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Goshen College

Brodie, Carley and Levi in Kampot

March 19, 2016

Last week, we had the opportunity to visit Brodie, Carley and Levi.  They are all in Kampot Province, about a 2 hour drive southwest of Phnom Penh.

Brodie and Carley on their house stairs/ramp. It's evidently quite a fun experience to try this out in the dark.
Brodie and Carley on their house stairs/ramp. It’s evidently quite a fun experience to try this out in the dark and also a bit scary to drive the moto up for safe-keeping each night.

Brodie and Carley are living and serving with our partners, World Renew, in a tiny village named Angkle. There, they live in an idyllic spot – in a home surrounded by fields, gardens, a fish pond, coconut palms and mango trees. Brodie and Carley’s service assignment is within sight of their home — a short five minute walk (or even shorter if you are delivering the teacher’s chairs) across the paths dividing the fields. Brodie and Carley team up to teach up to 50 children English six days a week in the village’s community center, which also serves as their outdoor classroom. They have been creative in their endeavor, using games, songs, and other teaching techniques to keep the children (who range in age from about three to 17) interacting and interested.  They are not afraid to use a well-placed recess to give the children (and themselves) a much-needed break!

The rest of their time is spent helping their host parents and sister around their family’s house/farm. (They have also learned to appreciate the Khmer tradition of an afternoon nap in hammocks!)  Their days are mostly spent in the area around their house and the community center. For a special treat they sometimes go to a local shop to get an iced coffee. They also sometimes make the 30 minute bike trek into Chhouk, where Levi is working and living.

Levi is also working with World Renew in an organization that is doing rural development work similar to Hannah and Isaiah’s organizations. His organization is Occupation and Rural Economic Development Association (OREDA). Levi is working in the office assisting the Director (who is also his host father), with social media (see the Facebook link, above), editing, computer training and other computer projects. He’s also been able to travel to a number of villages, meeting with local and regional partners. We were told by his co-workers that he does a great job of introducing himself in Khmer when visiting people in the villages!

The students in Kampot are all thriving, and will sorely miss their new friends and family when they leave in two short weeks.

Carley and Brodie walking to their home.
The family home and farm.
Another view of Carley and Brodie’s house.
The ramp into the house. Every night the family drives their moto (scooter) into the house for safekeeping.
The solar panel that the family uses to charge phones sits atop one of the large water collection containers.
Chicks on the haystack, what’ll I do?
Along with fruit trees and animals, the family garden provides a majority of the food their family eats. Dried palm branches surrounding the plot serve to keep the hungry cows out.
The family pond is used to water the garden during the dry season and provides fish year round.
Here’s one of the two family cows. Brodie and Carley have the chore of shovelling up the dung each day and putting it into the compost. Worms are later collected from the pile as feed for chickens and fish. At the point we visited, Carley and Brodie were very excited, as this cow was expected to calve at any moment.
Chickens have been here.
Ouch!! You’re taller than you think, Brodie! One collision with a low-hanging roof edge, a trip to the local wat clinic, no anesthetic, a couple of tries at sewing him up, two stitches later… and Carley looks gleeful!
The offending spot – duck Brodie, duck!
The village schoolgirls scrutinizing Brodie’s stitches.
Brodie and Carley with their family.
Brodie in his bedroom.
Carley in her bedroom.
On the stairs/ramp. It is a precarious walk to the washroom in the middle of the night!
Carley, Brodie and their family in front of their home.
Happy family!
Brodie, their host sister, and Carley.
Walking to school through the fields.
Carley and her sister walking to school.
Practicing introductions!
Class picture 2016!
Brodie practicing introductions with each student.
“Hello, how are you?”
“My name is Carley. What is your name?”
The sign in front of Levi’s service organization.
Levi with some of his colleagues at OREDA. He had the opportunity to attend a wedding with them the night we visited.
Levi with his boss, who is also his host father.