(CAMBODIA) I am telling myself this was an exceptional quarter, with the Regional Assembly and rare visits. But who knows. Maybe this is just life at House #81, Street 456, and we’d better get used to it. Here are some of the highlights from the last three months.

I am telling myself this was an exceptional quarter, with the Regional Assembly and rare visits. But who knows. Maybe this is just life at House #81, Street 456, and we’d better get used to it. Here are some of the highlights from the last three months.
 
Hosting 111 participants at the regional assembly in Siem Reap
Yes, it was a lot of work for many, including our staff in Cambodia, to prepare to host the World Renew regional assembly in Siem Reap. Fortunately, the return on that investment was outstanding. Meeting together with World Renew partners, friends, colleagues, and donors from the Philippines, Laos, Bangladesh, India, Australia, Canada, and the U.S was much like a family reunion. The “World Renew Asia family” is a large one, with a great depth of experience in community development and a commitment to serve the poor in a way that reflects the love and joy of Jesus. We were lucky to be able to include students from Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA and King’s University in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, among our participants. The time together provided for teaching, worship, sharing our experiences with each other in small and medium-sized groups, and a lively and cultural poolside evening where we were able to entertain each other according to our respective national heritages.
 
isit of Norwegian Mission Alliance Board
We received the full board of Norwegian Mission Alliance (NMA) on its first trip in 113 years travelling as an entire board to see development work it supports. What an honor for World Renew in Cambodia! The NMA board spent time with us in the office and in the field and was able to provide useful reflections on our work. They left, encouraging us to expand our work, suggesting areas for expansion, and assuring us of their support for expansion.
 
Showing our work to the senior management of World Renew
The same week that the NMA board visited our work, we were privileged to be able to show our work to the U.S. director of World Renew, Andy Ryskamp, and the director of constituency relations, Tom McWhertor. Fortunately, Tom Post, team leader for World Renew in Asia accompanied Andy and Tom on this visit. It was enriching for Sovann and Kathleen to accompany Andy, Tom, and Tom to see our work in the field and to draw on their vast and rich experience as we shared ideas on our current and future work in Cambodia.

Streamlined and online
Gradually, the building where we work is being transformed and that transformation is now pretty well finished. Last quarter saw unused documents, filing cabinets, and furniture removed, the entire exterior painted, and electrical wires managed and hidden.

This quarter included adding new landscaping, emptying the garage so sta2 motos can be stored there, removing old draperies and installing blinds, and decorating our office space with professional photos of our work and some indoor plants. We also made good headway in getting a new information management system up and running on the Google drive. Our documents are now organized so that all staff can share documents easily, manage meetings, manage booking our resources, and ensure that our documents are protected and safe.

TFUK evaluation
Tearfund U.K. supports World Renew’s work with eight churches, each of which does community development in an average of two communities.

They have also supported World Renew’s work with a Christian learning network of 31 pastors and other Christian leaders who are involved in community development. As our three-year agreement with TFUK is ending, they have requested an evaluation. We sent out a request for proposal, selected a consultant, and the results of that work will be ready for us in the first week of April. We’re anticipating good input for our proposal to TFUK for continued support for our work in the coming three years.

Strategizing
World Renew has been working in Cambodia since 1996. Since then, the work has grown and improved, and the capacity of the sta2 and our partners has been greatly enhanced. However, the thrust of the work—to do integrated community development with and through local partners—has remained constant.

With a rapidly growing economy in Cambodia, political unrest, high corruption, a very young population, and a rapid shift of population from the rural communities to urban centers, we are taking a critical look at the way we are working. We are considering how we might evolve into the next decade. We are reviewing research on socio-economic, political, and demographic changes. And we are interviewing people in Cambodia who have their fingers on the pulse of change and who are, like us, reviewing their priorities and programming strategies. There are many good ideas coming from this work which we will consider and evaluate in the months ahead.

Immersion Khmei and community integration:
Struggling to learn to speak Khmei through private lessons three hours per week (on a good week) has pushed me to find a more creative approach. Toward the end of February, I travelled to one of our communities and spent three days living there with the family of the Community Based Organization&nb
sp;(CBO) leader.

With no road into the community and no electricity, it was a rich cultural experience. And since no one in the community could speak English, I was highly motivated to express myself in Khmei! It proved to be a great way to accelerate my language learning, but even more valuable was the opportunity to experience the simple community life and the warmth and hospitality of the family with which I stayed. I was thrilled to be able to teach English to a group of 50 or so children who gathered at the learning center each morning and afternoon. They taught me Khmei. I taught them English. We sang songs and had a lot of laughs.

Prayer Items

  • Thanks that the political unrest and demonstrations have mostly been contained and have not directly interrupted our work.
     
  • Thanks for the rich way in which our work in Cambodia is being blessed with funding and support from World Renew and its wonderful donors, and also from our partners, especially Norwegian Mission Alliance, Tearfund UK, and Foods Resource Bank.
     
  • Thanks for the stimulating discussions which we are having with other organizations, leading thinkers, and activists in Cambodia and the good ideas that are being proposed for World Renew to adapt our work to reflect the changing context.
     
  • Thanks for the volunteers who have come forward to support out work including: Deanne H, an accountant from Michigan, who will spend two months in Cambodia to help us with our financial management while our financial manager is on maternity leave;
    Carol Van Klompenburg, an editor from Iowa, who is helping us virtually to edit and improve our documents.
     
  • Prayers for Ruth Ambion, our finance manager, who has returned to the Philippines with her husband, to give birth to their first child. Pray for a healthy delivery.
     
  • Prayers for the political situation in Cambodia. Pray for the 16 people who have been detained and one 16-year old youth who has been missing since the police crack down in January. Pray that the frustration over the aborted and apparently fruitless talks between the government and the opposition can be resolved

Blessings,

Kathleen Lauder

Country Consultant
World Renew Cambodia