Open Arms Cambodia

May 2012

Hi folks,

Cambodia has been experiencing some of the hottest days they have had in years but praise God it has started to rain.

On a personal note Grahame and I have come home for a few months we both were experiencing extreme fatigue and we made the decision to start acting our ages (63 and 67) we have been home a couple of weeks and are already feeling the benefit.

People always ask us how does it work when we are home well for a start we have a great team of young people who really know their jobs but just in case we have a Khmer lady who had been in our lives five years who comes into the home and acts as mother to all. We also have a Khmer pastor who goes to the center three days a week and encourages the team. Grahame and my vision was always for the young people that we have raised to take over the work and we can see that happening.

Haven Tea Room

The girls in the Tea Room have been training a couple of single mothers and in getting to know them and the problems they have with accommodation and getting a job when they have children Open Arms decided to start new training program it is called Housekeeping for Foreigners .

It is our hope that at the finish of the training the women will be able to work in a family home which will be a safe environment for both them and their children.

The women will learn how to clean a house properly, how to cook western meals and how to shop at a supermarket they will also learn some of foreigner’s ways which will make the transition easier. I will attach a copy of the contract so you can understand it more. Can you please pray for this.

Salon

The salon business has been very quiet but the training is going well as the girls are currently training 25 girls, Open Arms is now working with World Vision and a many more organizations it is a joy to be working with these people and see the girls trained and working.

Two of our head trainers have just left Open Arms to open their new salons one will be in Seim Reap and one on the Thai border it was sad to see them go but we are so proud of them they are both great girls.

We have hired two more girls one graduated last year and one graduated this year. We received a testimony from the girl who just started what a privilege to be able to be a part of this below is her testimony.

Tailor Shop

There are now two boys in the training program and Mon is enjoying this very much.

They are currently making 20 shirts for Pathfinders here in Australia, they made six and the people were so please with them that they placed a bigger order and if they can get the right material well the sky’s the limit. Grahame and I have a meeting with a Pastor here to talk about shirts for them to sell in their business the profits going to Open Arms. So it’s very exciting please pray for this as well.

Folks there has been some talk about where the profits go from the businesses Open Arms is a Social Enterprise and any profits go directly back into Open Arms Training Centers. You can look up the internet to find out the full meaning of a Social Enterprise.

Testimony

Sophorn is 18 years old. She lives with her parents, brother and two sisters.

2009-2010: Sophorn mother worked at a factory. Her father did collect rubbish with an old motor and Sophorn’s younger sister helped him, until his motor broke down. The family had a debt. At that time the parents wanted Sophorn to stop going to school and to work to help paying back the debt. Sophorn started working at a garment factory, but she was allergic to the material she worked with and felt sick most of the time. So she had to stop and stayed at home doing house work and cooking. There was not enough money in the family to let her go back to school.

When the Bong Paoun Project got involved with this family, at the end of 2010, a lot changed. The project helped by providing money to fix the motorbike. From then on Sophorn’s father started to work as a motortaxi. Sophorn’s younger sister stopped working and went to school. Her brother Bora also went to school. When Ratana and Maira, the Bong Paoun staff, met up with Sophorn during a visit, they asked Sophorn if she wanted to go back to school or learn a skill. Sophorn said that she could not read and write so well, but that she would really like to become a beautician.

Around the same time the Bong Paoun Project received information from Open Arms, a Christian beauty school, who were open to receive new students. The Project asked Sophorn if she wanted to join this one year training course, and she was very happy to! In February 2011 she started studying at the beauty school, 5 days a week. On Saturday she joined the youth meetings of the Bong Paoun Project.

26 February 2012 was a very special day, Sophorn graduated from her course!
Sophorn wants to thank all the Bongs and sponsors of the Bong Paoun Project for their care and prayers. She thanks God for blessing her so much. Last week, beginning of March, she got a job and now works as a beautician with with Open Arms.

Blessings and Lots of Love Open arms Family.

Grahame, Sandra and Open Arms family.

——

Approved aid & development projects of Open Arms are eligible for tax deductibility through Global Development Group. Global Development Group is a signatory to the ACFIG Code of Conduct, which provides standards of management, communication with the public and most importantly how funds are spent at all times. Global Development Group maintains the highest professional standards to ensure excellence in our performances, activities and accountability to all parties associated with our organization.

Thank you for your financial backing there are two ways you can contribute to
OPEN ARMS
Global Development Tax Deductibility.

Comm. Bank BSB 064 118 OPEN ARMS” Acc. 102 000 94

PROJECT NUMBER J676
Bank details

Grahame Hamilton and Sandra Kay Wade

Suncorp BSB 484799 ACC. 024 250 508

Its All In A Days Work

Open Arms tailor Shop

It’s all in a day’s work.

In Cambodia at the moment its  Khmer New Year the biggest celebration of the year it reminds me of our Christmas , families travelling to see relatives that they haven’t seen all year lots of eating and drinking and it is also a time when the rich give to the poor.

On Monday night a lady came to the tailor shop to ask Mon if he could hem 300 Kromas ( they are like a ladies sarong but for men) in one day , we asked Mon just to do as many as he could just to build his business credibility.

We arrived at the tailor shop around 10 am the next day and found all the salon staff in there some were sewing some were cutting and you know young people they got on a role , they decided that they would sew until they were done and asked if they all could sleep in the salon they were in party mode , Pop and I said we would cook some spaghetti and bring it to them around six that evening.

When we arrived there were some bleary eyed young people and Kormas everywhere , anyway Pop and I and Lita set about to fold them all 360 of them, the young ones kept sewing and cutting and around 8.30 they were finished, there were whoops of joy and let’s eat and of course me being me I said not until we have cleaned up.

The lady came to pick them up and was full of praise for the guys and so are we , the way the guys teamed up to get the job done was wonderful so well done team and God bless you all.  Its these times that encourage you to keep going.

By the way Mon got the grand total of $70.00 for the finished job.

Tailor Shop and Training open

Tailor Shop

Open Arms is happy to be able to tell you that the Tailor shop and tailor training centre is opening today the 2nd. April. The training will be run the same as the beauty school and cooking school where the business side will help support the training.

I thought I would give you background on Mon the young man who will be leading this, its to the glory of God and His amazing grace in all our lives.

Mon.

Mon and his family have lived in the province where Open Arms works all of his life, his parents are rice farmers and also own some cattle, Mon has one sister.

In 2008 Open Arms started a sewing room in the village four women were being trained on a weekly basis. On a visit to the village we found a young man had taken the initiative and started himself a mending business, at this stage Mon knew nothing about sewing he just wanted to do something.

Seeing his potential we asked his parents if they would allow him to come to Phnom Penh to be trained in tailoring we offered for him to live in Open Arms Family Home where he soon became a very valuable part of the family because of his willingness to help and his sunny disposition. Mon was enrolled in a local tailoring shop where he soon became an excellent tailor he graduated in February 2010.

One of the reasons Mon was trained was for the purpose of training other boys and its so wonderful to see it happening for him and the boys. Mon has worked hard and been very faithful not only in Open arms but on a very personal level with pop and I ,  he is so excited and a little scared  Sreyna keeps assuring him telling him stories about when she first started and that’s very cute to listen too as well.

Cambodian Boys.

There is much talk in the world today about  sexual abuse and exploitation of the girls of Cambodia but very little is said about the boys that have been sexually abused and exploited but I am so pleased to say that some NGOs here in Cambodia are starting to make help these guys and Open Arms is blessed to be able to be a part of this by offering  training in the tailor shop and all of the other training that we offer.

So folks please pray for us to have wisdom in everything that we do,

Blessings and Lots of Love Open arms Family. Grahame, Sandra and Open Arms family.

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Salon Retreat

Massage Room

On monday the 2nd. of April we are excited to have our first appointment for a retreat.

What is a Retreat a retreat it is a morning or afternoon away from it all in our beautiful massage rooms and Haven Tea Room.

What  do you  get.

1. Drink on arrival at the salon.

2. Full Body massage.

3. Shampoo – straighten or curl

4. Manacure and Pedicure with nail art

5. Lunch at the Haven Tea Room

The Cost is $30.00 per person

And all the money goes to training our beautiful Cambodian young people.

Newsletter

Hi folks,

You certainly are getting  a deluge of rain in Australia we are praying for any of you that are losing work or business at this time, it is just the opposite here its dry and hot in fact it’s the hottest time of the year and the craziest as we near Khmer New Year celebrations.

Open Arms has just had a new web site made  and hopefully the next newsletter I send will be on a totally new format I will let you know.

Open Arms family Home.

Open Arms was needing to hire more staff and we thought that no one has a heart for the work like the kids that have grown up with us so all the young people that live in the house are now employed by Open Arms, they are still going to school but only go from 7.00am to 11.00 then they have a break and work in the afternoon. They are all earning a good income and each one of them is doing a great job.

Soklue is leaving school she is only sixteen but because of her background it is becoming impossible for her to continue, she has decided to train in the Tea Room we will have her taught English and Computer externally so folks please pray for her life is a struggle for this little one.

Here is how the new employment it looks. 1. Lita              Office 2. Sreynait      Tea Room 3. Jenna          Office 4. Chiva          Tailor Shop ( when it opens)

Tea Room.

The Tea Room is going so well we had our first catering job a few weeks ago and that has lead to two more.

Naroth is training two girls and three more are coming in two weeks time so to make room we are setting up another kitchen above the Tea room that will be just for training. I am busy getting a manual written up and really I haven’t got a clue what I’m going praise God for the internet it’s got everything you want to know about chopping dicing,  knives all the stuff you need to train with.

The business side of it is going well last month we covered wages , we are so proud of Naroth when she came three years ago she was a mixed up little girl no she’s a capable young woman and doing a wonderful job with her trainees.

Salon.

As you know by the pictures the Graduation night was a great success the kids had a ball, and we are happy to tell you all the graduates are working and that’s what it’s all about. There are currently eighteen girls training but more come all the time, we are happy if we can get twenty through and employed each year.

We have just had a young khmer lady come on board she will be teaching  the trainees accounting in an easy form.

A team of hairdressers came to train the girls and to be part of the graduation, the training was so good the girls learnt a lot they were surprised at the standard of the girls so that was good. We now have some fantastic support from hairdressers in Australia.

The salon business continues to grow rapidly it is buy all the time we have just hired another girl she hasn’t finished training as yet but shows such potential as a trainer that we have brought her down to the salon and Sreyna will personally train her she’s a great kid and was rescued in Seim Reap isn’t it just wonderful.

Village

The village work is just the same we haven’t been out as much as transport is such an issue for us, Grahame has brought a tank for the safe water project and we will take that out next week and we will start renting the house in the village from then.

One of the hairdressing staff is going to be going out and teaching bible stories , dance and craft we haven’t  as yet hired an English teacher.

The lady that we built the house for is going very well she is working and the kids are going to school regularly, they always look so happy and never ask us for anything they are good people.

Folks please pray about this vehicle situation that we have its getting so expensive to get around and we really need a bus.

Last but not least THE TAILOR SHOP.

The shop will open on Monday, we want Mon to have at least a few weeks to get his legs before we get some boys to train, it won’t be hard to fill the spots as we are getting so many inquiries.

Once again the Open Arms team have done a great job of painting, carpentry, shopping (that was a challenge as none of us had a clue) and setting up. The office girls got Mon and pop organized with the money side of it, it’s been exciting for us all.

Without Pop, Mon and Chiva nothing over here would happen so it was a joy for us girls to get in and support them as they have supported us (so proud of his family)

We have brought new machines, material, trainee equipment and some men’s essentials to sell.

If anybody would like to get behind this ministry there is still a long way to go financially with more equipment needed. We are having to do a lot more government work so can you please pray for us to have the wisdom to know how to do it. Please continue to pray for wisdom for us all in every area.

Well folks it has been along newsletter and I only give you an overview ,it gets very hectic and challenging so we thank you so much again for your love prayers and support.

Lots of Love

Grahame, Sandra and Open Arms family.