In March, MCC signed an agreement with the Prey Veng Department of Education to facilitate Peace Clubs during Primary School Life Skills classes and train Primary School Teachers on the operation of Peace Clubs. This agreement includes a sustainability plan with the Primary Schools gradually taking on more responsibility for the Peace Clubs and eventually…
Category: MCC in Cambodia
Catching up with a boy named January
Our project in remote areas of Kratie province has been renewed and expanded from 4 to 10 villages. Last week I visited the 6 new villages, meeting with the village chiefs and new project participants. We also made time to visit 2 of the existing villages and was delighted to meet up with Mokrea again….
Seek – Ramy’s Life Story and Testimony
Yesterday afternoon Ming Ramy shared her powerful testimony with the 2024 Seek cohort. I wanted to share my summary of her testimony with you. This is based on my notes from listening in Khmer so I know I got a few details wrong – it’s often hard to know which ‘bong’ is being referenced in…
Seek – Sreyhem’s Life Story and Testimony
On Friday, Sreyhem Roberts shared her life story and testimony with the Seek cohort. Sreyhem was five years old when the Khmer Rouge took power and was an early convert to Christianity through an underground House Church in the 1980s. She told us about her life, what it was like to be a Christian at…
Seek – International Women’s Day 2024
We had the Seek cohort over for International Women’s Day last Friday. It’s a national holiday in Cambodia and the MCC office was closed, as where many businesses. We started off with a hymn sing in the living room while Greta played the piano for us. The schools were not closed for International Women’s Days…
Intersections: Disability, safeguarding, and inclusion in Cambodia
I was asked to write an article on Disability, safeguarding, and inclusion in Cambodia for the Fall 2023 edition of Mennonite Central Committee’s Intersections: MCC theory and practice quarterly newsletter. I’m sharing the text of the article below. As many of you know, I worked with adults with intellectual disabilities and autism for eight years before…
Meng Srean’s Interethnic Peacebuilding Journey
Meng Srean is an alumni of local partner Women Peace Maker‘s MCC supported interethnic peacebuilding project, “An Encounter with the Other Side”. In June 2023, she had dinner with MCC US Board of Directors during a Learning Tour to Cambodia and shared about her personal peacebuilding journey. Recorded by Sabrina Gilmore, SALT participant. When MENG…
MCC U.S. Board Learning Tour 2023
In June 2023, the MCC U.S. Board of Directors spent eight days in Cambodia for a Learning Tour. There were 26 visitors in all, including Board members and MCC staff. We were quite a crowd when the MCC Cambodia team met up with them. On Sunday morning, the Learning Tour split up into two groups…
Fresno Pacific University Visit 2023
In July, we hosted a group from Fresno Pacific University in California. Fresno Pacific is a Mennonite Brethren University. The group spent most of it’s time in Vietnam but came through Cambodia for a week and ended with a few days in Thailand. The lead Professor for the group was Dr. Ken Friesen who was…
What is Seek?
Seek is a new cohort discipleship program from Mennonite Central Committee that had it’s first pilot earlier this year in Israel/Palestine. The second pilot is planned for next year in Cambodia. It is a 6 month discipleship program meant to engage Anabaptist youth (ages 18-20) with the core tenants of Anabaptist faith, MCC, and the global…