Foods from Cambodia... yum!

So, finally, here are some food pictures! It has been about 6weeks since I got back from Cambodia, and I am still drooling dreaming about the food. Even the airplane food from EVA if you can imagine that. These pictures are taken 30,000 ft up in the air, in markets in Phnom Penh and Battambang, and in various restaurants in the cities on the dirty country roads... So, I won't keep the connaisseur waiting...

I love EVA air! They have the best service, the best food, and a wonderful Elite class seats! That was Seafood Noodles for breakfast and the American Continental breakfast.

Khmer breakfast: (Cambodian=Khmer) BBQ chicken with rice and a bowl of Khmer soup base. The next picture is stolen off the internet, it is a traditional Khmer breakfast noodle. This includes rice noodle stretched over lead pipes in the village, and some yummy beef balls or pieces of thin sliced pork. The most unique thing about Khmer cooking is the 'gray fish paste.' It is an essential ingredient in all the foods. It gives the distinct flavor of what's genuinly Khmer. It is what makes this bowl of noodle soup different from the Vietnamese Pho soup. This soup is my favorite in all of the Khmer cooking... Now, I do wake up every morning craving a bowl of soup.

Khmer food has some influence from Thai and Indian traditions... So, you can find some curry. So, here is chicken curry with rice... and some 'very poached' egg with chicken in heavy sauce.

Here is another very much traditional Khmer dish, the 'Fish Amok' which is in the little banana leaf bowl right next to the coconut. The Khmer ice coffee is also very good and very strong, about 20% sweetened condense milk and 80% pure caffein! The coconuts are always freshly opened, about 1 liter of fluid inside. The next dish is 'garlic chicken,' which also is a part of the Khmer tradition, lots of Chinese influence.

Another traditional Khmer dish: the 'Beef Lok Lak' on the left. Basically, some nicely marinated cooked beef in special sauce with an very poached egg over it and rice. It is very tasty! The dish next to it is just a beef noodle soup.

Here are some Thai influence: Seafood noodles with coconut sauce and pinapple fried rice with egg rolls on top.

Ok, the following are some snacks, weird foods, weird fruits, and some desserts!

Little sweet and sour plum balls, very common in Asia. Then, some roasted bugs! It is said that on the road from Battambang to Phnom Penh, one can find roasted Trantulas... yikes! I hate bugs!

Fruits: Rambutans (very good, like Lycee), and some 'rubber nose' fruit... also very good.

A Jackfruit tree... never seen one before... Jackfruit taste almost like sweet potatoe, but without the after-taste. It is not to be confused with the picture on the right! That is a very stincky fruit called Durian... YUCK! I can't even get near the fruit... but, supposedly if you can get pass the stentch, people say that it actually taste really sweet and very good. I don't believe any of it.

So, always have to finish off with the dessert... here are some baked goods, very much with French influence. On the left, ginger banana and some rolled pastry with sweet stuff on the inside. Oh, we also found some good gelato icecream too.... Got to have snack!

There are still so many other dishes I didn't get to take pictures of, I guess you just have to go there to have some with me one day :)

Sex Slaves

Doesn't all this human trafficking and sex slavery and child labor disgust you? It does to me! I want to throw up every time I hear of it! Why do people think it is ok to do that to another human being? Is it monetary gains or sense of power? Or, is it a lack of reverence for God and a lack of respect for life? I think it is both!

So, recently, since I got back from Cambodia, and after my friend Lauren join the Polaris Project in the US, I’ve learned of another organization that is doing similar things. That is the HAGAR International project. This is a home grown project in Cambodia that helps women and children to get out of human trafficking and slavery by offering rehabilitation, shelter, and means of earning cash for living. I really like the idea of helping the helpless and the oppressed.

Cambodia, like many poor Southeast Asian countries and many African countries, the position women have in society is not equal to men. Many men are responsible for the propagation of prostitution and directly responsible for the spread of HIV/AIDS. HIV/AIDS has touted as the number ONE killer of people in Cambodia. Men have sex with prostitutes and come home and give it to their wife, or pass it all around, despite education. This has got to stop! How? I have no definitive idea, but through organizational efforts like the Polaris Project and Hagar International, hopefully one day, this world may be a safer place. I think these women and children are at the heart of God. Check it out!

Here is a video to how you can help: http://life.gaiam.com/gaiam/p/Fair-Trade-Paves-a-Way-Out-of-Human-Trafficking-in-Cambodia.html;jsessionid=12D00A58F141AB6C9044343458DDE5C3

Cambodia - Post-Trip Update

Jim Rip Sua! (Formal hello in Khmer) This is called the 'Sompiah,' with palms pressed together and say 'jim rip sua' as you greet another. So, hello :)

I want to begin by thanking God for His divine guidance and protection, and to you for your continuous support and prayers. I have now been back from Cambodia for 2 weeks, and I have just begun to unpack my thoughts. I’ve learned so much about the history of the country and its people during my short 17 day stay there.

Dr. Pat (Pediatrician) and his wife Kacie with 3 kids [Trent (6yo), Diana (4yo), Talia (2yo)] and I landed in Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia 2 days after we left LAX. I love this family. They are so much fun.

Though my interests are in medicine and public health, I did not have any experience in their applications abroad. Since Dr. Pat has been doing this all over the world for the last 10 years, he decided to take me under his wings to show me how things work. I knew I have a lot to learn, so I have prepared myself to be as flexible as possible and to enjoy anything we get to be a part of. After we arrived at Phnom Penh, we spent about a week visiting churches, clinics, government agencies, and various NGOs to get feedbacks in how we can achieve our objective. Our goal was to set up a reproducible and sustainable ‘Community Health Program.’ This program would involve training Health-Promoters (HP) to become educators of health and hygiene in a pre-selected community. We would develop the HPs to grow in their skills of health and hygiene promotion and also in discipleship of their spiritual maturity. Their role is to make relationships in the community they serve and eventually transforming their health and hygiene standards and to help in the efforts of helping their community to know God better.

After meeting with various local resources, Dr. Pat and I developed a completed proposal for the Community Health Promotion Program. We also participated in a Health and Hygiene Seminar as teachers: Dr. Pat, Denise (dental hygienist), Hung (our wonderful God-sent translator), and I. I start the session by teaching topics of first-aid, followed by Denise’s oral-health lectures, and ended by Dr. Pat’s lessons on how to clean water, how to make oral rehydration solution, and diarrhea prevention/management. There were about 18 students in attendance from towns all over Cambodia. We have numerous question/answering sessions and breakout practical sessions built into the curriculum. At the end of the 3-day seminar, we invited them to stand in front of the class and teach all of us on any one topic of their choice, which many of them did with passion and zest. We felt that the students had a very good understanding of the material and are ready to teach. One of the most exciting and necessary part of the seminar is the topic of spiritual applications along with each health and hygiene topic. As we know, the most important reason that people seek healthcare, also often least addressed, is for emotional/spiritual assurance. So, as teachers, we offered tools by way of applicable Bible verses and simple visuals that the HPs could integrate into their health and hygiene education.

Some fun things we did were traveling to see different temples (Ankor Wat and Ta Prohm in Siem Reap), Toul Sleng Prison and the Killing Fields, Military AID/HIV Hospital, and friends in Battambang. Ankor Wat is the national symbol of Cambodian pride. It was built in the middle ages at the height of the Ankor Empire. It is also the 7th man-made wonders of the world and the largest religious structure on the planet.

Ta Prohm, the temple depicted to the left, is a temple where trees grew out of the structures… also a temple filmed in Tomb-Raiders the movie… it is where God’s creations overcame the man-made building designed for spiritual oppression. It is a simple, yet powerful, display of God’s glory. All creation testifies to the knowledge of our Heavenly King. Simply awesome!!!
Along the way, we tasted many good Cambodia dishes and got to mingle with the locals. I have promised myself to eating at least one Khmer dish every day, and fell in love with the noodle-soup breakfast. And for me, one of the most exciting parts is to learn some language! I was able to greet, order my food, and count my numbers…

Here is a fast list of my first impressions: crazy traffic of cars/motorcycles/people going in all directions; beautiful smiles that stretches from ear to ear; rural feeling everywhere I go, even in many part of the capital; public sanitation is a literal disaster; not much of a public health infrastructure; air pollution is at least 10x worst than L.A.; overwhelming poverty; delicious foods; mosquitoes everywhere; and most of all, the pure hearts of youth who love our Father.

Cambodian Sunset... I love this picture.

Cambodia Highlights ... yay

Welcome to my Cambodia pictures... I'll walk you through my journey.

This is a picture of the Throne Hall (Preah Tineang tevea Vinichhay) in the Royal Palace in Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia. The second picture is a model of Ankor Wat, the symbol of Khmer pride, the great temple built in AD1100's at the height of the Ankor Empire. Behind the model on left is a little house on a stand. It is a 'spirit house' where many Buddhist/animists make offerings to appease the spirits. You can find spirit houses everywhere in Southeast Asia, its presence symbolized the invisible spiritual oppression of Satan.

The typical day in Phnom Penh, the heavy morning air filled with burning trash on the sides of streets, mix with beckoning aroma of the Khmer breakfast, and bustling scenes of business dealings, along with stench of the motor exhaust... ahhh, so full of life! The next picture is a woman sorting through rice to hand pick out impurities. Khmer rice is special, like other Asian rices, it has a special aroma and consistency.

The village, and me on a bamboo bridge! It was bouncy!

Skinny cow, and a poor rendition of the 'spirit house.' Some salted fish, a Khmer stable, they eat this with rice. That is what gets most village people through life.

Beautiful village kids.

Middle class housing... no railings. Kids at a school. Go back to class!

Ankor Wat, this is where my camera died.

Ta Prohm. Go ahead, crush those stone Mr. Tree!

All creation groan waiting for the sons of God to be revealed. I believe it.

(*) "First they killed my father" - A book that deepened my love for the Cambodian people

This is an awesome book! A very heart wrenching book, not for the weak of heart. I read this book in 2 days and many parts made me cry. My heart was moved for the injustice and pain they had to endure. I cannot imagine the hunger, the waiting, and the emotional/physical torture that they had to endure. I felt that this book gave me a very good idea of what it was like to live through the darkest part of human history. In a small part, I understand.

As I read on and reflect, I cannot imagine God's beautiful creatures, such as the Cambodian people, mistreat each other in the name of 'hardwork' and 'ethnic purity.' My thoughts take me to many other similar examples such as: the welded iron letters on Dauchau's gates claiming that 'work is salvation;' the war children in Uganda as documented in the movie "War Dance;" the Japanese occupation of Taiwan that my grandparents survived through; the Manchurian massacre by the Japanese; the ethnic cleansing by the Nazi's around WWII; the ethnic cleansing in Rwanda as depicted in "Hotel Rwanda;" and many many more... Many are not mentioned, war-crimes never brought to justice, war-criminals never tried... A complete disregard for the santity of life is a complete disregard for God.

In fact, as I ponder this point, it makes sense why things like this happen. When we denied the existance of God, things like this happen. I cannot imagine the world without the presence of God and the Holy Spirit. As we think about the topic of how God protects us, here is the evidence.

I have spend the last 3 weeks in Cambodia, mainly in the capital, Phnom Penh. I also spent sometime in Siem Reap visiting the Wats (temples) and 2 days in Battambang visiting some friends. I found that there are many unique features of this land previously unknown to me. I'm impressed with their (1) rich past history of their culture and once the largest empires in southeast Asia, (2) evidences of their turbulent near past with the Pol Pot/Khmer Rouge oppression 30 years ago to this year, and (3) the beauty of their people.

Another interesting fact is that 75% of the present 15 million population are less than 30 years of age, and 50% of them are under age 21. Talk about the age distribution!!! 35 years ago, the Khmer Rouge, the 'Red Communist' soldiers, raised in power with their leader, Pol Pot, in April 1975 and was put out of power by the Vietnamese army in January 1979. The Khmer Rouge killed about 2 million of a total of 7 million people during those 5 years of tyrrany. Their objective was to restore ethnic purity to the 'true' Ankor Empire that was made up of only 'hard working Khmer people.' Which means that they kill anyone with an education or any foreigners (non-Khmer). Inevitabily, their crazy ideas also killed many of their own. The atrocities are detailed in this book.

It is this very reason that every Cambodian-origin person you meet today over the age of 30 will have gone through this tragedy and quite possibly have witness family dying under the iron fists of Pol Pot. It is a population with incredible Post-Traumatic Stress, yet, not many talk about it. Many of these people are forever locked in their emotions and has trouble with forgiveness, trust, and change. In contrasted, the 75% of under-30's Cambodian youth today that has never experienced the war holds a very different sets of values than the former. Eventhough, they have seen the evidence of the war in their parents, the war is not their story. I find the youth in Cambodia to be quite vibrant and open and wanting change. Many of them want justice. It will be exciting to see what happens next. This is a culture in transition as we speak...

We need to act. As communist idea purges religious practices, the freedom and openness to choice is now. As you and I know, our desire for spiritual fulfillment will never be quenched. People are seeking. People are putting faith into things that inspire fear and shame. As their brother and sisters, we need to develope character and integrity in the youth of Cambodia before the 'oppressive - materialism' that has plagued many 'westernized' countries takes over. Another issue is that the current Priminister of Cambodia is an ex-Khmer Rouge, and has prevented many of the war-criminals of Pol Pot's regime from coming before justice. He has been heard to say that if he does not get re-elected as PM this coming election, he will promise a civil war. Please pray for this country. I have come to love this country and its people. I think they are beautiful with a fervent heart for the LORD and the Good News. Pray for courage. Pray for encouragement. Pray for strength to live as Christ lived. Pray for transformation. Pray for revival. Pray for the youth!

In short, I am going to write much more about Cambodia... I have been deeply moved and am wondering what this experience means to me and my future. I want to tell you all about it and post some pictures, so, stay tuned...

Few weeks in Cambodia...

To fellow beloved, I want to tell you about my trip to Cambodia in a few days. Please pray for the team of physicians and I as we work to set up some health programs there. The trip comprises many different facets for caring of the people in need.

Purpose: About 75% of Cambodia is considered rural and medically under-served. There are many villages there without the care of a doctor. I was invited to go on this trip with a pediatrician who has worked to improve quality of child care in orphanages around the world. Our objectives are several: teaching of health aids to take care of villagers, set up an evaluation process that is to be carried out in times to come as way of quality assessment of our program, evaluation of orphanages, and talking with the embassy regarding international adoption issues.

Preparation: I had a lot of experience setting up assessments and analyzing data from studies, however, I haven't had a lot of experience helping to set up health promotion programs on the ground. So, I have been personally doing some reading regarding to information and history of the country and its people, plus additional reading about 'community health program' and other written wisdom of working in countries where there are not many doctors. I have also asked many of you as prayer and support partners. I don't know how many of you have committed to praying, but I know that you guys have already covered more than 90% of the funds needed for me to go. Our F'ather is great! I trust Him greatly and I also trust you guys and appreciate you guys for the prayer coverage. I know that prayers are the most important tool we have in the caring for His beloved.

Follow up: So, I will be keeping a journal with me. I don't expect to have any sort of connection to you for the next month. I may possibly be traveling from site to site and will not have a way to be connected to you. So, as soon as I return, I will try to post some pictures and some results of the trip. For those of you that supported me through this trip, I believe that you are there with me. I also believe that you will see your offerings multiply in unexpected ways. I appreciate your partnership.

What I need you to do: Pray earnestly for my team and I... for unity, for flexibility to learn and to move as He directs, and for effective witness. I will be connecting with you when I can. Blessings!!!