Open Arms Cambodia

March 2016 Newsletter

Hi folks I hope you are all going well.

Please accept my apology for the delay in sending you a newsletter we have been held up in Australia because of my health but all is right again and we will leave Australia on the 29th March for what we expect will another fruitful time in Cambodia.

As usual the young people hold down the fort beautifully, Skype and social media make it very easy to keep up communications and even though the young ones do a great job we know they are anxious for us to return they say it’s so boring without us haha.

So what will 2016 bring for Open Arms?

For the next few months our discipleship classes will focus on Who We are In Christ these classes are held daily and equip the young ones not only in their own lives but they all have the opportunity to share the Gospel with customers and the people at Alabaster.

One of our focuses will be to help the leaders in their written communication skills, we will be helping them to do reports for Global Development and other reports when necessary, this will take them another step closer to be able to totally take the reins of Open Arms.

Jenna , Chiva and Lita will be attending University, Lita is doing Accounting , Jenna teaching and Chiva will do Computer engineering ( it’s a new name for IT ) these young one still hold down a position in Open Arms and Sreyna and Sreynait will continue to manage the businesses .

Salon and Beauty School

We are expecting more teams than usual this year, the first starting in April with a hairdresser coming from Australia to help train she is also assisting us in getting training manual set up.

In June we will start networking with a group from Japan the connection came through World Vision Japan the Japanese group will work through World Vision Cambodia and will sponsor ten girls a year to be trained by Open Arms they will also provide Open Arms with products from France we will sell these to help generate funds, the hairdressers will also come to assist the training it’s very exciting.

In July our friends from Texas will come again to train this will be their fourth year they have been a great benefit to the training of the girls and an encouragement to Grahame and I.

It has been such an honor for us all at Open Arms to be able to be a part of reintegrating these beautiful young people back into a good life and good employment there are over 200 young people come through then program over the last six years.

Restaurants / Hospitality and Catering Training.

There will be some changes made in the restaurant after receiving some good advice we will glass off an area so that we can air-condition a portion of the area, to be competitive in this area we have to provide a cool place for people to eat.

The catering continues to be a good source of funding for the restaurant, the training is exceptional the young are really very good in all areas, cooking, presenting the food, table waiting and there wouldn’t be a cleaner restaurant in the world haha.

Alabaster.

I have to say honestly just to say the name sometimes makes me sad it truly it’s a tragic area but in saying that there have been successes.

Here is a testimony from two of the ladies that come daily

Chantha and Rorn say they are happy when they came in to Alabaster to rest through the day. Alabaster make them felt like a warm loving home because of the care they are getting from the staff. They got everything they need for themselves and for their babies. Since Alabaster was open there are hardly any women slept on the street anymore and they appreciated the help that they got very much. Alabaster is like a safe place where they can go to and forget all of their problems on the street.

We have felt that this year we would like to do more towards equipping these women to get employment this is a very difficult area as they can’t afford to stop working to train so we will be believing to able to give them a stipend.

So I am very excited about our decision, we will start a cooking school at Alabaster I’m not sure how this will look yet as we have to get back to see if there is a premises available or how we could fit it into the area we have.

Our idea is to use the great people we have at Open Arms.

Sreynait the head cook will come across a couple of days a week to train, her skill level I so high she needs to use it to equip others now.

Chontoo who is probably one of the best little waitresses I have seen will train in table waiting, table setting and customer service.

Socheat our assistant cook will train on how to keep a restaurant clean.

We will do market shopping, ordering a and all things that we hope will equip these women to be able to get good employment.

As the women progress we hope to find outlets for these cooking but until then we will set up a little shop at Alabaster front door and sell cupcake sand muffins, it will generate a little cash for the girls.

If you feel you would like to donate to the setting up of the school please let me know.

Alabaster Children.

We hope to find new premises for the children school it has become disruptive with all the comings and goings as the women have to walk through the school to get to Alabaster.

The children are a delight as are all children they have grown so much in all areas, Jenna attending university will help her so much in teaching these kids.

It has been hard to get some of them to commit so if they attend every day that week they receive a reward e.g. soap shampoo etc etc it seems to be working.

They pray each morning they do a memory verse then into study or craft, one little girl won’t go to school she is twelve so Jenna is giving her private study and its really helping her.

We will hope to get the boys started in some sort of sport this year but we are not sure yet which way that will go.

Well folks that’s a big newsletter I hope you enjoy reading it and I hope you will pray for us to have wisdom as we make the steps of improvement that we would lie to make.

Thank you for your love and support for another year it’s hard to believe this is our 14th year and most of you have been with us most of the time thank you again we love and appreciate you.

Grahame, Sandra and the Open Arms Family

Open Arms 2015

1,2. Our wonderful Family couldn’t do it without them,

1. Family comes to visit.                                            2. Lita , Jenna and Chiva are all enjoying University

1. Sreyna and Teakson visit Sydney Hair Expo.   2. Sreynait Turns 21

1. Graduation 2015.                                             2. Another catering success

1. Cupcake yummy.                                           2. Team from USA,

1.Doing children’s Hair at Alabaster.   2.Community Care this family is now on  the road to a good life , they are safely housed dad and boy employes by Open Arms

1. Alabaster Kids Space daily education     2. Certificates for good behavious , singing , dancing and learning.

1. Church in the park.                                            2.Christmas party

1. Alabaster Christmas.                                    2. Open Arms Christmas

December news

Hi folks.

It’s hard to believe that Christmas is on us again, this will be our last newsletter for 2015 so we would like to take this opportunity to say thank you for your continued love and support. As always it has been a very full year with lots of challenges, successes and learning.

There are now twenty people employed by Open Arms and each and every one of them are doing well , not only are they are learning their skill at a higher level but they are also learning life skills which we hope will carry them through life in a more productive way.

The businesses have continued to be successful they are supplying a large amount of the funds needed to operate Open Arms.

The salon has had its challenges losing two key staff members but in saying that the young ones have been given an opportunity to grow in their skill at a much faster rate, the training has a changed a little with the trainees now spending more time in the salon we are hoping it will be a successful way to improve their training.

The restaurants are prospering with catering becoming a weekly occurrence, six young people are now being trained, the standard of the girls cooking has surprised us all Sreynait the head cook is constantly coming up with new ideas she is very creative.

Open Arms now has three rooms that house families in need these people are all now employed and being trained by Open Arms so that they can be self-sufficient , it is our hope that this project will increase in 2016. The elderly couple are going ahead so quickly their son is bring trained in the restaurant and receives a stipend and Grandpa  is now our Tuk Tuk drive they are the cutest family smiling all the time, grammars health is also improving.

Alabaster is truly a beautiful place the women have grown so much their health has improved , five women have left the sex industry and now have good jobs, it is heartbreaking a lot of the time as there are many women with tiny babies and they live on the streets but we can’t seem to encourage them to allow us to help them to come out of their situation I think they are afraid of change.

Making the salon area into a kids space was the best move we could have made the children are amazing they are as bright as whips and learning in all areas , of course their favorite thing to do is sing and sing do with such gusto . We have just installed four computers they will learn English on them and just basic computer skills one of the reasons we did this was to try to keep them out of the local gaming places as they are dangerous and show photography. The children new have a very cute uniform and they feel very fancy in them we wanted then to have a feeling of ownership.

Open Arms now has a food bank it’s only small as yet but we believe it will grow , a friend of pop and I owns thirteen small supermarkets in Phnom Penh and he daily supplies us with fruit vegetables and milk so of course he children’s health had greatly improved.

We have had the more teams this year than we usually have each and every one of them have been so helpful and generous and we feel we have made some good friends and great connections.

Last but not least our family, Lita had just finished her first year of university and has achieved very high marks she had really matured over the past year, her health is always a problem for her but she us very courageous, Jenna and Chiva have just started Uni and loving it but as some of you mums will know having a house full of Uni students can be challenging all of a sudden we know nothing and they know everything hahaha. I love it. Sreyna and Sreynait absolutely wonderful job in the salon

and restaurants and pop and I well just keep on keeping on .

We would like to take this opportunity to honor our family they are the greatest source of encouragement to us .

Folks we hope you have a great Christmas and that 2016 is all you hope for and more.

Grahame, Sandra and the Open Arms Team

Christmas at Open Arms

Hi folks its nearly Christmas and Open Arms has some great catering ideas.

Below are our menus  please come in and discuss your catering needs before our calendar is full.

newsletter

Hi folks we hope you are all well and can you believe it’s only ten weeks to Christmas.

ON A PERSONAL NOTE

Grahame and I have been back two weeks now after having a good long break and we will be coming home again two days before Christmas.

We feel it’s time for us to be able to spend a little more time in Australia. for the last thirteen years we have tried to do nine months here in Cambodia and three months home but next year we would like to do six months in Cambodia and six months home.

Grahame is seventy in January I can’t believe it he looks like a boy to me anyway it’s time for a lot of relaxation for us.

The team are amazing I know I always say that but truly they are and I mean the whole team not just our kids , we gets endless compliments on their behavior when we are not there and it’s so good.

We are hoping in the next couple of years to be able to give it over to them after all that’s the right way isn’t it.

FAMILY 

Jenna and Chiva start Uni easily this week isn’t that exciting that will be five of the original children to get a university education not bad is it.

As some you would already know Grahame and I arrived back to give Sreynait a surprise 21st. Birthday Party and it was certainly a surprise the poor kid looked overwhelmed all night, but a great time was had by one and all.

RESTAURANT AND TEA ROOM.

Suzy the young girl who started with me 7 years ago had to resign for family matters it was sad to lose her but we have told there is an open door for her if she ever needs it.

The girls all panicked at first but Sreynait has certainly filled the gap her cooking skills have escalated she never stops studying and trying new recipes. She is so very passionate and has a very good way about herself she is also an excellent team leader so consequently she has a happy team.

The change has also enabled us to be able to pay small wages as we train; a young lady who has HIV and is illiterate has started and is going so well she’s started to cook on her own.

The catering side of the business had grown rapidly with weekly functions now and just this week we stated to supply to a small hospital it’s not big but it’s a start, last month they actually did profit not a lot but profit all the same. So it’s onward and upward.

SALON AND TRAINING CENTER

The salon is a very good business and helps support Open Arms the team are just wonderful they treat everybody so very well. Sreyna constantly trains her team

We are training around twenty girls and we know they are getting a high quality education.

Just today we had a meeting with a Japanese organization that wants to work through World Vision to help with the training if they like us ( and why wouldn’t they ) they will sponsor girls donate products to us they will also come a couple of times a year and help train the students. We are also looking into another organization coming on board to train customer care and marketing.

Early November a team of hairdressers will come from Texas USA for a week to help with the training this is their fourth visit and we are finding it very helpful they are an excellent group of people.

ALABASTER

Again the Cambodian staff get all the credit they are doing a sterling job, the women still come daily but the good news is five women have now left the sex industry and are working normal jobs, they all say the same thing that they have felt love and care and they just don’t want to do this anymore praise God for that.

The kids space is an absolutely joy the kids have settled down so much , they do worship first up then they pray for each other then it’s onto work which is English classes , life style and hygiene and lots and lots of fun cooking , craft , they do daily exercise you have to see it to believe it . Jenna and Chiva are the teachers and they take it very seriously I noticed the little shoes go all in a line and the kids know how to tidy up its very cute.

COMMUNITY CARE

The elderly couple that we found on the park bench are flourishing they are fresh and happy grammars illnesses are down to a dull roar and she says she feel so well we have created a job for grandpa just so they have come of their own money Open Arms supports rent food and all household needs. They have a boy who lives with them we are not sure who he is really but he’s fifteen and doing nothing so he will start school next week.  OPEN ARMS IS LOOKING FOR A SPONSOR FOR THESE FOLKS THE SUPPORT IS $160 USD A MONTH.

The single mum who we have also housed is doing well she is working in the restaurant AND her son goes to day care. Another western lady is helping her to learn how to budget so again it a nice result.

Open Arms continues to support the grandma who lives near Alabaster and will pay for the nine kids uniforms and school books , what an honor this  is to be able to help these lovely folks.

MENS MINISTRY

Men’s  ministry will start on Friday night , there are a group of make sex workers who come to church in the park they have been asking for a long time to come to Alabaster  for a bath , it’s was beautiful to watch them yesterday Grahame is such a kind and gentle man it was like he was their dad already.

Today the girls will go and buy DARK BLUE towels , jeans , shirts and toiletries for men then on Friday at 5.00 we will pick them up from the park and take them to Alabaster the plan is this ,showers then a barbecue on the roof with us women in the council ling room praying,  please join us in prayer  for this group they are lovely boys when you say we are going to pray they immediately hold hands and close their eyes it just touched our hearts we so want them with good jobs and reunited with their families.

Anyway folks that are a long newsletter I hope you have enjoyed reading it.

Thank you once again for your love prayers and support.

Grahame, Sandra and the Open Arms family.