Angkor Wat written 29/01/14

Hi people! Today is the last day before we fly out. We were at Angkor Wat for sunrise yesterday and there are photos and movies coming. The upload speed here in the hotel is very slow so the computer is working overtime!

Wow... what can I say about Angkot Wat that hasn't already been said. All the superlatives have been used for the quite remarkable place. Great photographers have been before, fabulous travel writers, film makers, documentary teams and of course hordes of tourists from every country. 

From my own perspective walking on and through this amazing maze of ancient temples, it was like truly seeing the people behind this work. Seeing their markings, their carvings, their construction and their personal touches made me feel humbled. 

Here was a civilisation that hand built a giant moat around the whole complex using shovels and spades, who moved huge stones with precision, who carved intricate figures and amazing statues. 

The Angkor complex is stunning. It is still used today by Buddhists. There is even a monastery and school on site. Children ride their bikes past the monkeys and ancient monuments on the way to class.

I can't see the Cambodian people allowing so many tourists to keep clambering over this priceless UNESCO listed site. We as a group were extremely fortunate to have the opportunity to really explore the place. Sometime in the near future I suspect the experience will be sanitised. No longer will people be able to thread their way through corridors and along 800 year old stone paths. Steps that kings once climbed will be a no go area.

If you get a chance to come to Cambodia, absolutely do so! Visit Angkor and marvel in the atmosphere. But also spend time like we have in the villages. The people there are the descendants of the builders of Angkor. They too are amazing talented individuals. Poor they may be, but they can take a massive amount of pride in what their ancestors did.

Indeed, one of the wonders of the world in which we live.

Cheers for now... Peter

Adam's Story

Adam is a young man who is severely physically deformed from birth. Although he has no use of his arms and legs, Adam has a decent life. He went to a mainstream school, had the use of a special computer to study on and was extremely diligent in his studies. As a result he was well liked by his peers and enjoyed school life.

Adam knows that although he is disabled, he can lead a life of fulfilment and dignity. He knows that if there are hurdles he has to face, help will be provided. He knows that life has dealt him a cruel hand but that would never hinder his ability to find happiness. 

Adam’s community rallies around him to provide assistance when needed. His family is loving and supportive. They provide a strong environment in which Adam thrives.

Adam’s is loved and knows this.

However…

Adam is a dream. The person who dreams about Adam has the same disability. That’s where the similarity ends.

He lives on the streets on Phnong Penh outside the King’s Palace. He is like so many others who are maimed or disfigured in poor countries such as Cambodia. He has nothing. 

Could we not make at least part of that dream a reality?

Wishful thinking or not?

Your comments? Regards Peter 

To hell and back and ahead - Stan Stewart

We walked with evil. Two days later it still clings to us like a smelly shroud. Our visit to the Killing Fields and the high school renamed S21 left us shocked and speechless. In four years two million people - a quarter of the population, murdered. But, even more awful to realise that most of the murders were teenagers. How could this be?

This is how it worked. Families were broken up. Contact between children, siblings and parents severed. Communities were dismantled. Individuals were sent to different parts of the country so that they would be disconnected from family, community, religion, culture - in other words, completely isolated. In this new environment no one could be trusted. The only way to earn merit with your captors was to tell on your associates. Death was around you and followed you every day. The nights were full of nightmares and the days with terror. When you were asked to kill you killed. Again and again we heard of teens who murdered simply to stay alive. There was no alternative.

It all made me think that in our church and centre we are on the right track. Reaching out and welcoming in is a central concept. This is not just cutesy or sentimental. This is powerful. This is an essential if human life is to go on and flourish in the face of the challenges of the 21st century. Without it hell can come knocking at our door again. Ignoring and belittling this concept opened the door to the Nazis and

as we have seen, prepared the way for Pol Pot. 

Welcoming the stranger, befriending the migrant and reaching out to the refugee is doing battle with the forces of hell. We are to love our families, and our clans and culture, but this love must always be secondary to our love for, and commitment to the whole human race. In truth we all are brothers and sisters and we are called Ito live together in harmony and cooperation. This is the Jesus way. For this reason he lived and died and rose again that we might carry on his work. This is the kingdom of God, the kingdom of love and the forces of hell may have temporary victories, but in the  end will not prevail against it.

Stan Stewart

Reflections so far - Alan Jamieson

For me, Day 1 ran the full range from hope to the horrors and naked evil of mankind at its worst.  The visit to World Vision Cambodia and what we learnt and heard from the Operations Director and his colleagues was encouraging, reassuring and at times inspiring.

World Vision International is a Christian organisation and the commitment of World Vision Cambodia to Christian values is very evident; no mean feat in a country in which only 2% are Christians.  Their programmes for the well-being of children struck a particular chord with me.  The personal testimony of the Operations Director was a wonderful, but not isolated, example of good works flowing from a soundly based faith. Another aspect we learnt of practical help to those in desperate need is the IMPACTS programme, which provides support for the after-care welfare of children, both girls and boys, who have been victims of trafficking and sexual abuse. 

A visit to the Pol Pot killing fields brought the dreadful reality of far off events of indescribable human cruelty of the Pol Pot regime in 1975-79 home to us. This was followed by the starkness of the S21 genocide museum.  The starkness broken by a group of modern day children at play in the grounds was in itself a testament that the human spirit is powerful enough can to overcome the most gruesome of actions. But it was impossible not to be moved by what we saw and not to be determined that atrocities such as this must never be allowed to happen again.

Musings from Cambodia 1

(19/01/14 On the flight)

Well now…. sitting here on the aircraft…. flying over Queensland…. 10km above the planet’s surface. My wife at my side…. friends with us…. what could be better? 

We have it extremely lucky in good ole UnZud… Fred Dagg used to sing about this… remember his song? “We don’t know how lucky we are…..” We have beautiful beaches just a stones throw from our elegant door steps… parks with lot’s of area to play sport, walk the dog, picnic or a myriad of other leisure activities.

We can hop in our steel cages, on our you beaut pedal bikes, scooters, motorcycles… walk with safety… free of pollution, free of fear, free to express things the way we deem fit. We travel to far flung destinations, to our holiday homes, to the mountains and best of all return home once again to paradise.

Is this REALLY what living in Aotearoa is like for us?

Is this the truth?

Is it everyone’s reality in our small country?

Or do we have some real problems in our own backyard? Do we have a dark side in our quarter acre pavlova paradise? Indeed, perhaps there is poverty in Pure NZ… what do you think?

(22/01/14 On the road to Takeo) 

Poverty… it’s a word that stirs emotions, a word that divides opinion and for a great number of people is a stark reality of what they face every day. Like you I have seen the comments that in NZ many children live in poverty, and many families can’t afford to feed themselves.

Let’s compare it to where we are now…. Cambodia, and indeed Thailand where we have travelled in the past.

Cambodia from all accounts is a country that rates as the poorest in all of Asia. Families survive on a meagre amount, as low as $US600 per year. Granted, food is cheaper, housing cheaper if you can find it.

BUT…. there is horrendous true poverty, and a violent oppressive past. Children are exploited, used as sexual gratification for twisted people and often live dirty lives on dusty streets. Older people have disabilities from land mines, disease, and lack of medical care. There is a whole generation almost missing as a result of Pol Pot’s Khmer Rouge. 

So…  do we have poverty in NZ? Not if we compare the two countries. Cambodia is far more impoverished. We do have people in NZ who are living difficult lives and find it hard to provide for their basic needs. But unlike Cambodia we have safety nets in place. In Cambodia there is 25% of the population officially unemployed. There is no benefit, and pensions are virtually nonexistent outside of Government workers. 

We can’t ignore poverty anywhere it happens…, New Zealand included. However let’s thank God we live in a country where our basic needs and rights are set in stone. Let’s celebrate our freedoms whilst understanding the world’s problem areas. Let’s help where we can and try to be good citizens in the world community.

For me, this is THE most important thing we can learn from a trip like this… however learning is one thing, action is a quite different thing. 

Here therefore lies the challenge. 

From your blogger Peter Chatteris

Landmines

Catherine, Aimee and Lee visited a shop and noticed that there was a photo of Princess Diana on the wall. In the photo was the shop assistant. In enquiring further the assistant advised that she was in fact the shop owner and that she was a landmine victim in 1979. She came from a rural community and was walking with a friend when her friend stood on a land mine. Her friend was killed and she lost her right leg and some of her torso. She was 12 at the time. After going to a rehabilitation school she learnt to become a tailor and from there she has become an entrepreneur who now owns two shops that sell goods made by landmine victims. After Pol Pot Cambodia had a disproportionately high number of unexplored landmines but most have been cleared now.

Church before the trip

Hello to all at Church!!

Two more sleeps!

This is the group travelling to Cambodia this Sunday 

We leave Sunday afternoon and fly into Bangkok.. then Monday morning to Phnom Penh. This blog along with the Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/StHeliersChurchAbroad will keep you informed and up to date with our adventures! Cheers all... Peter