Sylvia's Journal

Seventh Day Adventists start their Sabbath on Friday at 4 PM and so the day was short. I started it in the middle of the night which made my day very long. I had gotten up at 3 AM unable to sleep any longer and used the time to attend to other matters waiting in my email box until the internet connection was ended by the receptionist who, despite many requests to leave it on all the time, disconnects me each morning at around 4 AM. I then have to wait for someone to wake up and re-connect me.

I tried the chicken noodle breakfast and am determined to try something different each day. I have one more day of something recognizable (beef noodle) and then I am really getting into unknown territory.

I had made up a program for the day and once again we did not follow it. We are still trying to figure out the meaning of words. I kept asking people to explain in Khmer what something meant and then asked the rest to indicate with a thumbs up, down or sideways whether they thought it was good and clear or not. Slowly we are getting to narrow things down – but there were several surprises, as when I asked people to think about an accomplishment they were very proud of for which they had to overcome many obstacles with considerable effort and two young men started talking about a divorce and a love affair. But we are soldiering on.

Leonard, who is the one responsible for getting me here, took me for lunch to his home where he lives with his Philippino wife and his 4 adorable girls (from 3 months to 9 years). His in-laws were visiting and our impromptu lunch appearance created a little bit of a stir but also a wonderful lunch that included Indonesian Gado-Gado (vegetables with spicy peanut sauce), a Philippino dish with ingredients I could not discern, an American dish (spaghetti with frankfurters in tomato sauce), jackfruit and rice. The drink was a homemade invention of yogurt and Sprite on ice. We ate while the rest stood around or was busy with other things.

As part of a Christian minority Leonard left Indonesia because he and his family could not practice their faith. I am not sure of the details of their departure but I think it was not what they had wanted. Having lived in Cambodia for 5 years with a contract ending they wonder what comes next and long to settle somewhere for a long time so the girls can settle down in one school and make lasting friends.

In the afternoon we had only a couple of hours to finish our work for the day. We settled on the agenda for our meeting with the excellencies next Tuesday and divided the work. One more actor in our play is Naomi from ADRA Headquarters who will arrive on Sunday. We will work all day on Sunday and start practicing for a repeat of the Tuesday exercise and the launch of the actual leadership program in one province about 100 km to the northeast, later this week.

Back in the hotel I surrendered to a deep need to rest my eyes for awhile before dinner. I woke up in the middle of the night again. This is beginning to be a bad habit. I forced myself to go back to sleep and made it to 5 AM. Today one of my students from the first MSH/BU Leadership course will give me a guided tour of Phnom Penh in a little motor tuk tuk rented for the day.