I Will Never Tire of This!

Took Jem (Nicks brother) who is visiting out on the Mekong for sunset tonight. Every time we do this it is like doing it for the first time. Stunning. The good old sun has not let us down yet and put on yet another amazing performance. Jem is loving Cambodia (his stomach is not so sure, but, being the trooper he is, is out watching the football with Nick at the pub!). Scarlett has also been a bit ill with a virus. Main thing was the fever but had her checked by the Doc and that put my mind at ease. Quiddy got his toe jammed under the door and it may have a small fracture but he is ok. No point doing x-rays they say as there is no treatment except time. He is actually not too bothered by it which is great. My birthday was lovely. Went to Raffles for drinks but did not stay for dinner as Scarlett was still feverish and did not want to spend too much time from home. Will defiantly do it another time! NIc bought me a beautiful Peridot ring which I LOVE. In fact, I love it so much I just had to order the matching earrings. He also bought some flowers home which was lovely. Sorry to not be back in Mel for Stephs big 18th. Will buy you a drink when I get back Steph! XX

When it's OK to cry on your Birthday.

Have just left my beautiful little Scarlett Rose. I was lying with her as she went off to sleep for her nap. Her poor little body burning with fever from an infection, she stroked my arm and said:
"You're beautiful mummy"
"Thank you Scarlett"
"I love you so much"
"I love you too sweetheart"
"Happy Birthday Mummy....good night"

Now don't get me wrong. The beautiful Peridot ring that Nick gave me for my birthday is magnificent......but that, well, that is just priceless.

Feel like changing a life today?

I know…I know…here she goes again, you say. First she hits us up for the orphans and now this! Well….just remember how good it felt to give those bikes to those kids….and now you have on opportunity to help again!

Those of you who follow the blog regularly will remember Mr Phea, our Tuk Tuk driver. He is not employed by anyone as such, he just happened to come recommended to me as his English is quite good and he happens to be…well…wonderful!
Mr Phea’s only source of income is the money he makes from working on his tuk tuk. He invited us into his home on Christmas Eve, (see photos) and, shall we say, it is very basic. He has a 5-year-old daughter who lives in the country with relatives, as they cannot afford to keep her with them. Mrs Phea used to work but is now unable due to a stomach condition and is in and out of hospital. Each time she is in for the night it is $80…a fortune here!

So, to cut a long, sad story short, his motorbike is about to give up the ghost. Without it, they are, to put it mildly, stuffed. No income at all. I have noticed lately that Mr Phea just does not seem himself and I am assuming that this is all taking it’s toll on him. I would dearly love to help.

How? Well, a decent second hand bike costs $750 USD (a new one is about $1200). I know that we can do this! I will pop my bank account details on the bottom of this and all you have to do is transfer into the account putting your name as a reference so Mr Phea knows whom to thank. He obviously has no idea I am trying to do this. I hope for it to be a lovely surprise for him. Will keep the blog updated on how we are travelling. So if you have some spare dosh…any amount will help. This man has been so good to my family and me. The kids adore him, as do I. Lets see how we go!

Police Association Credit Co-Op

Account name: D.L Moger Vietnam

BSB: 704230

Account number: 100383852

(please ignore the fact it says “Vietnam”. This is the same account that we used for the bikes)

What I bought at the Russian Market this morning.

2 beautiful little Barbie brand dresses. At $4.50 each...who can buy just one?





Coconut shell necklaces....2 for $6.



Burberry Coat for Scarlett, Amazing quality (possibly real? if not a great rip off!) $11



Burberry jacket for Quiddy. Again, great quality. $8.



Disney bathers for Scarlett. $2.50



Manchester United kit for Quiddy. $6.50.

Did the old, I'm just popping in to pick up one thing and ended up with a bit of a haul. Honestly, with prices like this, it is hard to resist! It is amazing what you can find with a bit of digging. Gave myself a bit of a treat as I had to go to 3 supermarkets to get what I wanted this morning. It should not have even been that hard because all I needed was butter, milk and bacon! Love Cambodia....miss Safeway!

The "Zoo"

Went on a bit of an excursion on Sunday to the "Zoo". It is about 30kms out of town however we became a tad geographically challenged (not Nicks fault for a change, Phil was driving. Mind you, there are no signs or anything so the mere fact we got there is a miracle!). Ended up taking a couple of hours. I have to admit the saying comes to mind "Life is not about the destination, but the journey" Whilst lost we were traveling down dirt roads and coming across tiny little villages. For me it seemed like the real Cambodia and we just LOVED seeing it. It was great to get out of the city and experience this. The zoo is actually a Sanctuary full of rescued and/or endangered wildlife. Whilst the facilities are not great they seem to be doing a good job including breeding of sun bears with the help of an Australian lady. If you check out one of the photos it seems they might have also had a bit of help from our very own Rove!

Steven Morrish's Wedding

We had the pleasure last night of being invited to the wedding of Steven Morrish. Steven, as mentioned in the previous post, has set up and NGO called SISHA who are doing amazing work here. It was a real mix between a traditional Khmer wedding and a good old Aussie shindig. They had been going since 4.30 that morning with all of the traditional stuff so I think must have been exhausted by the time the more "Aussie" reception part of the day began and 5.30pm at the Inter Continental Hotel. The groom looked tired but happy and the bride stunning. I counted 4 changes of clothing in 4 hours so I can only imagine what the earlier part of the day held! The female guests were done up to the nines. I had trouble at first figuring out who was part of the bridal party and who was just a guest. Blinded by the bling! They all looked amazing. We sat down to a 9 course dinner which was delish and spent some time meeting a lot of other expats. I think expats are a breed of their own. All so friendly. It is like you have something in common just by being there so it acts as an ice-breaker. We feel so welcome wherever we go. A great night was had by all with no doubt a few sore heads this morning, including my husbands!

Here is someone to be proud of!

It is with great pleasure I introduce you to (or re-introduce the old East Keilor gang!) to Steve Morrish. Steve has set up an amazing NGO here in Cambodia and is doing fantastic work helping prevent exploitation of at risk people. I hope you enjoy reading about his organization and are proud that one of our own has taken it upon himself to help those less fortunate. Well done Steve and good luck for the wedding!

http://www.sisha.org

Company Overview:
SISHA is an Australian registered international non-religious, non-partisan, non-government and not-for-profit organization that strives to ensure justice and protection of human rights for victims of human trafficking, bonded labor, physical and sexual assault and other forms of exploitation and oppression in South East Asia. Mission:SISHA’s mission is to:

“provide justice for victims of human trafficking and other forms of exploitation by detecting and investigating breaches of relevant domestic and international protocols, legislation and law related to the trafficking and exploitation of people in South East Asia and providing the best possible aftercare and legal representation to rescued victims to give them the opportunity for a brighter future free of oppression and abuse”

Products:
SISHA’s Investigation Team of investigators and police officers, in both covert reactive and proactive operations, detect and investigate breaches of relevant law related to the trafficking and exploitation of people. Working in close collaboration with local police, SISHA secures the rescue of victims from situations of oppression and places them in immediate safe custody. They are provided with round-the-clock support from trained SISHA staff that includes food, secure shelter and SISHA Aftercare Packs consisting of basic necessities such as clothing, shoes, toiletries, towels and toys for children.

Consisting of lawyers and professional social workers, SISHA’s Aftercare and Legal Team ensure that victims are placed in quality aftercare facilities and where they receive accommodation, medical assistance, trauma counseling, education and vocational skill training. SISHA guarantees that all victims are given the opportunity to be provided with legal representation from SISHA’s Attorney-at-Law to ensure justice for those willing to pursue complaints against their perpetrators.

My morning in pictures.....07/01/2010

A picture speaks a thousand words or so they say. So here are a heap. This was how I spent my morning. All fairly self-explanatory (except for perhaps the shaving of the pigs feet, God forbid you have a hairy trotter!) Enjoy!