The Last Word…For Now

Our time in Phnom Penh is drawing to a speedy close!

Since our last blog, Logan completed his first half marathon fundraising for Hagar. The course was through the temples at Siem Reap. It was a fantastic experience (well, for me at least, I ran 10km) and Logan raised NZ$2,000 for Hagar. Thank you to everyone who supported Logan! I think it’s safe to say he won’t be running another half marathon for some time…

I have learned so much working in the legal and protection unit over the last two months. I have experienced the messy and difficult work we do at Hagar, often complicated by the fact that there is no functioning guardianship or child protection system in Cambodia. The hardest situations are when we have exhausted all options to keep a client safe but the parents won't work with us - we can’t demand that they do. There has been a recent law change providing a mechanism for parental rights to be suspended, and we intend to test this. And sometimes our clients themselves don’t want to stay at Hagar, they would rather take their chances on the street, sometimes lured by the money they can earn by selling their company or more. 

These struggles make the success stories so encouraging - we love hearing about the positive change clients experience at Hagar, clients going to University, seeing them lead as mentors for other clients, thriving in an internship with Hagar, or watching some of our boys have fun as they play in their weekly soccer competition. The 'whole journey' at Hagar is about hope, restoration and wholeness and we are thankful to have been part of this journey here in Phnom Penh. 

We are packing up our belongings and have started saying goodbye to our colleagues, friends and the city that we have called home...for now. Logan has taken up a role as Hagar’s Chief Marketing Officer in 2013 and will do this from New Zealand, traveling back a few times. I will finish up some projects on a part-time basis for Hagar from New Zealand and am also looking for other work. We are excited that we can continue to serve Hagar even though we are leaving Cambodia. Our hearts have been captured by this work and our clients, so Hagar won't be getting rid of us anytime soon ;)

The wonderful experience we have had is due in large part to the beautiful and inspiring people we work with at Hagar, in Phnom Penh and elsewhere, and that we have met during our time here. We have been blessed by you and appreciate you all very much - thank you for your friendship. 

This week we leave Phnom Penh to visit some good friends in Kolkata and Europe and we will be back in New Zealand in February. We are very thankful for this time to spend time with friends, process, and holiday together before we head home. It's with some sadness that we leave but we look forward to what's ahead for us as well.

Michael and Wei - culinary expertise much appreciated

Sokla our tuktuk driver :)

I guess that's it from us for now! Thank you for reading our blog, for your financial support, your prayers and emails over the last year.

We look forward to seeing you real soon. Merry Christmas! We pray you know God's peace and love over this special season.

- Logan and Karen

Kiwi mates Katy and Sam - enjoyed some good meals and chats here!

Some of the Hagar crew at our farewell BBQ 

The Sues - these women are simply amazing! And it's just nice having other Kiwis around :)

Merry and John - wish we met you earlier! Fun times exploring PP's good food

Lovely ladies Kari and Trudy - and their other halves not pictured here but not forgotten :)

Catherine Sherrod - the Phnom Penh oracle and only fitting I include a picture of us at Brown cafe :)

Hagar, a growing INGO...

Hagar’s mission statement is - “Whatever it takes for as long as it takes to restore a broken life” and having now lived here for some 8 months I can honestly say the staff truly live out this mission. Some of the staff at Hagar were in Hagar's care as children and now mentor our clients. We also work with other ex-clients. It’s amazing to witness first hand the miracle of healing and restoration in Hagar’s staff and clients.

After 19 years of operation, Hagar has now become a mid-size international NGO, with program offices (offices providing services and programs to care for exploited, abused women and children) in Cambodia, Vietnam and Afghanistan, and support offices (fundraising, grant writing and advocacy) in USA, Australia, Singapore, Hong Kong, the UK and NZ.

Over the last 2 weeks we have had Hagar’s country leaders and Hagar International board members here, and it has been an amazing time of “coming together” to dream, inspire, plan, and discuss complexities that can only be done face to face. Hagar has big plans and it’s exciting to be a part of it.

As an organization like Hagar grows, new challenges present themselves, like investing in global finance & technology systems, recruiting new program specialists and complying with all the various legal and aid requirements of specific countries - whilst endeavouring to remain consistent with Hagar's mission and identity. Hagar needs skilled people to execute the future vision of the organization, to enable it to grow and continue to provide excellent services, as well as move into new countries!

Catherine (Hagar Cambodia) and Harvey (HI board chair)

Karen has been instrumental in developing Hagar's global governance structure to enable clearer decision making processes, and greater efficiency across the organisation (along with her recent legal protection work). My role is simply to build the brand globally and grow new revenue streams so Hagar can continue to restore broken lives and move into new areas such as providing services to the 90 kids living in prison with their mothers in Battambang.

I’m about to run a half marathon in 3 weeks at Angkor Wat, through 5 temples that make up one of the 7 wonders of the world.  It’s going to be fun, but I am nervous as training has been difficult (especially in the heat)! The main reason I am doing it is to raise money and to research how “peer to peer” fundraising works. My friends and family sponsor me via my fundraising page (see blog below), and the money goes to Hagar. In 3 months, the next challenge is to run a 500km cycling event in SE Asia with 24 people doing the same thing, hopefully raising over USD50K - check it out here: http://hagarinternational.org/international/get-involved/awareness-events.

 Bronwyn - fellow Kiwi and Hagar Afghanistan country leader

Our hope is that Hagar continues to grow to serve more clients, and that the work we are doing here will contribute to that and be of lasting value. We can see some of the fruit of our work already… and we know that our relationship with Hagar will continue.

- Logan

He tangata!

He aha te mea nui o te ao? He tangata! He tangata! He tangata!

 What is the most important thing in the world? It is people! It is people! It is people!

You might think it strange I start this blog post with a Maori proverb, given we are in Cambodia! And maybe you are right. However, as we approach the time for leaving and think about our plans for coming home, I have been reflecting on the tangata in our lives - including you, our friends and family.

- We have been blessed by visitors here who we have encouraged us and filled up our tanks if we have felt empty and tired. Most recently, Mum, Dad and Carissa came over for three weeks. We so loved sharing our life here and Hagar's work with them. Dave and Mikola, Mai and Dan, and our friend Matt have also been here - there is nothing like hanging out with other Kiwis who know you! We have also appreciated Skype for being able to keep up with news from friends at home and overseas.

 - We are grateful for both our wonderful families who have loved us and cared for us over the years. Hagar works with some children who were sold by their own families, or are unwanted, leading to their vulnerability and exploitation. Our heritage and the lessons we have learned from our families enable us to follow Christ's example as we work alongside others to do justice for those who cannot attain it for themselves.

- I am thankful for the team I worked in during my time in private practice and what I learned from them. My first task in the legal and protection unit was to respond to a request for documents in one of the overseas cases involving some of our clients. It was probably the only time I have been grateful for the experience of months of discovery - it came in handy!

 - We were blown away when our church, Petone Baptist, put on a variety concert recently to raise money for Hagar. We also received a donation for Hagar from my grandparents' prayer group and we were really moved by that. We are encouraged by people coming together to support Hagar's work and what we are doing.

We think of our supporters, friends and family often and thank you for your friendship/prayers/reading our blog posts!

We have heaps to do in the next 2 months! We are heading into two weeks of meetings with Hagar country leaders and the Hagar International board. It's a strategic time for Hagar so I'm looking forward to learning from them and sharing with you in our next blog update. I'm organising a lot for the meetings and we are both presenting some of the content so we'd be grateful for your prayers.

Reunited in Hanoi!

Hanging with some other Hagar Kiwis

RUN & RIDE FOR HAGAR

_______________________________________________________________________________________ So,I have decided to take the plunge and run 20km...in the Angkor Wat Half marathon to support the work of Hagar financially through sponsorship. The idea is if I can run 20Km and raise 2K then EVERYONE who signs up to the RIDE FOR HAGAR | CYCLE TOUR in February should be able to do the same! The hope for the cycle tour is that we will raise over 100K for Hagar in the first year (from 25 cyclists) and 2 trips which will cover the Hagar International shortfall. If you want to tour Cambodia and Vietnam, cycling 500km through beautiful scenery, connect with the local people and culture, gain understanding of the real issues and witness the work of Hagar first hand, please get in touch! The ride starts February 15... it will be pretty sweet. _______________________________________________________________________________________ Alternatively please sponsor me. Even $10 is valuable at Hagar, and you may just find your heart follows your wallet;) Mine certainly has! Now, time to find those running shoes...

Half way stock take

Well, we’re over half way through our time here! Sometimes it feels like time is flying by, but we often take the time to sit back and enjoy moments; and celebrate milestones in our journey. (Those of you who know Karen well will recognise these times as she says thoughtfully “…this [accompanied by a hand gesture motioning in the general direction of whatever is going on], is good.”

Like the first time we arrived at our favourite café (Artillery, do it!) without getting lost, feeling the sense that Phnom Penh is our “home”, enjoying a Friday night drink with colleagues from work and sharing stories after a hectic week, catching the sunrise when we wake up early (which is far too often), enjoying the view from the top of the Kep National Park – one of our favourite places to visit, retelling funny conversations we may have tried to have in Khmer, having friends from NZ to visit and sharing a meal at one of our favourite restaurants or seeing the beautiful sights of Cambodia with them, and spending time with the friends we have made here.

We are amped about the rest of our time here. We still have a lot to do but it is encouraging to see that we are contributing to growing Hagar's capacity for the work it is doing.

Karen will be taking on some legal and protection work starting next week as the expat advisor in the team is going on maternity leave. This work will include working with the L&P team on client safety issues (often in a crisis situation) and helping prepare clients for court if the offender is being prosecuted locally (or sometimes in the USA). Karen's excited about working directly with Hagar's clients but is under no illusion that the work will bring its own emotional and technical challenges.

I have completed strategy work for growing social media and I’m near the end of the retail pledge product development project, both of which involved working extensively with our support offices overseas. Part of my role now is to explore new revenue opportunities, so I’m working on a Vietnam/Cambodia cycle “awareness tour” and a new Hagar apparel product range (e.g. t-shirts/jewellery).

We would appreciate your prayers as we continue our work here. We miss NZ (friends and family mainly) a lot and should make it back in time for the best of summer! 

- Logan

Dan and Mai with us at Kep

Me discussing important work stuff with Patricia (comms team)

Dave and Mikola at Angkor Wat

How many girls can you fit in a tuktuk?

Trauma in Cambodia

I’m not sure one’s every really ready to visit Choeung Ek (“the Killing Fields”).  And I’m not exactly sure what to say about it, but it’s an experience that cannot go unmentioned.

In April 1975, after a civil war spanning several years, the Khmer Rouge (“Red Khmer” because of its communist roots) took over Phnom Penh overthrowing the Cambodian government. There was celebration in the streets because the people thought the war was over. However, it was the beginning of four years of forced labour, starvation, brutal torture and execution of over 2,000,000 people. Choeung Ek is the most well-known of about 300 killing fields in Cambodia. Those who threatened or appeared to threaten (eg they spoke another language, wore glasses or were educated) Pol Pot’s utopic agrarian society were often tortured or simply killed. In Phnom Penh, truckloads were transported from S21 prison where they were tortured, to this place to die.

Wandering around the Killing Fields in the bright sun a couple of weeks ago, bits of cloth and bone underfoot exposed by the recent rains, I considered the horror of the events of that place, and came to the conclusion that it exists because of the absolute power possessed by and paranoia of (pretty much) one man.  

This week, I was struck by the ongoing trauma experienced by many Cambodians following the Khmer Rouge era. Sue Taylor, a fellow Kiwi who has been with Hagar for several years building capacity in counseling and case work took the Hagar expats through Informed Trauma Training. This training will be given to all Hagar staff, including finance, HR, and the drivers that take the kids to Hagar’s school, to help us understand the needs of our clients, the work of our counselors, caseworkers and others who work directly with our clients, and the vicarious trauma that they can experience as a result of that work.

In the training we talked about the trauma Cambodians experienced during the war and Khmer Rouge era as a result of constant fear and suspicion, loss of loved ones and exposure to extreme acts of violence. Sue talked about the mother of one of our clients who does not know what it is to be affectionate, to take care of her children. She was a teenager during the Khmer Rouge era and was told she must work hard, and work hard she has ever since – to the detriment of her family.

I realized that there are many forms of trauma affecting the lives of some of our clients - their own personal trauma, but also that of their families and their nation. 

- Karen

The stupa memorial that houses bones of many of those who were killed here.

The (now empty) Killing Fields. There are other sections of the area that have not been excavated out of respect.

At our training at the women's shelter. I gained a huge appreciation for the work that Sue and others do with our clients at Hagar.

Battambang!

We recently visited Cambodia's second biggest city - Battambang. Here are some highlights:

Bats! 2 million of them!

Cooking class! Logan making the paste for fish amok, check out the concentration...

Bamboo train! Yes, a 'train' carriage made from bamboo. It actually went really fast.

View from Phnom Sampov - the site of the local killing caves from the Khmer Rouge era.

An Unexpected Guest

We've recently been exploring opportunities to spend time with Hagar clients. Our first experience was a bit more hands-on than we expected!

Sovann was sold by her mother to be a domestic worker at a young age. She was rescued, and Hagar took her. She was reintegrated to her family - to her grandmother - a few years later. But her grandmother became unwell, and passed away. Sovann was taken by her mother and sold again, this time to a karaoke bar. Sovann was rescued, again, and came back to Hagar. Hagar has done whatever it takes with Sovann for 15 years. She's been through Hagar's programs but yet she has not settled anywhere.

2 weeks ago, Sovann was in hospital because she had been cutting herself. She was told by other women where she was staying that it was a good idea to kill herself. Sovann had nowhere to go and Hagar felt like they were at the end of the road with her. She was discharged from hospital and needed a place to stay for the night. My friend Catherine and I were having lunch with Sue (another Hagar staff member) that day to discuss what we could do to spend time with the women at the shelter. Sue was obviously distracted by Sovann's situation and as she talked about it, I felt to offer for Sovann to stay with us the night. And she did. She doesn't speak a vast amount of English but we managed to communicate. Catherine came over for dinner as well, and we (the girls) painted our toenails and talked and laughed in broken Khm-English.  Sovann sat out on our balcony and watched the people come and go from the Golden Rainbow bar across the road. She was possibly reminded of and maybe even longed for the familiarity of the karaoke bar, despite that she was sold into that experience.

We were a bit nervous that she might try to hurt herself or run away - so we just prayed that God would give her peace and keep her safe, and we put away anything that she could use to hurt herself. Sovann slept soundly and the night went by without drama (except when I awoke to find a cockroach in our bed). When we took Sovann back to the shelter the next day, I told her (and we hope she understands) that we loved having her stay, that she is precious and cared for. We pray that she knows that to be true in the days, months and years to come. Sovann has gone back to stay temporarily with her foster family just out of Phnom Penh and Hagar is supporting her to find a new job or apprenticeship.

-Karen

Slice of Life

Monsoon has begun! We have cycled home in knee-deep water in our ponchos - 2 days down and about 5 months to go.  I am just really hoping that the smelly canal at the end of our road does not overflow! We are blessed that we have found a haven in our apartment. We enjoy coming home to it and even cooking in our limited kitchen. Well, I do anyway J It’s like camping! We even managed to have a couple of my newly found friends (Catherine and Tash) over for dinner. There was no self-saucing chocolate pudding on the menu but it was a good meal regardless J

We have met some wonderful people from all over the world: Canada, USA, Australia, Hong Kong and of course NZ. A social life-line for us has been a weekly lifegroup connected to ICA church. There are about 30 people between 25 and 35 that meet together for a meal and a bible study. They are predominantly NGO workers with big hearts and incredible stories so we are enjoying those connections. We’d appreciate prayer for these friendships to grow and also for continued good health. We are thankful (and somewhat surprised!) that we haven’t been really ill.

We have visited a few churches but haven’t settled anywhere – we go between the English speaking, western style church (ICA or ICF) and the lively Khmer church where we can sing along in English while everyone else sings in Khmer and listen to the sermon in English on a transistor radio via an interpreter. 

We enjoy connecting with our landlords and neighbours (despite the fact that one attempted to take Logan’s wallet but gave it back when he caught her…) Below is a picture of me with Amina from next door. She often pops her head in the door and says hello and runs away. She’s very cute.

Work is challenging and growing us both. We work for Hagar International at the head office of Hagar Cambodia. Hagar Cambodia has a staff of about 180 people (including counselors, case managers and so on). There are about 35 people working for Hagar International and Hagar Cambodia at main office, 10 of which are expats from Canada, Australia, NZ, the Philippines and the US. For the benefit of those who are new to our adventure – Logan is working on marketing strategy for Hagar International, and I am working with the CEO and board of Hagar International. My main project while I’m here is establishing a governance and accountability framework for Hagar globally, as well as supporting Hagar International’s property owning companies and Hagar's Social Enterprise company. I’m also assisting with setting up a new support office in Hong Kong. So while we are not working at the grass roots level with Hagar’s clients, we are using our skills to grow Hagar’s capacity so it can deliver more services to more clients.

Every day brings new sights and experiences for us still. I’m expecting our honeymoon with Phnom Penh to end sometime but long may it last!

Seven things I love about Phnom Penh, in no particular order:

1. Mangos – fresh, dried, in a smoothie, in salads, any way they come!

2. Ordering food where no one speaks English and the menu is in Khmer – last time I ordered I ended up with a whole fish. It was tasty.

3. It’s sunny almost ALL the time.

4. Coffee at Brown– picture below. (Thank you Fitzmaurice family!) It always tastes best on a Monday morning if it’s hard to get going for the week J

5. Cambodian people – they are so friendly, always smiling and happy to help. Even our Khmer teacher Dara when Logan hasn’t done his homework.

6. Amazing thunder and lightning storms.

7.  For $0.60 you can buy a can of beer - even if you are not that keen on beer, you can’t help it at this price or (2) bike up the road from work to a stall where I pick a small coconut, a woman will make a hole in it for me, I drink it dry and then she cracks it open so I can eat the flesh.

-Karen

Beautiful Shadows

Hagar is all about each client’s individual journey to restoration and wholeness.

What struck me this week is the creative means that Hagar uses and the awareness that clients display of the journey that they are on.

I attended a photo exhibition this weekend for several Hagar girls who had undertaken a photography workshop. Tim and Deborah from Ireland volunteered to teach the girls about photography and give them an opportunity to express themselves through various assignments; and raised funds for the girls’ cameras. The photos on display were striking.

The photo here is of a one of the girls’ mothers in the field that she works. She told us that the photo depicts the strength of the Cambodian people -  her mother looks out over the field with hope toward the future. Another photograph she took was of her shadow. She said that her shadow is like her past. Sometimes she tries to hide from it. It might not seem very pretty but God sees it and it is beautiful to Him. Logan will be involved in a fundraising event to auction the photos online…so watch this space!

-Karen

In other news, we are enjoying biking to and from work on our push-bikes! We work at the main office for Hagar in the NGO district, about 15 minutes ride from home. There are about 35 staff at the main office, 10 of which are ex-pats. I am pictured below with Vatanak - she is the CEO's executive assistant, so I work closely with her.

Recovery is Messy

After being at Hagar for only 5 weeks, one of the things we have realised is that working with broken people is extremely difficult and often painful.

Recovery at Hagar is messy. The mess isn’t simply something that happened in a girl’s life, it IS the girl's life.

The mess is self-contempt, hopelessness, bittersweet pregnancies and children born of abuse, calls from family asking you to go back to the brothel to earn money so you can feed them, flashbacks, post traumatic stress disorder, STDs, being in love with your trafficker... 

It’s the boy at Hagar that won't make eye contact, who stares at the wall most of the day because he was raped daily by a foreign pedophile.

It’s the girl who left Cambodia for Malaysia, to get the best job in the world, who returned home raped and pregnant.

It’s the 3 children at Hagar that can't go home, because their trafficker is out of prison after 3 years and has moved back in with their mother.

It’s the girl who runs away from the girls shelter regularly to sell her body but keeps coming back.

  

Recovery is often one step forward and two steps back, yet our skilled team... armed with hope, full of love, and fueled by passion and commitment, are seeing some beautiful things happen.

Within these complex situations, there are some incredible stories of hope and restoration.

Last week I had the privilege of visiting one of Hagar’s foster families. They are a loving family, rice farmers, living on a dirt road in rural Cambodia about an hour from Phnom Penh. They have taken in, loved and cared for 5 kids "The "Vorns" -  3 brothers and 2 sisters, between the ages of 9 and 16 for the last 3 years.

Their mother died when they were very young, and their 18-month old sister died a few months later.

Their dad was a drunk and couldn’t care for them, and the kids were found living in a field with no food, little water and having never attended school. They were brought to Hagar, and undertook an intensive rehabilitation program. They had to learn how to live, eat, communicate -  even get used to living under a roof. 

Now they are clean, healthy and know they are loved. 

They have hope. They attend school, and are part of an acceleration programme. Both older boys want to become doctors when they leave home. It was awesome to meet them, and I was really humbled by the situation. They live a simple but happy life. We ate with them, followed up on how they are doing at school and vowed to return with a soccer ball as their ball was flat.


It's the stories like this that keep the team going. You can view more stories of hope here 

Love restores and empowers in even the worst situations. We understand more of that now.   
- Logan

photos

1. Our Apartment
2. Phnom Penh at Dusk
3. Super 15 at Score Bar
4. S21, Genocide Museum