I've been in Cambodia for about 2 1/2 weeks and I've met some pretty cool kids here. There are about 28 of the little rascals and they're all brothers and sisters. Huge family, right? Well, when you live at an orphanage you tend to have a pretty big family.
My team and I have been living in Phnom Pehn, Cambodia working at an orphange called the Cambodia Hope Association. We spend our days playing with the children who aren’t in school and helping to teach them English and computers. Recently someone donated 3 computers to the orphanage, which the kids share playing educational games. This is a great things for them because other than that, the kids have very few toys except for a few books, a jump rope, 3 puzzles, and 1 ball.
It all started with one man, Ruti, in a single room with 50 kids to take care of. Many of the kids came from the streets, abandoned by family, stuck in abusive homes, or with parents that passed away. Ruti saw that they needed a home and followed God in blind faith. He took them in and now has a larger building with one room for the boys and one for the girls, a common area, and a small chapel. Ruti is truly living by faith with these children. Many times, they don't know when their next meal will be and the kids don't have simple things like mosquito nets for their beds and soap. But he continues to rely on God. The orphanage has been blessed with one steady monthly donor of $200 but that doesn't even cover their rent for one month. When you ask Ruti if he's scared that the children won't be taken care of he just smiles and says, "God is good, the children will get what they need."
My team has fallen in love with this orphanage. We have been reaching out to friends and family to find a way to support our new brothers and sisters. So far we've raised about $3,000 and bought about 4 months worth of rice! It's amazing what God can do in such a short amount of time with 6 people. We're continuing to find people who want to help and maybe even find some long term support for Ruti and the children. These kids need so much and God is making a way for that to happen. Can you beleive it? I can.
If you're interested in donating or helping the orphanage in any way, please message or email me!
Thailand Month 4 is over, just like that. I had a unique experience in Thailand, my team and another one stayed with Buddhist host families in a rice patty village called Mae Ai about 3 hours outside of Chiang Mai. We lived two to a house with families that spoke absolutely no English. Just in the rare case that you might be unfamiliar with how life is in a Thai rice village, I'll take you through our typical day:
-Wake up at 6am. Why? Because no one in Thailand sleeps past 5:30 in the morning. For some reason this country is filled with morning people, a concept I cannot grasp. 6 in the morning is the only time the temperature is reasonable enough for any kind of movement so I go for a run through the rice fields. Seeing the sun come up over the fields with the mountains in the background is pretty breathtaking. Then every now and then a man drives by on a scooter and hands me a couple bananas.
-7:30 am breakfast served by our host mother Mae Lai. This isn't your typical breakfast, it's usually a big bowl of rice and vegetables or some kind of meat/egg dish. Mae Lai puts our food out and then we awkwardly say thank you and make even more awkward conversation in English while she obviously is speaking Thai to us. We smile and laugh a lot. There's enough love to cut through the awkwardness.
-8 am means time for work. Most of our work consisted of weeding in the rice fields or hiking 20 minutes into the jungle to do some yard work at an orchard. It was hot and it was hard.
-12pm, get home and eat lunch that was prepared by Mae Lai. More rice and more vegetables. Sometimes I sat there and thought, "I'm eating Thai food in Thailand made by a Thai woman." Weird.
-After lunch was the hottest part of the day so what did we do? Find the closest place with internet, air conditioning, and coffee. Take about a 15 minute walk out of the village and hitch a ride on the back of a pick up to get in touch with the outside world. I've never enjoyed an iced latte as much as I do when it's a million degrees outside and I've been doing manual labor all morning.
-6pm means dinner time for everyone. Both teams would come together and eat after a long day. It's nice to relax, eat, and talk about how crazy our lives are. Then we all take an after dinner stroll to the 7 Eleven. I know what you're thinking, who cares about 7 Eleven anymore? Thailand does. They are everywhere. And it's the only guarantee for cool air and cheap snacks. Let's just say, we were there every day.
-Bed by 8pm. Why? Because you have to do it all over again the next day.
My Thailand experience was crazy incredible when I look back on it. I was living with a family who were complete strangers, knowing about 10 words in their language and not even believing in the same god. I have no way of knowing the impact we had on that village but I know it's something greater than I can imagine. God is moving everywhere and it's happens to be everywhere I'm going. Cool.
So here's a page out of my Nicaragua book ... step into my shoes (or more likely, my brain):
-Pile into the back of our pick up truck, sweaty arms touching sweaty legs, the sun beating down, and feet dangling off the side. Put your sunglasses on and turn the ipod on shuffle because usually you don't know how long the ride is going to be. Enjoy the "alone" time in the back of the truck.
-Arrive at an orphanage in the middle of nowhere. Get handed a bucket of paint and a paintbrush. Look around at the very large room you've been asked to paint and be thankful for the people you have around you to talk to and help. Try not to think about the increasing heat surrounding you in the sauna-like room. Be happy you can do anything to help a place that's giving a home to children who really need it. Thank God for being blessed beyond your comprehension.
-Go to the nearby community of Bethel. Play in the dirt with some hyperactive children. Talk really fast to them in English when you can't understand them. Love them. Act out a telenovela with a 4yr old boy named Jeffery. Hold a baby or two. Walk around and talk to strangers and think of how weird that would be in the states.
-Stop in a community you don't know the name (& most likely can't pronounce). Look around and instantly have your heart break. Notice the children digging through the trash dump to make a living for their families or find food. Want to do something. Get frustrated. Get mad. Get inspired. Prepare yourself.
-Enjoy a fabulous meal made by the cooks at the ministry site. Unwind at dinner and soak in the cooling air. Collapse on your bed. Turn the fan on high and pass out.
My time in Nicaragua is rapidly coming to an end and I can't believe it. We've already been here three weeks and on Monday we will be venturing off to an entirely different continent. I've learned a lot in Nicaragua...how much love people need and how love is an action. If you love someone, you'll do something about it. And I want to do so many things about it. God's teaching me so much about the needs of the world and inspiring me to do something about it. I want to keep learning so I can be prepared for the change I want to (and I know God wants me to) make.
Month 2 in Honduras has flown by, I can’t believe it’s over and time to move on to Month 3 in Nicaragua. Working at Zion’s Gate in Tegucigalpa, Honduras has been an awesome experience.
Zion’s Gate is a ministry that Tony, an American, started about 5 years ago to help get boys off the streets. He works with kids who live on the streets and also live in one of the most dangerous ghettos in the world, Los Pinos. He has taken in 4 boys to live at the property and has about 5 or 6 more that he mentors. He wants to provide a safe place for kids who need it with food, love, and most of all grace.
The month was packed full but here’s a bit about what the month looked like for me:
Week 1: Started teaching music at a local school down the street. Every Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday we went to school every morning to teach. There was a team of three English teachers and three music teachers. I had no idea what to expect because I was going to be teaching music to 2nd, 3rd, 5th, and 6th graders completely in Spanish (and I am not fluent by any means). But Chris, my co teacher, and I came up with a lesson plan and decided to give it the old college try. After I got over the kids snickering at my broken Spanish, we had some fun. Week 1 was all about learning the keyboard and the notes. We played games, did worksheets, and when all else failed, sang songs.
Another thing I was able to do week 1 was work with Pastor Armando in some of the poor neighborhoods of Tegucigalpa. Pastor Armando runs a sports ministry that has set up dozens of soccer leagues all over Honduras that gets kids off the streets and doing something productive. We were able to help him, go to some schools, and visit a colony where he had done a lot of work and organized a league. We played soccer with the kids at that colony, painted little girls’ nails, sing, and just hang out. It was a great opportunity to see how people are affected by the ministry and the lasting impact it’s having on the community.
Week 2: The lost week. This is when I got sick so it’s all a blur of movies and sleep. It wasn’t a sickness too terrible, just enough to knock me off my feet for a few days. It was probably a blessing in disguise because God knows I needed the rest and to spend some time hanging out with Jesus. While I wasn’t happy at the time to be missing out on the ministry opportunities, I’m glad I had that week to recover and recharge for the next week and the next month.
Week 3: We had our last music classes at the school. The kids got really into the lessons and I was actually surprised by how much they learned. It was a great experience teaching and really good practice for my Spanish. For my very last class, the 2nd graders taught me “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” in Spanish and it was precious. Hopefully they took as much away from the lessons as I did. I’ll miss my little students!
The entire squad (and myself) has been working around the property all month and during week 3 we were able to finish some projects that we started at the beginning of the month. I was working with a couple different groups helping to do planting and painting projects. We painted over the logos on the side of the building (it was an old karaoke bar with huge beer signs) so that the community knows this place is no longer a bar. The look on Tony’s face when he saw those logos we no longer there was reason enough to do it. You can tell that he has a great vision for Zion’s Gate and that with our little help, it may be coming sooner than he thought.
Honduras was all about growth. We may have only been there for a month but I could see so much growth in Zion’s Gate, the other ministries,the community, the boys, and the squad. Honduras was definitely a step in God’s plan that changed every person of E squad. Now on to Nicaragua for even more crazy stuff.
I couldn't have asked for a better first month. It was hard to sum up my time in El Salvador in a neat little package. But if I had to, this would be it:
(Side note: El Salvador blog titles have been named after famous Juan Carlos sayings)
I can't believe it but we are leaving El Salvador this Saturday, Feb. 11th. Did the time really go by that quickly? Thinking about that makes my brain literally freeze. How could I possibly be finished with my time here? There is still so much to do.
Since my last post, we have seen the church we helped build in San Diego, Rendecion, open! Two Sundays ago the team and I attended the inauguration and celebrated the new chapter of the community in San Diego. It was amazing to see the huge attendance and the excitement of all the people there. It was also amazing to look over at the completey flat, clear field with children playing and think, "Wow. I spent many hours in the scorching heat clearing that and spreading dirt all over it. Looks pretty good." The team and I performed a drama, sang a song, and gave a testimony for the congregation as our participation in the service. The love they showed us for our brief time there was incredible. When we said goodbye to that place and those people for the last time, I know I will never forget how it blessed me. I left a piece of my heart in San Diego (not to be confused with the popular Tony Bennett hit "I Left my Heart in San Fransico"..see that's funny because it's about another town in California but the San Diego I'm talking about isn't....).
I fell in love with El Salvador. I didn't expect it to happen. Honestly, I thought I would fall in love with at least my 4th or 5th country. The people we were blessed with go beyond anything I could have imagined. Pastor Noah, his wife, and the entire church of Rendecion, Jenny, Susie, Cindy, every child and family we met, and especially Juan Carlos. I couldn't have asked for a better first month on the race. The relationships I made, the affect these people had on my heart, and the amount of Jesus I saw every day was an answer to every prayer I had for my first step of the race. If I could give El Salvador a hug, I would. Don't worry El Salvador, I'll be back.
It's been a week so far on the World Race and I don't even know where to begin. Feels like a day, feels like a year.
Here's a bit of a summary on what my team and I have been up to:
-Manual labor: We have been helping to initiate the start of a church in a beach town called La Playa de San Diego. This has taken most of our time since being in San Salvador. It's about an hour from the city so to get there, we pile in the back of a couple pick up trucks and take a ride. Then our day is filled with various strenuous activities, such as machete-ing corn stalks to clear fields, shoveling dirt, removing stones and trash, etc. etc. And I thought my teen years were hard. Middle school had nothing on this work. I've never been so hot and dirty before in my entire life. The work was hard but the pay off was definitely better. The gratitude these people have for our little time of help blessed me beyond belief. How they could be so thankful for us I'll never know but I am so thankful for them, more than I could ever imagine.
-Our Host: We are staying at the home of Pastor Oscar while he is with another team in San Vicente. While he is away we are under the protection and hospitality of Juan Carlos. We are incredibly lucky to have such a kind and wonderful person staying with us, taking care of us, and helping us with our work. And a big plus, he's hilarious!
-Language barriers: Who would have thought that the 3 years of Spanish in high school and 1 year in college would fail me so miserably being in a Spanish speaking country? Now I know what a 2 year old feels like because I have so much to communicate but I'm sure it's all coming out as gibberish. But everyone in this country has been so accommodating. I can understand about 80-90% of what's being said and can speak maybe 10% in response. We are very fortunate to have people who speak English and are patient with us. Although it can be frustrating at times, we're getting better and life makes a little more sense each and every day. And it definitely leaves us with lots of laughs.
It may be too early to say, but I have fallen in love with this country. The people, the culture, the work, has been incredible. I've been beyond blessed to be here and I can't wait to see what the next two weeks have in store if this first one has already been so amazing.
¡Que Pelado!
PS. Pictures could not upload to the blog on my internet situation... Go here instead!! https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.657497513104.2116093.55303870&type=1
Tomorrow I leave for the World Race... Is this real life?!
A couple hours ago I completely finished packing, stuffed everything in my pack, put my bag on the scale (to see that it only weighs 41 lbs), and zipped all the pockets. It was way too easy. I'm sure I forgot something very important like soap or toothpaste...no, wait, I have that...I'm ready!
I want to thank everyone who has helped me get to this place, ready to leave, prepared, and excited. Your support and love is so important, I even saved a little room in my bag so I could take it with me.
I want to stay in contact with all of you while I'm gone so don't hesistate to send emails (paige.manieri@gmail.com), facebook messages, HeyTells (HeyTell is an app you can get on any smart phone and use with Wifi to send voice messages), smoke signals, sky writing, or whatever you can think of. You can also subscribe to this blog by putting in your email (on the left) to get updates every time I post a new entry. I'll be expecting some awesome correspondence so don't be a stranger this year!
So here I go, off to my first stop San Salvador, El Salvador (And for all my friends up North, it's 86 degrees there now!). Can't wait to see what we will be doing and the experiences we'll have. The first post from the field is coming soon!
Last week I had only one thing to say to God: Move Mountains.
I had a deadline to reach by Dec. 18th, to have $6500 in my account for the World Race or I wouldn't be joining my team for launch. And so when I checked it on the 12th and only had $4500 and change, I was a little skeptical. That was only 6 days to get about $2000. But as we all know, God can do some pretty big things in 6 days.
For those 6 days, I developed a mantra- God is going to move mountains. Believing it was keeping me sane and the more I said it, the more I felt at ease (well, at least slightly at ease). As the deadline quickly approached, I was reluctant to check my progress. All of my plans for the next year were riding on this little number so you can understand my hesitation. But on the night of the 15th, a funny thing happened when I logged in to my account- I was over the deadline by $1000. Mountains moved? Check.
If there was any doubt in my mind about the World Race, it was erased the minute my account hit $6500. Apparently I've got some big things to do and someone was making sure I would.
So on January 10, 2012, I will be flying to Ft. Lauderdale to meet my team and prepare for our first country, El Salvador. It's hard to believe sometimes. But my mountains were moved, so I'm thinking it's the right move. The World Race 2012: Here I come.
Currently I have raised $8000 and need another $7500 to be fully funded. I can't thank enough my family and friends who have supported me and continue to do so as this process continues. If you would like to help me reach my goal, just click the "Support Me!" link on the left. You'll be a part of my journey and will help me serve the people of the world.
Today I had one mission: Distract myself from worrying about everything on my mind. Worrying about money, deadlines, doctor's appointments, gear, etc etc. I needed to turn off my brain and do some mindless busy work.
So what did I do? I cranked up my Barenaked Ladies for the Holidays (totally underrated and excellent Christmas album) and spent about 6 hours decorating the house for Christmas. And Santa smiled; because trust me the place looks like a Hallmark card and the North Pole had a baby.
As I was sitting on the floor untangling the 9 million feet of garland and sorting through the boxes of ornaments, I had a thought. It was almost as if I had one of those Christmas movie moments of clarity. The music was playing and I was staring up a big Christmas tree with a dove ornament in my hand. It was all very poetic.
It was clear all of a sudden: God's in control. Of course I say this to myself all the time but honestly, I can't tell you I always believe it. One of my favorite Harry Connick Christmas songs has a line that says "I pray on Christmas, that the Lord will see me through." Shouldn't that be our prayer everyday? Because no matter what, he will see us through. The money, the deadlines, the doctor's appointments, these are all tiny things in God's big plan. It's just like an ornament on a tree; it stands alone at first but then you take a step back to look at the whole tree and it's working to make the entire thing look beautiful. God has a plan for me. It's not going to be clear to me right now but eventually I'll see it and it's going to be beautiful.
Continue to pray for me as I get closer to my next deadline and donate if you can. Every little bit counts!
[To DONATE click the "SUPPORT ME!" link on the side]
Zion’s Gate is a ministry that Tony, an American, started about 5 years ago to help get boys off the streets. He works with kids who live on the streets and also live in one of the most dangerous ghettos in the world, Los Pinos. He has taken in 4 boys to live at the property and has about 5 or 6 more that he mentors. He wants to provide a safe place for kids who need it with food, love, and most of all grace.
