We have a number of connections with the Mennonite Heritage Center in Harleysville, Pennsylvania. The Heritage Center is a museum and library dedicated to preserving and sharing the stories of Mennonite faith and life in eastern Pennsylvania. The connection continued even after we came to Cambodia in 2019. The fraktur prints that we present to…
Mearda Maternity Clinic and Susu Birthing
In the past, MCC Cambodia parents who were expecting a new child would travel to Thailand and deliver the baby there. I hadn’t thought about it until some MCC alumni asked and we realized that Caleb is likely the first “MCC baby” to be born in Cambodia. I asked Pou Cheang and Ming Ramy, who…
One Week of Caleb Daniel
Even when we lived in Pennsylvania we were far from most of our family. So, for Charlotte and Catherine, I did weekly Google photo albums up to 52 weeks. Then, since we already had the photos all together, I printed a photobook for the girls and the grandparents. I thought about sharing the weekly albums…
How the girls are doing
In October 2021, we had a dangerous miscarriage – a complete molar pregnancy. This is when the mother’s chromosomes are missing from the egg and the cells that would normally develop into the placenta develop into a molar growth instead. This can lead to tumors, cysts, a rare form of cancer, and necessitate a hysterectomy….
Introducing The Fifth C
This evening at 10:21 PM (Cambodia time) Caleb Daniel Conklin was born. At birth, he weighed 4 kg (8.8 lbs) and is 55 cm (21.6 in) tall. I’ll write a detailed account of the experience later. But it was short, intense, and painful labor and delivery. Crystal has some minor tearing but is doing well….
New National Staff
In October, MCC Cambodia said farewell to our PME Coordinator, Visal, and our Finance Officer, Ringsey. It would have been hard to lose either of these senior national staff, but it was especially difficult to lose both of them the same month so soon after the catastrophic medical emergency on the team. I mentioned them…
Interview with Ratt Morn, a farmer
Transcribed by Imm Sokea, MCC Cambodia Connecting Peoples CoordinatorPhotos by Isaac Alderfer, 2022-2023 SALT participant at ODOV My name is Rath Morn. When I was a child living with my parents, there were two seasons – dry season and rainy season. There were no changes within the seasons unlike nowadays. I was able to support…
Almost time for the Baby
Last night Crystal started having intense contractions – distinct from the usual braxton hicks contractions – and we thought it was time. So we quickly prepared everything, borrowed the MCC truck, and loaded up to leave. We were worried because Crystal and I still have this respiratory infection. Labor is hard enough when you can…
Clay Pots
One of the peacebuilding exercises that we’ve seen Women Peace Makers (WPM) and Peace Bridges Organization (PBO) use here in Cambodia is to split the training participants up into small groups with the assignment to work together to paint a clay pot with their vision of the future that they want for their communities. This…
Sulphur Soap
File this one under tips for living in a tropical developing country. As you likely recall, I had a very slow recovery from Chikungunya and my immune system was low for a long time. During my recovery I noticed that I had little red spots on my limbs. It was hard not to notice, they…