Here's a recap of our day at the seminar. We are more than half way through. The day started with breakfast at 7:00am. So if anyone thinks this is a vacation think again!
As we usually do at each session, morning and afternoon, we start with a time of worship with singing. We can't understand the words but their songs are beautiful. A couple of the songs have been recognizable hymns or choruses but not the majority. Their singing in Khmer is very rythmic and lyrical. I thoroughly enjoy it.
I led the first lesson of the day. It was on personal hygiene (general personal cleanliness - hand washing, bathing, toothbrushing) and why it was important, what diseases it prevented, and how it prevented disease. The information was well accepted. I was afraid it might come of condescending, but they were very interested in it. Most of the information was known to them , but they are aware the general population needs improvement in this area. It was a good discussion of how this teaching would improve health. This was the end of my teaching responsibilities! Pressure is off. I can enjoy the rest of the time.
Because they were familiar with the info we went through it quickly. It only took a couple of hours instead of the full morning, so Tyla presented her lesson on clean water. We talked about options for cleaning water. Boiling being best but she explained the SORDIS method for purifying water using sunlight. This was a great discussion. They were very interested in it and soaked up (forgive the pun) the information!
Mark taught his lesson on trash pits after lunch. He has had the toughest topic so far. They realize there is such a problem and I think they are overwhelmed at trying to find a solution. Many in the city who don't get city garbage pick up felt like they did not have the available space for a pit. And they realize burning is not good for the air. You could sense some frustration in the students. I think Mark felt like he really failed. We all tried to encourage him that it was not his teaching but the scope of the problem that discourages them from moving forward with improvements. After Mark's initial teaching the students broke into small groups for discussion. None of us were involved. This was there time. God is so good. He used this time and the teaching to bring on discussion of solutions. Mark was discouraged because he could not come up with answers to their questions on what to do if you couldn't do the "best" solution. In their small groups they began working together to come up with their own answers sharing what each are doing in their different areas of Cambodia. They definitely have an uphill road to travel with the issue of trash disposal but this was a great start to finding answers and motivating them to take the first steps. Mark was somewhat encouraged. Please continue to pray for him that he can see that seeds were planted and someone else will need to water and harvest them.
His lesson too, took less time than expected. Tyla did a demonstration on soap and how to at least make a bar of soap go farther. We had not been able to find a simple inexpensive way to make soap or come up with natural soap alternatives for them. Guess what? They taught us. They already have some great alternatives to soap from a store! The teachers became students.
It is now 10:50pm and our day tomorrow begins again at 7:00am. More stories at another time.
