Open Arms Cambodia

Newsletter

Hi folks.

Grahame and I are in Australia for a few more days we have been here to celebrate the marriage of our only granddaughter it had been a wonderful family time, unfortunately the visa didn’t come through for two of the girls to come and this time they really showed their disappointment and we are happy about that as it is a healthy emotion.

Christmas Open Arms Style

Well Christmas is just around the corner and Open Arms is getting all geared up for it, I think I mentioned before how we want to make the shop fronts of Open Arms to be all lit up for the all to enjoy . We will have a craft corner where street kids and kids from all walks of life can make a decoration get a present and a Christmas cookie we will stay opened at night a little longer I will send lots of pictures when it’s done. Pop and Chiva have been working on a nativity scene that we can light up and of course snowman and reindeers and all that goes with it. We will have a Christmas sweets menu and a catering menu.

We would love you all be a part of what we believe will be such a blessing to all so we are asking all our friends if they could all contribute $25 to this. We would like to buy the decoration here and Singapore airlines will give us excess baggage free so we can transports them. Folks we will need the money ASAP as we leave next week we have a suncorp account that will make the money easily accessible to us.   Here are the details bless you all and thank you for your love and support over the last year.

Bank details. Grahame Hamilton and Sandra Kay Wade Suncorp.    

   BSB 484799     ACC. 024 250 508

Village 

Due to the recent floods some of the village have had extensive damage to their homes Open Arms will be assisting in the repairs in the next few months. The people themselves will do the rebuilding and under careful supervision Open Arms will supply the funds if you wish to contribute to this please email Grahame and I.

We will also be doing our usual Village Christmas if you haven’t been with us long this is how it works we buy around 250 gifts for children and around fifty for the elderly these range from pyjamas to blankets .hair clips, talcum powder and hair gel and of course some toys we have lolly bags for the kids and cupcakes for the adults.

Tea Room and Café.

The restaurants are growing due to other NGOs using them for their teams and the amount regular customers are growing also the girls have added some new recipes to the menus they are becoming great cooks. They are training one boy and two girls in all aspects of the café and enjoying every minute of it.

The girls will host their first ever vegetarian buffet on Saturday, thirty four people will attend I must admit I am a little anxious as I won’t be there but the girls are as calm as cucumbers and really I know they will do a great job. We did a mock setup and some cooking training before we left.

Open Arms has also started an internship program , this is really like work experience the girls and boys will do a month in either the restaurants or the salon  it will give them a better insight to how it all works before they commit to training.

The Salon and Training Centre.

Between Open Arms Centre, World Vision Centre and Sonflower there are forty two girls being trained so the staff are very busy, we are continually upgrading our program to meet the demand. The students are  enjoying their morning devotions they touch my heart when they sing  we like to add as much personal development training as we can it is all based on biblical principles and the love of Christ.

We are also working on an outreach to a local maternity ward, we found in the very beginning (2002) that the wisest think you can do for people in care is to teach them to give back into the community that way they really do appreciate what they get. We are going to send the students and some staff one morning a week to the maternity ward of a local hospital to do hand massage and give a little gift to the mums and they are very excited to do this.

The business side of the salon is very good, the girls have such a good reputation not only for the services but for their lovely manner we are very proud of them we now have sixteen staff all together and they keep us on our toes.

Sonflower Salon.

Sonflower is a lovely bright light in a very dark area and we are trusting God for amazing things to come out of it , at the moment there are only two girls being trained and its very boring for the staff but they are faithful to the call .We will soon be networking with Love 146 and supplying breakfast for  the girls in this area it has been observed that in the early morning the girls can become depressed so we will supply a nice brekkie at the message parlour and a shampoo or manicure or whatever they like at Sonflower . Times are not really worked out yet but again we are so very proud of our staff we put it to them to help as a blessing to the girls and not as part of their job and they all jumped at the opportunity and Saturdays being our busiest day they will be tired bunnies but we will stagger it so they only do one a month. 

Blessings and lots of love.

Grahame, Sandra and the Open Arms Team.

Hi

Hi well another week over and it was a very good week.

Monday to Wednesday we had a team from USA come to train the staff and in that short time the girls learnt so much.

The restaurant girls were happy as they got to feed the team every day and the encouragement from them was wonderful .

The team also paid for the whole of Open Arms to have a gala feast (thank you
Jason, Jennifer and the Urbaneve team you were the tops see you again real soon.)

Open Arms also managed to get their volunteers policy up and running at last thanks Lucy for being out first official volunteer. The new pamphlets now have pride of place on the salon and restaurants.

Twelve new students started and Wednesday was wacky dress day with a prize for the wackiest dress the day finished with up cakes for all.

Suzy our girl in the Tea Room met up with her mum again after 19 Years how beautiful is that she brought here to meet us today how great is our God.

The restaurant has four big big bookings for November and December so big that we have had to do buffet and the folks want vegetarian so today Sunday, we are training and eating yummy by gee they can cook.

Bless you all folks Grahame and I leave for Australia tomorrow our beautiful granddaughter Jessica Beal is marrying Timothy Hill on November 16th. it will be a beautiful day .

Bless you all folks hope you are having a lovely day x

Our last few days

Well it’s been quite a day, we were coming home in the tuk tuk after a very successful morning and I started to relax and was thanking Jesus for all He had done for us when I felt a tugging on my top a couple of boys were beside the tuk tuk the passenger was grabbing and pulling at me then he pulled my chain off my neck and took off.

The chain was a fiftieth birthday present from my daughters and on it was a dear little heart from my grand babies saying worlds best nana and also my map of Cambodia with the cross in the middle that pop brought me I am so sad .

But every story has a good part Lita was sitting beside me and she weighs all of 40 kg and well you guys know me anyway she reached out and wrapped her little arms around me to protect me beautiful hey.

Then tonight the two girls that were coming to Australia to be a part of our granddaughters wedding were knocked back with their visas , folks please pray these kids pay for this themselves they are such good kids and when they get knocked back they lose $145 each . We are trying to contact our MP in Australia as there is no reading why they shouldn’t be allowed a visa.

Thanks folks just had to speak about it heavy heart but still trusting in our beautiful saviour who always know best.

Sandra xx

That was yesterday , today 9/10/2013 we hear that our local MP is going to look into the visas and see what he can do for the girls. Also one of the girls that isnt going to Australia has been saving for a motorbike  today she got real close to me and whispered Mum I want to give you ,pop and the girls the money I have saved for the trip to Australia, tears of joy and pride.

Folks i tell you this to say thank you for your part in Open Arms and to assure you that you are sowing into real good kids.

God Bless you all. Sandra.

Hi

Well the biggest religious holiday of the year is almost finished , Open Arms was closed for three days much to the delight of the staff who all headed home to their provinces to spend the time with their family. We are happy to say business is back to normal after the massive road works.

On Monday we will take nine more girls into the training center how exciting is that it still excites us how many girls now have their own salons and how they all copy Open Arms style .

We are working on a new training program to teach in a more comprehensive way customer service , Sreyna is working on a cutting manual that is the most exciting news as she only went to grade five
but is doing an excellent job. It Is after all our job is do ourselves out of a job and its fast coming.

We have a team coming next week from the USA they will train the trainers in cutting and color and also work with the students we are all really looking forward to that.

The cup cake runs are getting bigger and bigger we think the kids now know we are coming and they call all their mates it’s very cute they put them full in their mouths never mind the icing all over them.

The restaurant girls are training a little single mum in all the workings of the cafe , really the look on their faces makes it all worthwhile they beam when show us something that they have made.

Cambodian kids are just so talented they excel at everything that you teach them. The staff are really excelling with what they present to the customers they are now putting their own finishing touches to the food some is good some make me giggle but they have to have a go.

They did an afternoon tea for twenty ladies last week and I didn’t have to do a think brag brag .

Can you keep this in your memory banks, Open Arms is wanting to really dress up for Christmas , when I am home we always go driving to look at the houses all dressed with lights it delights us and our grand babies even though they are very cool teenagers so we thought it would be lovely to this here and bless the street kids as well as the community we will keep you posted as we will have to fund raise for this.

Again folks thank you for your love prayers and support.

Grahame, Sandra and the
Open Arms team.