Saturday I rode up to Battambang with the rest of my stuff and a missionary from Poipet. I am staying with my teammates, Chris and Julee Bellar, and their two little boys. They live across the street from David and Doris and Matthew Strong and caddy corner from Sharon! I am staying with the Bellars until I move into my own little house on the 28th. It is a small, 2 bedroom house one street over from my teammates and the same street as Corey, my NMSI teammate. The landlord lives in a house behind it on the same property. A single missionary woman lived in this house for the past 8 years, up until Saturday, and she had excellent things to say about the landlords. I am excited to have found a good place so soon. God is good at taking care of his kids! =)
Already within 3 days I have done quite a bit! Sunday I went to church with the Strongs and Julee, and then I had lunch with the Strongs. In the afternoon I rested, and then went out with the Strongs to the moringa orchard in the evening to look at the trees and give the farmer a bag of natural fertilizer for the rice field. The leaves on the moringa trees were turning yellow from too much water so we decided to go back in the morning to cut some the trees so we could process the leaves before they all turn yellow.
Monday morning, I went with David and Julee to look at the house for rent. We discussed with the landlady about the house and I decided to rent it. They are painting it now and will buy a few pieces of furniture. Then I went out to the orchard with Sombok and David. We couldn't cut all the trees because there isn't enough space to dry that many leaves, so we cut the tallest trees and then snapped the stems off the branches and loaded them in the truck. Sombok and I wash the leaves in water at the Strong's house and then after lunch I helped Sombok and Chris strip the leaves off the stems. I also got to help them process moringa seeds for oil. The Strongs got a oil seed press and are processing the moringa seeds for oil because it has excellent topical benefits for arthritis and helping the skin. We all tasted the seedcake, which is the stuff that comes out the after the oil is squeezed out of the seed, and it was extremely bitter but also sickeningly sweet. It took a few hours to get the taste out of my mouth! I need to do some research on if we can use the seedcake for something.
This morning, Chris, Dara and I went up to Battrang middle school to meet with the staff about the agriculture class. We saw some students leaving as we came into the school yard and found out today was one of the registration days. We had a good meeting with the principal, vice principal and several teachers, and got some answers for questions about the schedule, classes, land, orientation day, etc. Then we went out and got some soil samples from the areas we might plant gardens and the male teachers joined in on that too. We also got the ok to talk about God in the classroom!!! Please pray this opens doors for opportunties to share with the teachers as well about why we are there. On the way back to Battambang, we stopped at 2 places that had moringa trees loaded with mature seed pods and asked the owners if we could collect the seed pods. Both people said yes and now we have more seeds for oil. It seems moringa trees are everywhere here, yet so many people don't know about the nutrition in the leaves and the other benefits of the tree.
This afternoon, Chris, Julee and I broke open the seeds pods and got the seeds out. I have enjoyed getting to spend time with Aiden and Kailen, Chris and Julee's little boys. Aiden is 2 years old and Kailen is 3 months and they are both super cute! Life in Battambang is not as fast paced as Phnom Penh, so I am looking forward to getting to know my neighbors. Thank you for your prayers!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment