We are now in Cambodia again on our second Church mission away from the United States.
This past Monday, we went to the Employment Office and met with our staff. We have seven part time employees
who are paid $1.25 per day for four days a week. They get paid every two weeks and each receives $10.00. You might
say they are volunteers as we pay them so little; however, they want to help us organize the employment program here.
We also had two interns from the Our job here in Cambodia is to expand the Employment office by offering career workshops to teach people how to get jobs and also conducting self-employment workshops for those interested in starting their own businesses. For the latter we will look for financial institutions that will offer micro-credit to help them get started in business. We will be using our past experience here to really get things running at top speed. Don Davidson from CUNA Mutual has given me a name of a person in the World Council that may be able to give us assistance in starting credit unions here. That would really be exciting. On Friday and Saturday we went shopping trying to find what we needed for our apartment. We purchased, food, pillows, a bedspread, teaspoons, towels, pencil sharpener, file folders, stapler, computer floppy discs, plastic storage containers (Sharron’s favorites) frying pans, iron, etc. The biggest sticker shock was Cheerios @ $6.95 for a medium sized box. However, we presume that it costs a lot of money to ship the box from the U.S. All grocery items purchased in markets that cater to westerners are at least double in price compared to the U.S. We have to go to four different markets to get all the things we want /need. Oh, yes, Sharron found Sour Crème, Cottage Cheese and Philadelphia Crème Cheese. But Garry could not find any dill pickles. Also, we bought what we thought was grape juice and it was concentrated and so thick that it had to be blended with four parts of water in order to drink it and it was still too sweet! It was a brand that is made in Thailand. While we were shopping we met several of our former students who now have good jobs and some are making over $150.00 a month. While we were he last time we taught them English and computer skills. Those two skills are almost mandatory to get good employment. On Saturday evening one of my former students in English class who is a doctor came to visit us for about two hours. He saw us quite by chance last week on Friday evening and said that he had never used that street before, but saw us in a van with another American couple. He stopped his car and came running to greet us when our van stopped in front of the restaurant. It is wonderful to see how these people still respect us and appreciate how we helped them. Then yesterday (Sunday) he brought his wife to visit us in our apartment. He has been married for just over two years and his wife is expecting their first baby -- a boy in July. They are so happy. His wife is also a doctor. Incidentally, to become a doctor in Cambodia only requires four years of study at a medical university. He graduated just before we left here 18 months ago and has been serving an internship in the provinces. He is now studying to get his master's degree so he can earn more money. Incidentally, he only makes $200.00 as a doctor. After he gets his masters degree he hopes to get a salary exceeding $300.00 a month. To make more money he uses his car as an ambulance when needed. Doctors don't have to worry about malpractice insurance over here. (Received from Garry 4-11-04) |
BYU Hawaii University who have been assisting
during the past four months.
They finished their assignment with us this week and went on holiday to celebrate Khmer New Year with their family.
The couple we are replacing left here two months ago.