... are great people to partner with, as we focus on the vision of alleviating poverty in a direct and tangible way. It is always interesting to meet with Geoff, Betty and the team of familiar faces ...



... as well as our new Project Officer, Craig, who plans to visit the project early next year.



We thoroughly enjoyed Greg's informative and entertaining presentation.

... included meetings with Gwen ...



... who has joined our team of T Shirt importers.

Some of the team from the newly formed 'Partners Against Poverty' ...





... and Penny from 'Future Cambodia Fund', who showed us around the project ...



... where we had a chance to meet special little people.



It's always great to have Mike Shepherd back in town for the 'Million Leaders Mandate' ...



... and lovely to meet up with Sheila ...



... who has returned to Phnom Penh after being overseas for the better part of 2009, at the 'EFC Children's Commission' AC meeting.

Thong and Barb from 'Kenmore Baptist Church', kindly treated us to lunch, together with Tim who has an interest in missions.



A number of the 'Community Care International' team, also joined us for a meeting.

Julia has been serving at 'Centre of Peace' Children's Home with Rachel and Ali ...



... and it was great to have a meeting to discuss various aspects and ideas associated with the operating of the home, with the ladies and we always enjoy meeting with Bophal to discuss the latest at the children's home.



It's always great to catch up with familiar faces and interesting to meet new faces, as we serve the Cambodian people.

... schedule planning for children with special needs ...



... continues to develop as we design individual plans and incorporate the necessary tools ...



... to meet the individual needs. As you can see by the concentration ...



... even with diminishing eye sight, studying can still be a great experience.



Sochea enjoyed selecting an exercise uniform for the team and children ...



... and the kids looked great in the finished product ...



... as they rehearsed with Vireak for their upcoming Christmas Concert.

... continues working on orders for jewelry bags ...



... children's costumes and T Shirts ...





... and it's always a great day when the time comes to pack an order to send overseas ...





... and it was the first time fabric was imported direct from China by Calypso Costumes.



What an interesting process it was getting the shipped fabric onto our sewing room floor!

As part of our project plan, we intend to open our second 'Sew Empowered' operation in the new community centre. However, we have been so blessed with orders that we branched out earlier than anticipated, with two people ...



including our first male team member ...



... joining our 'Sew Empowered' project on a casual basis. Pheakday ...



... is now sharing her time between the village and city project.

The 'Sew Empowered' project continues to develop with training now added to the schedule. Our first trainees are a couple of mums from the Stung Mean Chey dumpsite.



Although the dump is now closed, many people still live on the old site.



One of the trainees was delighted after completing a pair of pants for one of her children.



The ladies have also added Christmas silk screen printing to their stock with green and red 'Peace' and 'Joy' prints, as well as red and gold and green and gold Angels.





The first Empowering Cambodia stall at a Phnom Penh function was part of the recent Christmas Carols and Fair which was hosted by White Lotus and held at the conference centre in Khmer Surin. The girls, together with Bernardita, took turns in serving at the table throughout the day.



Bernardita has joined us as a volunteer and plans to stay for a month. Bernardita's flight arrived at the same time we commenced setting up, so Bernardita was greeted at the airport by our trusty Tuk Tuk driver To, who brought her to us.
Although Bernardita has come to assist us mainly in the area of education, because we planned to be away from our home for the day, we had made arrangements for Bernardita to join us at the fair. So, after greeting each other, we stored Bernardita's backpack under the table until the close of the fair and Bernardita got right down to business ... serving alongside our 'Sew Empowered' team.

Bernardita is an answer to prayer and we are so looking forward to having her share her teaching expertise with us as she works on the various education projects.

... includes Micro Finance and Business Enterprise opportunities and we recently approved a number of applications, including one from a man keen to have a mode of transport to either travel to a work place or generate an income by operating as a moto taxi.



With his own transport he should now be able to earn enough income to provide for his family. Great!

... is up and operating ...









... and even though the planned grass section doesn't exist ...



... that hasn't stopped the kids ...



... and the teachers ...



... from having a wonderful time. Excellent!