago.

I made this short video featuring my kids’ outdoors school digging potatoes. Digging potatoes in the Fall is part of the rhythm of life for Japanese kids, but I think this group does it with style. I’ve always liked the way they relate and work together, something that the teacher cultivates starting in preschool until they finish the outdoors school after the sixth grade. Years ago we saw a group of kids from the school playing together and noticed how the boys and girls were getting along so well. That really go our attention. I guess you’d have to see how Japanese kids play  and relate to understand (e.g., groups of boys all sitting around each with his own Nintendo DS, groups of girls nearby checking cell phones for email). Anyway, you can click to watch in HD if your connection is fast enough. Leave a comment with your thoughts below.

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Japanese boys running a race on Sports Day

A Japanese girl on Sports Day before performing a dance

The sixth graders performing traditional gymnastic exercises

The crowd of kids sitting in classes and cheering the events

Japanese parents at Sports Day

The final score is displayed

Here are a few photos to give you the feel of being at a children’s sports day at a school in Japan. Well, they can’t really capture all the feelings of parents watching the events which range from pride and wonder to boredom and pain. I felt all of these today. When only Reia was participating we were always waiting and waiting for her next event. Today it seemed like our kids were constantly coming up next. They were all very proud of their dances, and Maika was selected for the relay (one of just a few girls in her grade). Mari is actually faster than Maika, but they were on different teams — and Mari happened to be on the team with most of the fastest 1st grade girls.

I haven’t posted any photos of my kids, because I like these shots better. Mostly I shot video of my kids with a scattering of photos in between events.

The highlights of sports days are often the running events. Even though they aren’t supposed to be very competitive, at least not in elementary school, it still works out that way. They also have fun relays, dances, and the older kids do “gymnastic exercises” (for lack of a better word in English).  It’s a long day in the hot sun, and if you’ve seen one…  But if you ever have a chance, I recommend attending one. They’re free. They’re happening all over the place at this time of year, and anyone can walk in.

Today on the last lap of the final relay a boy came from behind in 3rd place to win. It was amazing, because he made up more than 20 meters over such a short space. When the final score was announced the red and white teams had tied: 288 to 288.

Reia and the henna tattoo guy in Indonesia

This morning I stepped out of McDonalds next to our local train station and took a deep breath. It was raining lightly, and the air was crisp and fresh. For a moment,  I remembered the feeling of being at 10,000 feet at the crest of the Sandia Mountains outside Albuquerque. I remembered gathering with others on hard packed snow under perfectly blue sky waiting for a cross-country ski race to begin. The air up there on such a day is amazing.

Then I wondered if my kids are missing something growing up in Tokyo. They’ve never been at the top of such a high mountain. In my childhood we seemed to be on the move all the time, always enjoying the outdoors in new ways. What a rich life that was after all.

Later I realized, with some help from my wife, that our oldest daughter is only in the third grade. At that age, I had never been on top of a mountain. I had lived in three states, twice in small towns, and as a toddler I had lived on a military base in Japan. But overall life looked pretty mundane.

But our kids have been mountain biking and kayaking for two years. Our oldest has gone kayaking down river rapids, and we weren’t even there to see it. They have been camping many times with and without us. Our oldest has lived in two countries, and they have all traveled with us to three other countries in Asia. This year we’ll spend Christmas in Cambodia. With a start like that, what kinds of experiences will our kids call “normal” by the time they reach high school?

I guess they’re not deprived after all. It’s funny how I missed that (most likely because mountains are weighted so heavily on my own list). They are only in danger of being so active they won’t ever learn to settle down…

Maybe you remember we got a piano for Christmas. We finally Reia found a piano teacher in July, so this is the first progress report after six lessons. I was going to wait until she’d nailed the piece, but today she kept asking me to video her. I love watching her play. I never learned how to play anything well, so I really hope she becomes a natural.

Poor Maika has noticed Reia getting lots of attention for her piano playing today, so she’s been hammering out chopsticks over and over all evening. I love all my girls!

We left for a long anticipated camping trip Tuesday, driving past Okutama and Mount Mitake to a beautiful expanse of forested wilderness on the northwestern edge of Tokyo. After 30 minutes of driving I asked Hitomi to take the wheel because my head didn’t feel right. I suspected a fever but thought I might just be tired and congested. Anway what better place to recover from a mild cold than a campsite with clean air, calm nature, and clear weather.

We arrived, set up camp, and started the barbecue grill. Then we ate a mountain of marinated beef and pork along with hot dogs and a few veggies to help it all down. Despite reports of good weather, we finished under a few drops of rain. We headed up to take showers, but after trudging up the hill I changed my mind. I was feeling the fever again, and I was afraid a shower might send me over the edge.

After some warm tea, we all crawled into the tent to sleep. We could hear our neighbors, a family, carrying on a low conversation. Of greater concern, the group of college students just twenty meters down the hill were talking and laughing loudly.  I had spoken with them earlier that evening. They had all taken a liking to our girls, and they were friendly enough.  Just college students.

Normally, I can sleep through such things, but for the next 2 hours I lay awake tossing and turning, unable to get comfortable in any position.  I was always too hot or too cold, and my legs and back hurt terribly as if my nerves were being stretched tight. Meanwhile, the students became louder and louder. I confess, I fantasized about setting their tents on fire using the charcoal starter I’d brought. Don’t worry, it was only fantasy never a consideration. But, finally, driven by outrage and an overriding need to use the restroom, I unzipped the tent and walked out in the rain. I came upon three of them in the shelter just below us. One was standing on a table singing exuberantly into a broom handle to an audience of two hooting and smiling girls. I lurched into their view and with as much fury as I could convey, a lot at that moment (believe it or not), I said in Japanese, “I’m your neighbor, and none of us can sleep!”  The singing guy lowered his broom and said, “Sumimasen!” (excuse me).

That might have been the end of it, but I did something out of character that I’ll blame on my fever (although maybe your character is precisely what comes out at such a time). I left them with a few choice words in English to let them know what I thought of “Sumimasen” and turned and walked away. Then I went to the restroom. I heard a couple of girls talking loudly in stalls, one of them nearly wailing. I imagine they were drunk. Due to the nature of Japanese restrooms, I could see the whole row of stalls. I put my head just inside the door and repeated what I’d said at the shelter, minus the last part. They hushed. I went to the bathroom, then returned to bed.

The noise mostly stopped after that, but I couldn’t sleep. All night my head was full of dark thoughts, guilt over getting so angry, and frustration at the pain that kept me awake. I heard the students finally go to sleep at 1:30am. I may have sleep a bit from 4:30 to 7am.

The rain started coming down hard just as we all woke up. We might have waited it out, but I didn’t want to spend another night like the one before. We packed up during a lull and drove straight home. The rest of the story isn’t that interesting. I went to the doctor. A nurse stuck a very thin Q-Tip extremely far up my nose. The test came back “Influenza Type A.” They didn’t specifically test for the H2N1 virus, but it’s the only “Type A” flu going around in Tokyo. So I started taking medicine. That was yesterday. Last night wasn’t great, but I feel much, much better now.

I’ll be working hard today and tomorrow, along with my wife, to get as much done as we can. Probably she and the kids will all be getting sick soon. At least they will be over it before school starts and before my next trip to Cambodia in two weeks. I can’t imagine having to leave with them all sick.

(I suspect I got infected during my trip to downtown Tokyo last week. It could have happened at the hip-hop festival or at “Kabab Box J” near Takeshitadori, where I had an incredibly tasty and highly recommended pita sandwhich. Mmmm, the spicy sauce… But more likely it happened on the train.)