The AIU Fence project.

The Fence project is needed for a few reasons.  First of all, in order to maintain ownership of the land, we have to show development/progress to prevent squatters.  By marking the corners of the AIU site with fencing, we are establishing the area of the land and showing some start of development. 

The fencing project is also a symbolic project.  Although we have many aspects of the AIU master plan in progress, this is the first actual physical project on the site.  Together Calvin, HGU, and HILS students are working the land.  One of the first planned components of AIU is to have a teaching farm where we can help teach the local farmers ways to improve their farming.  85% of the Cambodians are rural and have to work the land in order to survive.   All of us have sweated (a lot) and I think that it has given us an appreciation for the Cambodia people that need to work the land to survive. 

Here are some of the pictures from working on the fence project.

S

 SK taking a nap after digging his hole.

Kelly, Hanna, Prof DeRooy and Liz showing off their hole in the ground. 

Team A, E and F 

Team B, C and D

Jason just starting his hole. 

Amanda and Laura. 

The engineering students were glad that they knew the density of concrete by heart, so we could calculate how much the concrete poles weighed while carrying them through the Cambodia Jungle.  (we estimated the poles to be 4" x 4" and about 7ft long)  The first person to email Prof DeRooy the estimated weight will get a free item from Cambodia.

It is such a relief to finally be in Cambodia!  Many of us are very happy that we have arrived at our destination and have started working.  The other students have already written about the work project that we are doing here, so I will just write a bit about my thoughts about what we've seen. 

I find that every time I see someone having a difficult time in a third world country, I try to think of ways to fix it - I guess this is the engineer in me!  Vising the floating village on the Tonle Sap yesterday was definitely challenging.  I wonder how it is possible to get clean water to these people that are surrounded by such an easy source of water (that is unfortunately very dirty).  It was also hard because of the many people who were begging for our money.  They were obviously very poor, but it's hard to tell how much of it is just putting on a sad face for the many tourists. Not that I don't think that these people require help.  I just think that there must be a better way to help them really get out of poverty and stop being dependent on our hand-outs, but I'm not sure how to do that.

And these thoughts are just a small snap-shot of what is going on in my head all of the time here...

-Sarah Evans 

Cambodia is full of interesting experiences.  Thankfully, none of these experiences have been bad ones :). 

These past two days, we have been meeting and forming relationships with the Korean students from the two universities who are also here in Cambodia to use their talents to serve.  I have really enjoyed my conversations with several of the Korean students and faculty as well as my conversations with my fellow Calvin students.  I think we are finally starting to act together like one group with a goal here in Cambodia, instead of three or more smaller groups.  

 In addition to meeting the other people we will be working with, we have done work at the NIBC and the new site for the Asian International University.  At the NIBC, many of the students worked on the grounds clearing the weeds and other such work.  I was one of the fortunate students to volunteer at the kindergarten that occupies a room at the NIBC.  The kids came from the surrounding commune.  I was told that each commune consists of about fifty houses, and each house has on average 7-8 kids.  So, there was an obvious need for this kindergarten.  It is a Christian ministry which gives children a basic education, including English.  I taught the kids simple words like "red", "blue", "square", and "circle" as well as numbers.  It was fun to interact with the kids!

Today, I was assigned to work on the new AIU site.  After a bumpy ride past some of the Angkor Wat temples and down a dirt road, we arrived at the campus.  It basically looked like the middle of nowhere with plants and brush everywhere.  We worked for about three hours digging holes marking the boundaries of the site, which will was the first step in creating a fence.  It was hot and dusty, but I think we all appreciated this experience because it gave us time to work and sweat in the way many Cambodians must work.  It certainly gave us a deeper appreciation of cool showers and clean clothes.

From the two days that we have been in Cambodia, we have learned a lot and grown a lot.  What is most exciting, though, is that we have so many more days here in Cambodia which will doubtlessly be filled with experiences equally as interesting and eye opening!

 Here are some pics to enjoy.

At the border.

Getting at the money belt...

Well, it's already been quite an experience.  We were wowed by the Golden Palace in Bangkok and broken-heartened by the poverty of the floating village in Siem Reap.  It's hard to see God's children in such extreme different living conditions.  Even from the poverty I've experienced in the past, there's nothing like having a child with a bloated protein-deficient belly ask you for money.  I had trouble returning to my hotel room after seeing where others would be returning home the same night.  Already in a week I'm excited though, about what God is showing me through this experience and about where He may be calling me in the future.  I don't think I'll make it out as the same person.  And that's alright with me.

Blessings,

   Kelly Edwards