... recently hosted a get together and it's always a delight to see the older students ...



... and younger students ...



... enjoy singing their latest hits. Katja was also in town for her two week vacation ...



... so it was great to have the opportunity to spend time with her.

The students are all doing very well in their studies at the private primary, secondary and tertiary education facilities. With the ongoing challenges associated with educating students at the government school, it is always refreshing to see the achievement of the students enrolled at the private facilities.

'The truly happy people are those who have a source of happiness too deep to be seriously disturbed by ordinary troubles'.
Marion K. Rich

... team are enjoying working on a variety of activities, including the silk screened T Shirts, Calypso Costumes order ...







... and jewelry bags for Tom Stiegler and Co. The team enjoyed discussing the new designs for the Christmas Fair to be held in November.



Our latest team member only came on board to learn the T Shirt and silk screening trade ...



... but wants to stay on in her full time position with Sew Empowered. Consequently, we're happy, she's happy and the team are happy. Excellent!

... joined us at the NLF Sunday service, as did Marie and Dee from Victoria.



We enjoy having our home church team in town ...



... to serve alongside us ...







The children's performances included 'Majesty' ...



... as the team had the chance to relax for a bit ...





... before getting on with more fun!







Thanks for visiting us ...



... and treating us to a lovely evening out. Relaxing over a meal was a great way to get to chat with Dave and Ben ...



... Temily and Beck ...



... Kathy, Daniel and Julie, as well as Frank ...



... Neil, Linda and Tim.



Having the Riverview Church team in town always reminds us of our own trip with the church in 2003 when our lives were dramatically impacted. Life has never been the same!

We look forward to seeing you at Riverview Church when we're back in Perth!

... business was on our schedule as we tended to our board responsibilities ...





... and participated in the Prison Fellowship Zonal Conference with a number of members of the PFC team ...



... together with a host of PF team members from the Asian region.





Linda's presentation was inspirational as she shared about the impact of the ministry in the lives of the prisoners doing time in various prisons throughout the country.



We also had the opportunity to meet with Timothy who flew in to close the conference.



What's in a name?!



We think of the spelling of our surname as common. However, it gets spelt in a variety of ways. The other thing that amuses us is the fact that I often get called by my surname. I think it might be a little easier for the Cambodian people to pronounce. So, I just answer to both my christian and surname.

... brought some old friends back to town and we had the pleasure of spending time with them, prior to the teams arrival from the States. Johanna, from the USA, brought some treats which included among other things, a famous Trader Joe's carry bag, gourmet tea bags and the amazing answer to prayer, zip lock bags!



Therese, all the way from NZ, brought us custard powder and chocolate. Ah, the simple pleasures!



The girls met the 'Sew Empowered' team and purchased some T Shirts ...



... before visiting the village ...



... and TLC, where they met David ...



... and saw the PBC team in action ...





... with some wearing their new T Shirts.



We also joined the ladies for dinner one evening ...





... before the Kiwi contingent, Therese, Kim and Sheena, returned home and Johanna joined the Hand of Hope team.

On another occasion I had the opportunity of joining the Hand of Hope team for lunch just after they arrived in Phnom Penh. Once again, it was good to catch up with some familiar faces that we had the privilege of serving on the weekends during the 30 Days of Hope. We later met up with some of the team, including Shawna, Cynthia and Nancy, at the Toul Tom Poung market during a shopping trip.







During the course of the outreach, the team made a huge impact as they treated and cared for thousands of patients at the health centre in the province. We look forward to the next time we meet.

... with Rob and Kyle (there's lots of Americans in town) included a visit to the excellent facility just out of town ...





... as well as a visit to Centre of Peace ...



... followed by lunch at the new look Jars of Clay.



These guys are an inspiration and it was a pleasure to hear all about their callings and the work they have been involved in and how they ultimately found themselves in Cambodia.

...representatives visited the village early one morning just as the sun was rising (well, maybe a little bit later than that)...



... and entertained the children in one of the village houses ...





... before taking a stroll in front of the village complex.





The team then joined the TLC team for morning devotions ...





... before heading off to complete the Cambodian leg of their trip. The trip also takes the team to Malaysia, Singapore and Philippines.

Thanks for coming everyone!

... to ensure a great day out!



The Perth Bible College team surprised the people from the village and the children from TLC with a great day out at the local water park. There was a time for some to sit and relax on the sidelines ...



... while some took to the high slides ...



... while others preferred something a little lower ...



... or even lower still.



There was a time to just float around ...





... and a time to relax over lunch ...



... while this little one had obviously worn herself out and decided that a sleep was the only option.



This is the second time that PBC have blessed everyone with a day out at the water park, so I guess next time anyone sees David return with a team, they'll be thinking that it could be time for another big day out at the water park.

Thanks to everyone in the PBC team. It's always great to have you come and serve alongside us and we look forward to the next time we meet.

... blessed us with another team visit. While there were a number of new faces on the team, there we also a few old faces, or should I say, familiar faces, as they are not that old at all :) The team were well organised ...



... and kind enough ...





... to include our requests in their program.



We had a lovely evening out with the team ...





... when they invited us to join them for a meal down by the riverside ...







... and there's always plenty to discuss ...



... and coaster tricks to keep us entertained!

... program included a training session on business enterprise and micro finance options. We all did skits of unsuccessful businesses, which kept the audience amused. Sara played a man flitting from one unsuccessful business venture to another ...



... before deciding that he might just as well not try out for the business world any longer. He decided instead to do absolutely nothing besides playing his guitar and relaxing.



Sochea's skit was close to the reality of some we know, with her trying out different businesses, one after another ...



... before giving up and deciding that she would prefer to just sit around and bludge on visitors who were prepared to hand out money to her, instead of going out to earn it. We enjoyed presenting our skit with Patrick ...



... acting as a unqualified hairdresser and businessman ...



... who didn't listen to the detailed request of his client and therefore totally upset her.



Then it was time for the team to get down to the business side of the workshop.





I couldn't resist trying out the wig on Moriah!



We later met to discuss the business enterprise applications, which included a number of interesting ideas!



The workshop was aimed at providing opportunities conducive to the people having self respect and dignity, which we believe comes with enlargement, as we facilitate a self sustaining lifestyle and not a succession of handouts.

... from Singapore, joined us to teach the children art. Art supplies were distributed to the children ...



... and Eve ...



... and Janette and the children ...



... got down to the fine art of drawing in charcoal.



The Kindy Kids also had the pleasure of Janette taking their class.



Thank you Eve & Janette for taking the time out to serve alongside us!

... team members, including Louise ...



... served alongside the teams at TLC and CRDP. The team was busy teaching cooking ….



... sewing ...





… and repairing bikes …





... and working with the children on a number of activities.







It's great to have teams come and work with us and all the service support is greatly appreciated.

Thank you Deloraine Baptist Church team members for serving alongside us!

... meetings are always informative and inspiring as the team advise of their operations and upcoming schedules, including a focus on Child Protection Policy training and the positive reports of the impact that the Celebrating Children's course is having throughout the city and provincial districts.



After studying the Celebrating Children book - equipping people working with children and young people living in difficult circumstances around the world - and presenting material from the book to a number of audiences, it was a privilege to meet Glenn Miles ...



... one of the editors of the book.

... is proving to be a great interest for Pheakdey, as she trains at Sew Empowered. The team have welcomed Pheakdey into the project and are enjoying having her as part of the team.



Pheakdey has received training on two new types of machines, one especially designed for the making of the T Shirts ...



... and has had the opportunity to watch the girls go through the silk screening process, which she will also partake in at a later date.



Pheakdey was delighted with her first completed T Shirt.



A motor bike has been purchased to assist those attending skills training and education studies in traveling to the various locations ...



... with a second bike pledged and to be delivered in October.

... has Theara and Theary very excited. Although the girls were a little quiet ...



... during their interview with Sandra ...



... they blossomed once they got into the training school activities.



It was great to see Theara finally enrolled after having a desire to attend for so long. I can still remember the time Theara put pen to paper and wrote about her hope of being a hairdresser in the future. We look forward to seeing the vision Theara is a part of unfold and come to fruition.

... for children, youth and adults are currently on the agenda with private school and university enrollments the preferred option.

A total of 19 students are now enrolled in various private education facilities, as part of the education project. Excellent!

Nai, has done a great job of researching the quality of education provided by the various education facilities for primary ...



... secondary and tertiary education ...



... and the students are all very excited about the fast approaching new school year which commences in October.



A number of the students will be attending a new private school in order to ensure that they receive quality education ...



... and we look forward to seeing the students response to this opportunity. It's great visiting the students in their classes and organising volunteers to work in the project ...



... and there's always a project budget to be worked on.



Phearin is excited about commencing his associate degree ...



... and Vireak is looking forward to advancing his English language studies at a new university ...



... where he is enrolled in Intensive English studies.