Crossing a finish line

Well, unlike yesterday…so far today is going okay.  Well, I did drop a full coffee cup and make a terrible mess that needed cleaned up but hey, if that is the worst to happen today, it will be a better day than yesterday!

First off updates:

Christopher is doing okay.  We are trying to keep him calm and still so that he doesn’t get the wound all sweaty and we are keeping him inside in an attempt to keep it clean.  This is making him sorta sad though because as luck would have it, today is the first day of homeschool co-op.  There are only 10 sessions this semester and he is going to miss one…so I am sorry for that. 

Camilla, the dog.  She had to have an emergency removal of the uterus to save her life this morning.  The infection was really bad.  She is resting now and on IV meds.  We are supposed to bring her home tonight at six if she is doing okay.  No little Shar Pei puppies for us…

The finishing line that the title is talking about is that all but three students have finished their first grade reading workbooks in the curriculum with School of the Nations!  This is a cause for celebration!  We are very excited and since all the students had a nervous morning of taking a test, they have been given the afternoon off.  Tomorrow we are making preperations to have an extra special lunch with a dessert for them as a party of sorts. 

Today is Isaac’s 16th birthday.  For those of you unclear of who is who in this Benz family…Isaac is our youngest biological child.  He turns 16 today, Dani turned 17 last month, and Kati turned 18 in April.  These three children are the ones that we often referred to as our “baby boom” because they were all born in such a short period of time…but that was only yesteday…how did they get to be 16, 17, and 18???  We are thankful for the young adults that they are turning into.

Breathing in, Breathing out,

Rhonda

 

Follow up on the previous post…

I finished posting the previous post “Dental Doings” about 5 PM.    While I was gone to the dentist with the 3 children, our son Isaac was gone to the vet with our Chinese Shar Pei dog.  Right after I published the post, Isaac came home.

Isaac came home with the news that the dog had a serious uterine infection and requires surgery.  We checked everything out via the internet but anyway, we really trust this French vet.  So the dog needs emergency surgery.  The vet wouldn’t even let Isaac bring Camilla home.  She is staying overnight there.  Everyone was a little upset about that…you know how dogs are a part of your family.

Well, then about 6 30, Mark is downstairs securing the courtyard because it has fallen dark and I am in the  kitchen trying to get dinner pulled together with Kati.  All of a sudden, we hear Isaac screaming…I mean SCREAMING…”Dad, come quick!  Dad, come right now!  Mom, Dad, hurry, hurry.  Christopher is really hurt bad.”  So Mark and I are galloping up the stairs and I am wondering, how can he be hurt bad…we haven’t heard a thing. 

We get to the bedroom and he is lying in the middle of the floor in a POOL of blood!  I am not exaggerating a bit!  He had removed the ladder from the bunk beds…propped it up on a night table, trying to climb even higher to do God only knows what….and he had fallen and the rung of the metal ladder cut his forehead down to the bone.  Mark grabbed a pair of clean boxers (sorry, Isaac) and started applying pressure, while I try to get kids out of the room and get some clean up going.  (We just set our protocols for body fluid clean up, thank goodness!)  But Mark won’t let me see Christopher’s forehead.

We try to get ourselves cleaned up a little bit and I call the clinic to make sure that someone is there.  We then head toward Russian market to the nearest somewhat competent clinic. 

I think I made the doctor a little nervous because RIGHT AFTER he would put on a new set of gloves, he would go across the room and touch the dirty supply cabinet and dig around for some supply or something….so I would make him change his gloves.  I mean good grief!  We are right on Tuol Tom Pong road…it is filthy and so I want things as clean as possible to work on my child’s scalp.

The cut was about 2 1/2 inches long and went to the bone.  It took 6 stitches to sew up.  We got home about 8 ish just in time to start bedtime routines.  Mark and I might get to eat sometime…I don’t know.

And THAT is how the afternoon ended!!!

Breathing in, Breathing out,

Rhonda

 

Dentist Doings

I THOUGHT that my afternoon was free today.  I have been feeling very stttttrrrreeetttched and needing some down time.  So I had an appt. in my room to turn on the air conditioner and relax with a book this afternoon.  Not to happen though.

 When kids need to go to the dentist or the doctor it usually happens like this:  we have our plans for the day and then as the children begin their schooling, we hear about this one not feeling well or this one with a toothache.  Well today, it started with one child talking about a toothache and then since teeth were being talked about, two other children report that “Yea, I got a tooth that hurts too.”  With these children who have had poor nutrition prior to coming to Bykota House (including prenatal nutrition) and poor or no dental care prior to coming to us…bad teeth are part of the package.

We haven’t been successful at all with allowing staff to take children to the doctor or the dentist.  That is a long story in and off itself but suffice it to say that has fallen to me on most occasions.  In fact, 2 or 3 afternoons a week, it seems that I am at a doctor/dentist with one child or another.  Last week it was Samuel…week before it was Bee, Mekera, and Chantee.

So today we load into our newly painted tuk tuk…3 children and myself while TR is driving.  We get to the dentist and the skies open up like it is Noah’s flood again.  Bee was one of the children with me and since he promptly fell asleep listening to the rain, I kept him until last.  Then we had to wake him up to see the dentist.  What happened was a little funny.

Bee gets into the dental chair.  Remember that this is a normal size dental chair.  There are rarely anything that is pediatric in size here in Cambodia.  So his little bitty body looks so small in that big chair.  He has been playing hard and is hot and sweaty and he actually looks like a poster child for an orphanage (sad to say). 

Then the dentist asks where does it hurt.  He tells the dentist that his teeth are just perfect.  No pain.  Nothing wrong.  (all of this is said in Khmer but I can still understand it…) TR starts giggling because Bee is so earnest in telling the dentist that some mistake has been made.  The dentist asks again “Which tooth hurts?  Your mom wouldn’t bring you here for nothing.” 

“Oh no, Aunt.  My teeth don’t hurt.  Mom is wrong, ” Bee chatters.

So I simply take out my phone and I say in Khmer…”No problem.  I will call Dad and ask him.”  Bee’s eyes get larger (if that is even possible because they were pretty big already) and then he opens his mouth for the dentist.  I put my phone away and the dentist didn’t need Bee to tell her anything.  She could see it for herself.  So she starts working on it and finds the tooth is going to need a root canal.

Well, the entire process went with the doctor using this tool or that tool…then putting it down and getting something different or something of a different size.  But EACH AND EVERY time, Bee would hunch up on one hip in order to see what she was getting.  And by the look on his face, each instrument used was something of a greater level of torture….his face was hysterical to watch.  He didn’t ever cry…but his eyes kept getting wider and wider and his look was more and more horrified.  TR finally had to leave the room because by the look on Bee’s face, TR was sure that he was being tortured even though he wasn’t crying.  I just sat there trying to keep a confident look  on my face without bursting into laughter.

When it was done, Bee stood so close to me that he was practically INSIDE my shirt.  We returned home just as school was being dismissed.   As I type this now all the children have left The Center and are at the dormitory for dinner.  There is no telling WHAT kind of tale little Bee is telling all the rest of the kids.  LOL

Breathing in, Breathing out,

Rhonda

 

Royal Palace

We loaded up the van and the tuk tuk and took school on the road for a field trip this morning.  I had toured the Royal Palace when I visited Cambodia in 2002, but the rest of the family had never been there.  When it was time for a field trip, we gave the Bykota Kids a choice between the Apsara Arts Association to see the dancers and the Royal Palace.  They chose the Royal Palace.  So today we were off…

 TR had gone by the Palace to check the hours of operation and the costs of everything.  But when we got there we were told a different price!  Go figure…this is Cambodia.  You would think something like this would have a set price.  Also, when I walked up to the window, I was told that I would not be allowed in because my shirt didn’t have sleeves.  (We aren’t talking about a tank or a strap shirt at all.  This is a full cover shirt but yet is without sleeves. ) So I was led over to a souvenir stand to buy a Royal Palace tee shirt.  Good grief!!!  Mark later teased me that I was the lucky one because I got a souvenir.  Ha Ha

 Anyway, we paired up in teams of 3 or 4 each with a staff member in each group and went our seperate ways to explore the Royal Palace and the Silver Pagoda.  The children enjoyed the trip tremendously.  Staff had other opinions though…it was hot, it was miserable…but yet, it was fun being out with the children and seeing them have such a great time.  Everyone was thrilled to get a treat of a cold bottle of cola…and they loved to sit and watch the large Koi fish in the pond around the replica of Angkor Wat.

We all enjoyed showers, lunch, and then some rest time before afternoon activities took over.

We had a surprise treat come to the gate…MAIL!!!  We got a package of photos taken by H. on her visit here from Malaysia.  She had written a note that Sopheak read to the children and they googled the pictures with great relish.  Also, in the  mail we got notice of a package needing to be picked up AT the post office.  So TR, Kati, and I headed across town to get to the post office.

We had a package waiting from our sending church, Bykota Ministries.  It was full of cards and notes of encouragement.  We have taken turns this evening sharing all the cards and thinking of our loved ones back home in the States.

A sad thing happened on the way to the post office though…I was just sitting there when the tuk tuk went over a rough bump…out slid my phone RIGHT OUT OF MY POCKET and a moto dop driver bent over and swooped it right up.  He drove off like a crazy man with his new found loot and that was that!!!  That is just another part of the reality of living in Phnom Penh.

Breathing in, Breathing out,

Rhonda

 

Samuel

We just finished small group with all the children and staff.  We look forward to it each week.

Tonight I am just sitting here in amazement.

During worship Samuel walked over to me from one of the staff members and I thought he was wanting a hug.  We do pass out a lot of those around here.  Well, he didn’t want a hug.  He pushed me out of the way and went on past my chair and went into one of the school rooms which has a bathroom.  I followed him and he stopped right in front of the bathroom door.  He stood there and tugged himself out of his shorts and underwear and then entered the bathroom, stopped in front of the toilet, turned around and just waited there.  I lifted him onto the toilet and after he urinated, he climbed back down and held his shirt up for the Srey Roen to clean him up and replace his shorts.  She had seen me go in and had followed right on my heels so that I could return to the meeting.

I finished worship in a total state of praise to the Lord.  When I entered back into the room the children were all singing How Great is Our God.  When they finished, I just had to point out to everyone present this reminder:

This time last year, Samuel was blind, and spent his days laying naked and tied to a bed so he couldn’t roll off and hurt himself.  Now look at what God has done!!!!  I can’t put enough exclaimation points after that…

God has restored Samuel’s sight and brought him to the point that he is today.    How awesome is that?

I mean, yea, it would have been cool if the Father had chosen for Samuel to have been totally healed and restored on one of our trips to the orphanage.  That would have been something!!!  It would have been a miracle.  You can bet we would have emailed home about that one!

But it is no less a miracle to see the month by month strides that Samuel is taking and to remember where he has come from. 

Mark and I don’t know what we are doing over here.  We are not trained therapists or even that highly educated.  We spend our days feeling totally inadequate and most of the time we are overwhelmed by the challenges.  But we were and ARE willing to continue to press in and to do “the next thing” and try not to get overwhelmed by the big picture.

If you are reading this blog, WHAT ARE YOU WILLING TO PRESS IN AND DO FOR THE FATHER?  It matters not how small or how large…it only matters that you are willing to say yes, to the next thing…and then the next thing….and then the NEXT thing.

Breathing in, Breathing out,

Rhonda

 

Ceremony

The reason I named my blog Breathing in, Breathing out…is because of a very good friend in the United States.  When we were selling all our belongings and preparing to move to Cambodia, I would have so many days of becoming overwhelmed…I would just choke up.  This dear friend would quietly whisper into my ear, “Breath in, Breath out.  Breath in, Breath out.”  Sometimes it would be the Lord that would just prompt her to call me and ask “Rhonda, are you breathing?”  That became a mantra of sorts for me.  So much so, that I often closed my emails that way also.  When it became time to start a blog, it was obvious to me what the name of it should be.

Even though we are over here in Cambodia now and have been for 3 years now, our daily life is best described by one of many sayings….overwhelmed, stressed out, barely keeping our head above water, flying by the seat of our pants, you pick the saying–it fits….each and every day is like that.  Someone more optomistic might say “never a dull moment.” 

Today was a big day for us.  After more than a year, the Ministry of Social Affairs called us and they were ready to sign our Memorandum of Understanding.  At 3 today, we showed up at the soon-to-be-remodeled Ministry offices for a ceremony.  We came in as nice clothes as we had possible and prepared for an event that we had no idea what to expect. 

We entered into a room and were seated at our chairs already marked by our names…were briefed on what was going to happen…and then boom we began.  They even brought in cameras.  Apparently, we are going to be on the local television channel.  The camera guy LOVED my two beautiful daughters.  I was asked to give a brief speech on our ministry.  I only hope I didn’t sound retarded…no one, including myself, can remember exactly what I said but no one seems to remember it as being very odd. 

I signed my name a dozen times and then it was official! 

So the day started out with school, the cook quitting, sick kids left and right, but it wrapped up an official government ceremony.  THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A NORMAL DAY OVER HERE.  LOL  Oh, and BTW, the day isn’t over…we have small group in half an hour and our dining room will be filled wall to wall with 30+ bodies as we worship together.

Breathing in, Breathing out,

Rhonda 

Update on Steven:  We are hearing more from Steven here lately.  He is only 3 hours behind us now and so he is able to call us on the phone and he has access to email more.  He is doing fine and is in good health.  He only has commented in passing about the heat.  The men are all being fed very well.  He is already going out on active missions so we pray for his safety.

Update on Lizzy:  there hasn’t been any word on her passport yet.  So we continue to wait for that.  We are blessed that we have raised about $1000 so far towards her expected medical costs.  We estimate that we need another $2,000 but even if we had it all right now, we still have to wait for that passport.  Please continue for us to be granted all favor at every step of the process.

 

Triumph in the midest of tonsil trouble

We are sure having a bunch of fun over here.  We had two that came down with sore throats.  But it was found to be tonsilitis.  Then we started having kids drop like flies, I tell ya!  We didn’t realize that tonsilitis could be contagious but the doctor actually called it viral tonsilitis.  So since it was viral, kids were passing it around.  We have had SIX come down with it and now a staff member as well.

 On top of that little outbreak, we have the usual medicines that we give daily to Seth and Visoth to combat their hepatitis B.  As if that wasn’t enough, Lizzy had the audacity to have an ear infection!!!  Peter, not to be left out, decided to have a DOUBLE ear infection.  So we are kept busypassing out medicines and taking temps one right after another. 

We went through an enormous amout of medication.  So much that it was necessary for us to send TR to the pharmacy for more a couple of times because we ran out more than once.  On one of his trips, he picked up additional hepatitis medicines.  That is one of our more expensive pills.  I sent TR with enough medicine to buy 3 boxes since I didn’t want to run out anytime soon.  He came home with some change which surpised me because I didn’t send him with all that much extra.  He turned in the receipt and I found a mistake on it.  They had sent him home with 3 boxes but only charged him with 2 on the receipt.  This kind of mistake doesn’t happen that often in Cambodia.  If there is a mistake, it is usually an accident that shorts US…not the Cambodian business.

So since we found that mistake, I told TR that the next day when he went back to another nearby business to pick up something that we dropped off for repair, that I wanted him to go in and pay for the third box. 

The next day he did as I asked and literally RAN up 3 flights of stairs to tell me what happened when he returned home.

You never know what kind of crowd you will run into at the pharmacy.  It can be empty and everyone sitting around bored or it can be packed with bodies.  This particular day, the pharmacy was jam packed.  He made his way up to the pharmacy counter and began trying to explain what had happened the day before.  As TR was trying to explain that he was there to pay for a mistake that they had made, he had to say it several times for them to understand.  Each time he said it, the pharmacy got more and more quiet.  Before he was done, the whole store was still and quiet while he took out the money to hand it over.

The woman who owned the pharmacy couldn’t resist asking WHY would he be doing this???  He said, “My God that I serve would not be happy for us to keep this money.  I am a Jesus believer and we want to walk in honesty.  My God blesses us with so much that it isn’t right to keep money that isn’t ours.” 

 WOW!!!!  What can a person say to that!  What an awesome opportunity to be able to share with the unsaved.  It was such a blessing that to have this mistake made and God had a large audience all right there ready to hear the Truth.

So it was such a blessing to have this mistake made but then again also, it leads me to wonder…if it wasn’t for all the tonsil trouble, would we have been in the pharmacy in the first place? So God works all this together…what a great jigsaw puzzle fan God must be.  He is up there moving this piece and that piece and then snapping them into place at just the right moment!  YEA GOD!!!

Breathing in, Breathing out,

Rhonda

 

Light at the end of the tunnel

Shot clinic was again today.  Most of the children received their second Hep A shot.  Samuel received shots since he was sick on last clinic day.  Little Lizzy started her shots today.

We have another batch on the first Monday of October BUT THE BIG NEWS IS THAT AFTER THAT, EVERYONE EXCEPT LIZZY IS DONE FOR A LONG WHILE!!!!  Hallelujah!  We are so excited that this task is almost done.

 This decision to immunize all the children of Bykota House was a hard  one to make.  We are parents that really value immunizations and so we were always very careful to take care of that with our own children.  We thought it was certainly something that we would do with the children of Bykota House.  But then we had to adjust our way of thinking. 

 In Cambodia, immunizations are not free or even very cheap like they are in the US.  The fact that we have immunized the children of Bykota House just as we have immunized our own children has been a very large expense for our budget to handle.  Two weeks ago, our clinic bill was $353….today it was $486.  So we have had more than $800 in the last 30 days for immunizations alone.  For this very reason, most children’s homes do not immunize their children at all.  Every now and then the government will have a free UN or WHO shot program and some will benefit from that but the parameters and guidelines are stringent and not regular enough to fully immunize a child according to any type of schedule.

Also, in Cambodia, there is a large black market of goods, including medicines.  So for someone to decide to immunize their children, they must be very sure that the shots have been obtained legally and that a chain of custody can be shown to guarantee the safety of the vaccines.  Otherwise, you can get cheated and the children at best get no protection.  The worst scenario is that the children suffer severe consequences.

So the decision to do this was not one that was as easily made as we thought it would be.  But now that is all behind us and we know that we have done the best that we can in that area.

 TR has just left with Dany who has a bad toothache.  She is headed to the dentist.  Monday afternoon, I went to the doctor with Hosanna who has a pretty bad upper respiratory infection.  On Saturday, I was there with Danielle and Dad who had an infection of the phlargnx.  Today I have woke up with a really bad throat and swollen glands and can’t swallow well or turn my head.  So we aren’t done with the doctor/dentist calls but at least the immunizations are behind us.

Breathing in, Breathing out,

Rhonda

PS  I must share a funny though that happened this morning.  Mark walked by Isaac who was watching his science teacher on DVD.  It was an older “matronly” type of woman teaching the class and Mark teased Isaac saying “Oooo!  Wow!  If my science teacher looked like that, it would really make me want to do my science.”  This was especially funny to say to Isaac who HATES to do school.

Isaac said, without missing a beat…”Well, it makes me really want to do my math!” 

Mark thought this was hilarious so he told it to me as we met in the stairwell.  I started busted out laughing despite my sore throat when I told Mark…”Yea, but his math teacher is a MAN.”

taking a deep breath!

Love,

Rhonda

 

T Shirt painting day at the provincial orphanage

Today was a visit out to a provincial orphanage.  We took with us a team from the United States.  Mark was real ambitious…at the time, I thought he was just nuts…but he wanted to try to paint T shirts with the children out there.  They hadn’t ever had the chance to do anything like this before and why don’t we try? 

It actually went just fine!  We had the orphanage staff write the children’s names on the inside back collar.  Then the children patiently lined up.  The fact that they were being patient was amazing itself!  They are usually so, so excited that you can’t control them.  We had five different stations where a worker sat with orange and yellow paint.  They dipped their hands in the paint and put the handprints in a circular pattern in the center of the shirt and it made it look like a sunshine.  It was so very cute!!!

The nannies brought the bed babies also and we dipped their little feet in the paint.  Most of the babies acted like it was some terrifying medical procedure or something but the resulting t shirt was adorable.

After t shirts, the team spread out all over the orphanage to love on all the kids and to chase them through the buildings or swing them to dizzying heights on the swing set.

We gathered again about a half hour later and the visiting team did a few songs and a funny skit.  The Bykota Kids also sang a song in both English and Khmer and then we enjoyed passing out some fruit to all the children.  We were pretty tired but the smiling faces always make it worth it.

Mark and Danielle are both sick with an infection of the pharynx…spelling???  Anyway, now we have those two on meds, Peter has a bad ear infection, Lizzy is still on two types of medicines, Visoth and Seth are on daily meds also.  It feels an awful lot like a medical clinic around here three times a day!

Lizzy didn’t go with us to the orphanage.  I am concerned with too many children that may make her even sicker.  I left her home with Nanny Nun who was also watching Sammy.

This week is school in the morning each day, ANOTHER shot clinic on Wednesday, a medical evaluation on a child from one of the provincial orphanages that we are trying to arrange and then the big Joyce Meyers Festival of Fellowship this weekend.  So it will be a busy, busy week.

Until next time we are,

Breathing in, Breathing out,

Rhonda

 

Update on Soldier Boy and Lizzy and everything else

We were so blessed to get a phone call from Steven yesterday.  He is now only 4 time zones away from us.  It still seems like the other side of the world though.

 He only had 15 minutes and there was a long line behind him.  Dad, myself, Kati, Dani, Isaac, and Chantal all got a chance to say hello before he had to go.  The temperature where he was yesterday was 137 degrees.  Hard to believe how anyone can live in those temps.  He sounded in good spirits.  He misses his wife, Dany which is understandable.

Lizzy is doing better.  Since she is no longer dehydrated, she seems almost like a different baby.  Her face actually appears plumper, she has more energy, she is less fussy, and she has more of an appetite.  In the short time we have had her, she has gone from a little froggy type of scoot across the floor to up-on-all-fours for an out and out crawl.  Life is going to be busy from this point on.  Our house is NOT baby proof and she is showing us that every day.

Her second round of antibiotics is finished but her lungs are still full.  The doctor is not immediately doing a third round because she is quite sure that Lizzy has Cystic Fibrosis and will always be somewhat congested in her lungs.  I had a retired medical professional come over on Tuesday night and she showed me how to do chest percussion therapy to break up the mucus.  We have to do this 3 times a day and it is a nosy time of day because Lizzy screams to high heaven while we are doing it.  She hates it!  But the doctor assured me that the full blown war cry that Lizzy puts on is good for her too.  We may possibly lose a bit of our hearing but as long as it helps her, we are doing it.

The care of Lizzy has to be watched very carefully.  She must have a good, clean environment and over at BH there are so many children eager to hold and touch her and that is not what she needs.  So she is living at the Center with our family.  We aren’t equipped for a baby or at least we weren’t…but we have been very blessed.  Her diet must be closely monitored as well.  And of course, there is the 3X a day percussion therapy and her medicines that she must have 3 times a day. 

A visiting medical team happily carried over for us a pack n play.  So we have a bed for her.  Another ministry upon hearing of her arrival went through their supply of children’s clothes and found a few things. We couldn’t keep anything she arrived in because she was covered from head to toe with scabies.  The donated clothes combined with our small amount we had on hand from Grandma Marthalee and so she has a basic wardrobe.  We went out and found a junior chair of sorts to use as a high chair and we have had word that another family is sending us a car seat for her to use while in the van. 

We also want to thank Heather in Malaysia for her gift that covered her initial blood work and lab tests.  Please be in prayer that we can find some way to do the actual diagnostic test for CF.  We are hoping to be able to do it here and then have it couried over to Thailand or Vietnam so we can be positive of what we are dealing with.

We are in the process of apply for her passport.  The estimated cost of Lizzy’s passport so she would be free to travel to other countries in either an emergency or for testing/medical care is going to be around $300. 

School is doing very well.  Most of the Bykota Kids are in their fourth book now.  Dany, Bee, and Visoth need some special attention.  Our system is working WONDERFULLY with the other 10 students but these 3 that need special attention is one area that we aren’t doing well with.  So your prayers for us to have wisdom in how to proceed would be appreciated.

I must go now and get on with the day’s activities.  On top of everything that normally happens, we are preparing for a trip out to a provincial orphanage tomorrow where we will paint tee shirts with the children.  This will be one of those things that either will turn out to be a WONDERFUL memory  and lots of fun or it will be one of those “What were we thinking????” moments.

Breathing in, breathing out,

Rhonda