Trip Report 08 09

Our third Rockin4 Tabitha event was held at the Lone Star Café on Thursday, September 18th, 2008. Once again R4T organizer Bob Carver’s band Texas Flood opened the evening’s musical entertainment with a set of Blues and Rock’n Roll standards. Based on the crowd’s reaction, I would have to say that the ZZ Top classic – ‘Tush’, which ended the set, was the high point. Texas Flood regulars; Steve Hollingworth, Brad Campbell and Wayne Wahab were joined by Brian Sim who fattened up the guitar sound. His extra-ordinary playing and musicianship was truly appreciated by both his fellow musicians and the crowd. Throughout the evening door prizes were drawn. Thanks to Telesat, The Second Cup, Compact Music, Phnom Penh Restaurant, Maru Restaurant, Yangtze Restaurant, Canadian Museum of Nature and Zucante for supplying the door prizes for the evening. Our musical evening has been head-lined by The Hitmen since our first event in 2006. Les Emerson, Ted Gerow, Steve Hollingworth, Brian Sim and special guests once again gave the crowd a great show. We are looking forward to seeing them on-stage for our next R4T event. A joint effort between Rockin4Tabitha3, and our partner ‘Team Ritskes/Brennan’.proved to be a huge success. The funds were sent over to Cambodia just when the dollar took a huge hit, but we still had sufficient funds to reach our goal of building 20 houses in 2009. Each house costs $1,100US along with $1,500US, which is left in the community to provide additional aid. Thanks again to everyone who supported this worthy event. A huge thank you to our corporate sponsors: Learning Systems International, Kellard Engineering, Dr. Paula Piilonen, Erin Crerar – Nexen Inc., Diamond Way Buddhist Center Allgau, Germany, Why Not Studios and a couple of much appreciated anonymous donors.

Our Team Our team this year is 13 strong; and we will need every bit of that strength to succeed in finishing our 20 houses in a three day timeframe. It is great to have Jeff and Mary Ritskes joining us again this year. They were part of our first build and, as often happens, Asia and the build experience has called them back again. Nathan Weiss, an Instructor at the Thai Boxing Academy has been part of every Rockin4Tabitha build and is returning with us again this year - Thanks Nathan. Also returning from last year’s build is TBA member Dr. Paula Piilonen, who has been very helpful with ideas and organization skills, not only for R4T3, but for Tabitha Canada as well. Our new team builders this year were: from Ottawa - Derek Boyd, Drs. Terry and Brenda Brennan, their daughters Lauren and Rebecca, Terry Brennan Senior (better known as #1) and their close family friend C.W. Young from Singapore. As usual, our team is a strong, independent lot. Rather than an organized “if this is Friday, this must be Saigon” group tour, everyone is leaving and returning from Canada according to their own agenda. Some will visit Vietnam, others Siem Reap and Angkor Wat. It was imperative that everyone meet in Phnom Penh for orientation on Friday, January 30th, 2009.

Team Gear...

All team members were furnished with an apron, hammer, and work gloves - courtesy of Home Depot. All gear was much appreciated. Thank you Home Depot! Merkley Supply furnished us with safety goggles and ear-plugs. The flying nails and constant hammering on the tin can take its toll quite quickly and we were extremely happy to have these on hand. Thank you Merkley Supply Team Ritskes provided work hats to help keep the sun at bay, and the Thai Boxing Academy provided build t-shirts. Fully outfitted, we looked extremely spiffy….at least on the first day.

2009 Build Team

Back row: l to r: C.W., Nathan, Mary, Bob, Brenda, Rebecca, Lauren, Paula and Jeff Front row: l to r: Derek, Wendy, Terry and Number 1

Set to Go......

Well, wouldn't you know it - Air Canada just keeps on getting better and better. We were scheduled to leave Ottawa at 7am on the 26th, but due to frozen toilet lines,(yes, a frozen toilet!) we were unable to leave and our flight was cancelled. Pick up bags, go back upstairs and wait for an hour to have an agent try to re-route us. Luckily, we were able to get out, however, our usual 31 hrs. travel turned into a whopping 48 hours of straight travel time. Hang around Ottawa until noon, fly to Toronto, hang around until 5:30 fly to LA, hang around LA til midnight, catch the redeye to Hong Kong. Short wait in Hong Kong and then on to Bangkok. There was no down time – flying and waiting in airports was our agenda for the next 2 days. And, of course, anyone who has flown and waited in airports knows it is definitely not conducive to sleep. We were originally supposed to overnight in Bangkok, get a good night's sleep in a hotel close to the airport, hangout by the pool, maybe get a massage. No such luck. Because we were so far behind in our travel time, we had to wait in the Bangkok airport for our next flight to Phnom Penh. We met Paula in the airport – she was on the same flight to Phnom Penh “please help – get us to our gate, onto the plane and over to the hotel”. A short hop later, we were in Phnom Penh in time to meet up with the Team. What an event - 50 hours total from Canadian bed to Cambodian bed! Good news... all of our team members arrived safely! Tomorrow we will have our orientation, and first time builders will visit the ‘Killing Fields’ and Tuel Sleng Museum.

In and around Phnom Penh

Our orientation went well but, as usual during orientation with Janne, there weren't many dry eyes. Orientation is crucial to understanding today's Cambodia and many of the first time builders/travelers to Cambodia find some of the historical information disturbing – and there is some culture shock. There are numerous rules to ensure that we interact successfully with the villagers, most of whom have not seen foreigners, and will probably never leave their village during their entire lifetime. Understandably, new team members are hesitant that they may not remember all the rules – that they may do something to offend the villagers but we know, from past experience and reassuring our team, everyone will be fine.

The first time builders were required to complete the mandatory trips to the Killing Fields and to Tuel Sleng Museum – both sobering realities of what the Cambodian people have lived through and it encourages you to be a little bit more sensitive and aware of their life style. There is some free time to travel by tuk-tuk around Phnom Penh. It is absolutely a great way to see the sights and it provides endless photo opportunities. Afterwards, the team met for dinner and discussed the highlights of their day. The following day consisted of completing the mandatory trips as well as supply shopping for the build. We were assured that there would be no snacks available in Battambang – do not look for a 7 Eleven. Snacks become a staple during the build. If you’re too hot or tired to eat a sandwich, energy bars, nuts and cranberries will do the trick. As usual, true to our Canadian nature, we bought way too much food. That evening, Jeff and Mary Ritskes organized a boat ride on the Mekong River. This allowed the team a couple of hours to relax and view the extraordinary lifestyle of people living on the river.

Fishing is a vital part of river life

After our cruise, we went to a Thai restaurant and had our first team meal. The food, of course, was amazing and everyone sampled each other’s delectable dishes. It was great and everybody had fun getting to know each other a bit better. Tuktuks headed back to the hotel at a reasonable hour as we were leaving for Battambang early the next morning. Battambang is the second largest city in Cambodia and will be our home base while building in the area. Bonus, we have a hotel with a pool - which should feel great after our first day of building.

Battambang

Again, in Cambodia as with most other Asian countries we have experienced travelling in – distance does not relate to time traveled the same way it would in Canada. Our driver informed us that it would be approximately a 3 hour drive north to Battambang – GREAT! - that’s not so far - we were thrilled as we would arrive in time for lunch! One must understand that in Asia – it’s all about the food. We should have known that this would NOT be the case. After several hours, we stopped for lunch and were told we were “ABOUT half way there”. Hmmm, is that for real or not! After a very long 6 hr drive north to Battambang, we finally checked into our hotel. NICE! Everyone immediately threw their bags into their rooms and headed for the pool. This will indeed be a great bonus to look forward to after each day’s build. Everyone had a free night to tour the town, relax by the pool or sleep. We knew the next 3 days would be difficult. We set out from the hotel at around 7am for a 45-60 minute drive back towards Phnom Penh. The highway that connects Phnom Penh to Battambang is a good road by Cambodian standards, but in Canada it would be the equivalent of a paved county road - one lane of traffic in each direction. Once we turn off highway 5, it is a totally different ball game -. We are on a dusty, pot hole ridden dirt road, that might be graded once a year. As it is dry season, we immediately kick up a cloud of dust that follows our vehicles the entire length of this road all the way to Cheung Tinh Village, Koh Krala. The village is next to a hill that suddenly pops right up in the middle of miles of flat land. This flat land, which is extremely dry and brown at this time of year, turns vibrant green with rice paddies during the rainy season.

Life is hard in Cheung Tinh Village

Water Storage Jars - Cheung Tinh Village

Everyone in the village knows that we will be there, but we still get stares of curiosity as we inch our way through the very small village market which is selling fresh vegetables, clothing and other items essential to village life. The market is at the entrance to the area in which we are building. Our vehicles must wind their way through pots, pans, food, pigs, chickens, pot holes, and anything else that blocks our path. We are amazed at the skill of our drivers – any Canadian driver would have given up at that point.

Water wells provide sustainable living

Children in the village

The village is the largest one that we have built in to date. The 20 houses are hidden throughout the village behind other smaller houses, haystacks, small hills and trees. It’s quite difficult to see the houses let alone find them and the numerous winding trails are very confusing. We learned quickly that it was best to follow a local to your next destination. As the village was much larger it was also more evident to see the poverty surrounding us.

Preparing dinner

Srei, a member of Tabitha’s staff has been with us on all three of our builds and says that the Khmer Rouge brought many people here to be killed. Amongst all this poverty, we see friendly faces of people who managed to survive during very hard circumstances. Since it is dry season, there is dust everywhere – constant dust.

There is no electricity in the village. Some of the richer households own a car battery that is used to power a small TV set which becomes a major focal point for everyone during the evening. On this first day, we hoped to build 8 houses. I think some of us were feeling a bit more invincible – what with 2 doctors on the team – we could be cured of anything (or so we thought). But, as is the norm, a couple of members were fighting wobbly stomach syndrome – they would have to hang tough.

Ill team member being looked after

We traversed several trails and eventually arrived at the first houses to be built. We divided into teams that we thought would work well together and be the most productive. Everyone gets geared up and the build is on! We started slamming and hammering and sweating at high velocity. We are on a mission – homes to be built – families to be housed.

Brenda and Terry were pretty quick to hand their daughters over to my team. Hmmm…..do they know something I don’t! I quickly recruited Derek and along with Rebecca and Lauren – I dubbed them “the young team”. The young team quickly discovered the unforgiving nature of Cambodian wood and nails. Their first day was spent hammering delicately, bending nails, calling for assistance to hammer nails into the unrelenting wood or pull others out that were severely stuck in the floorboards. Having been there before, I could only laugh!. (Wendy) There is a little cloud cover today, which helped us finish 9 houses -- better than we hoped. We are off to a good start but it was a long, hard day. We could all take a lesson from Terry Brennan Sr. who is in his mid seventies. Terry takes it slow and steady, and works the whole day through, with only mandatory water and lunch breaks. As a point of interest, team member CW Young, is a friend of the Brennan

Family and has taken time off from his "Around the World" trip to help on this build. We also found out that CW went to University of Ottawa with Terry Jr. - small world. We thoroughly enjoyed meeting CW and look forward to seeing him again this summer when he passes through Ottawa.

Old and new – side by side

The best part of the day is when we gather together the families whose homes we have finished that day. Their new homes are handed over during the blessing ceremony. Their faces say it all.

Day 1 Nine families received new homes

The digital camera presents a wonderful opportunity to interact with the villagers. Janne explained that, if we wanted to take anyone’s picture, we had to respectfully request their permission. If they do not smile – do NOT take their picture. If they understand, smile or nod, we were able to take the photo. She explained that some of them had never seen an image of themselves because most do not have any

mirrors. We had to ask, point and gesture several times in order to be understood – the picture was taken and then we showed it to them. It took several minutes of them studying the picture before things clicked. True, they did not recognize themselves but they recognized the person beside them. After that – it was immediate comprehension - there was a lot of laughing, more pictures, more pointing and laughing. Taking a picture of 2 or 3 children, suddenly turned into a giddy group of 10 children – waiting for you to show them the magic. And it was.

First time seeing pictures

The build continues......

After completing our first day of building we were all tired, but happy to have completed 9 houses. We are definitely a little ahead of the curve at this point. However, it was a long hard day and everyone decided to hang around the pool and have dinner at the hotel. Good choice – the food was good and we are one tired crew. The next morning, after a quick breakfast, we were back in the vans for our hour long commute back to the village. We now have a veteran team and they swing into full gear right away with everyone gravitating toward their section of our new houses. Some people are nailing in the floors, while others man the ladders and begin nailing on the corrugated tin siding. Day 2 and the young team had their technique and rhythm well in hand and were managing floors on their own – moving from house to house always with a smile on their faces.

There were so many special moments that you can not list them all in this report – the strength of this team was amazing. The last house was nearing completion and I was waiting on the inside of the house for more nails to arrive. Paula was on the ladder outside – as usual (Paula is an undisputed workhorse on the walls – if you need to find her at any time during the entire build – simply look up). I attempted to sit on the floor while waiting for the nails but couldn’t manage it very gracefull, fell on my butt and continued to roll onto my back – ending up in a very comfortable laying down position. I was done – CW entered the house and smiled – I simply looked at him and said “I’M DONE!” I really could not muster another ounce of strength. No problem says CW and he proceeded to pick up the wood and provide Paula with the inside bracing needed to finish nailing on the last piece of tin. A quick hand up from CW and we were done. That’s teamwork – thank you CW and Paula! (Wendy) By 3:30 we had finished another 8 houses and we still have some members with not so happy stomachs. Several people were most thankful for sharing Nathan’s thumb saver – the trusty pliers that grip the nail and spare the thumb were a gift from heaven. That item will definitely be on the list of purchases for next year’s build. We would probably have risked mass heat-stroke if we tried to finish our last three houses so we happily called it a day. Once again, there was a short ceremony MC’d by Srei. Each family received their new quilt and were ready to move into their house and start to make it their home.

Day 2 Eight Families have new homes

The next day would be our last build day so we gathered the troops and went into town to have dinner. Selection of restaurants in town was extremely limited – not only were they scarce, the ones we found would have trouble accommodating a hungry group of 17 people. Srei and the other members of the Tabitha staff joined our merry group of builders for our last team dinner. Srei made a reservation but, this is Cambodia and reservations, like road distances, sometimes mean nothing. However, we arrived at “The Smoking Pot” – scavenged some extra chairs from the next door establishment and had an absolutely fantastic dinner.

Our last day... 'a walk in the park'.

Wobbly stomach syndrome claimed yet another victim but we only had three houses left to reach our goal. The 'heat was off', figuratively if not literally, and we had a little more time to enjoy the process, and reflect on how rewarding the entire experience can be.

The young team got stronger and, on the last day, they triumphantly declared that they had managed to successfully drive in every single nail. That put a very big smile on my face. (Wendy)

Day 3 – Three families have new homes

Janne always says during orientation; 'It's not about you." It is about the people we are helping. As they have been an active part of the process, sometimes for years, they do indeed 'deserve their house'. And what a home --- what we in North America would consider a good sized garden shed, will become home to an entire family --- always a very sobering thought. The very genuine and heart-felt gratitude of the families is truly touching, and we always feel honored to have been able to be a part of the process that culminates in the village. I think it is important for us to also remember that most families have saved for years to be able to contribute the $30 that is their share of the expense of their new house. In our culture, where we really have everything, this is always a great leveler, and we always feel that much more grateful for what we so often take for granted.

Our team of 13 people, 4 contractors and 3 Tabitha staff were able to complete 20 houses in 2.5 days providing much needed homes for 20 families totaling 138 people.

Srei and our team of indispensable contractors

There were some tears, several hugs, many pictures and lots of smiles before getting into the vans, leaving the families and village behind and heading back to the hotel. After quick showers and changes of clothing we all met in the lobby for our farewells. Jeff and Mary headed back to Phnom Penh with the Tabitha staff. All the Brennan family, CW and Derek were headed to Siem Reap to tour Angkor Wat. Everyone said their good byes and promised to get together back home to catch up on each other’s further adventures. As for the “invincible team because we have doctors with us theory”, maybe it did help. Everyone came away from this build with minor injuries – no stitches were required (Jeff just needs to remember to keep his gloves on). The 4 remaining musketeers – Paula, Nathan, Bob and Wendy – toured the town of Battambang, shared stories about our minor injuries, drank many glasses of various iced beverages and reveled in the extra bit of relax time. Relaxing, however, was short lived when we awoke the next morning, packed, had breakfast and went outside to climb into our van which was no longer in the parking lot. A minute or two of panic set in – did the driver go back to Phnom Penh – did he not understand that he was to wait for us. Panic turned into humour and within a minute we were laughing about it – this would not be out of the norm – this would be Cambodia. We were trying to get our laughter under control and call Srei for help when our driver suddenly pulled into the lot – we conveyed our thoughts to him – he understood and actually got a chuckle out of the whole thing.

And a special thanks to our Build Teams... 2009 Rockin4Tabitha Housebuilding Team... Nathan Weiss Dr. Paula Piilonen Derek Boyd

Co-team Ritskes/Brennan Jeff and Mary Ritskes Rebecca and Lauren Brennan Terry Brennan Sr. aka #1 CW Young

We would also like to thank everyone for your continued support... you have helped turn these houses into "homes".

Bob Carver and Wendy Cunning

Some Observations...

Traffic in Asia is difficult to describe if you haven't been here, but a few observations may help in giving you a feel for land travel over here. In Thailand, they drive at light speed, there is a constant jockeying for position, cutting in is standard operating procedure, and nobody gets too upset unless there is contact, then it's a totally different story. In Vietnam, the ratio of motos to cars is probably a hundred to one, similar rules, but, with everyone on the horn, more aggressive and less forgiving. Cambodia, which lies in the middle of these two nations is a subtle combination of both. Much like the food, sort of like Thai, sort of like Vietnamese..... sidebar..... Vietnamese soup is called Pho, we always say Fo, like in Fee Fi Fo Fum, I smell the blood of an Englishman....when in fact it is pronounced Fa, as in Do Re Mi Fa...... Cambodia is growing fast. There are still more motos than cars, but Phnom Penh is rife with local officials zooming around in their Lexus SUV's. Our usual way of getting from point A to point B is by the ubiquitous Tuk Tuk. Motorcycle on the front, hauling a four person rickshaw type rear end. When driving in Cambodia there really are no rules. While there are a few lights in Phnom Penh, they tend to be more for show than anything else...unless a local gendarme is right there....so traffic flows incessantly. SIZE MATTERS. Trucks rule. cars second motos third, pedestrians..... Groups of six to ten motos equals a car, and if the traffic is flowing, can indeed win the game. Travel is indeed interesting here.

Team Dinner...back in Canada

As was promised, Team members gathered at our house for multiple courses of authentic Asian cuisine. A couple of members were not able to make it as they are still travelling in the far corners of the world. It was wonderful to see everyone again, share some pictures and stories, eat huge quantities of food, indulge in Thai Buckets and have a great time. I must admit, it was a rather rowdy group at times. Thank you everyone for your help on this build.

Team Testimonial

Some time in December 2007, my son (Terry #2) informed me that he, his wife and their two youngest daughters were going to Cambodia with the Tabitha Foundation to build houses. I remember casually saying that the trip sounded exciting and that maybe I should join them. Much to my surprise a little over a year later I found myself in Cambodia with twelve others building houses, proud to be accepted as part of the Rockin4Tabitha House Building Team. Because I had never been to Asia before I took time to visit Singapore, Thailand and Viet Nam as well as Cambodia. While I enjoyed my visits in the other countries mentioned as well as the sight seeing in Cambodia, I can only describe my education (Thanks to Janne Ristkes) and my involvement with our house building project as the “Experience of Lifetime”. First of all I was impressed by the strong family ties and respect for elders that is prevalent throughout Asia. Although there are rip off artists, I found that the people I encountered were honest, very hospitable, helpful, industrious and smiling. As a septuagenarian, I am used to senior discounts, however, I found it much more satisfying to be treated with respect and extra courtesy, especially as many of the people I encountered looked much older than the guy I faced in the mirror each morning (a hard life takes its toll). Whenever I checked in at the airport, I found myself getting priority boarding and when I asked why?, I was told “sir you’re 74”. This courtesy was much appreciated. In Bangkok, the receptionist at my hotel took it upon herself to negotiate my taxi and tuk-tuk fares for me and even took time on her day off to give me a tour of her city. As I was buying tickets for the water puppet show in Hanoi, I asked about a senior discount. The teller inquired about my age and when I showed her my passport she told me that there were no senior discounts but she called over an usher and placed me in the best seat in the theatre. Age has its benefits. Also in Hanoi, I changed $200US into local currency at the airport money exchange counter. It wasn’t until

much later that I realized that I had only been given the equivalent of $100US. A week later as I left Hanoi I went back to the same counter and was told that – yes – they found an error of $100 and were waiting for someone to come in and claim it. I was delighted to get my $100, especially given the economics of the country, it would have ben very easy to pocket the money and put it to personal use. I am old enough to remember the Vietnamese War (In Vietnam it is called The American War) as well as Cambodia’s involvement in it; the rise to power of the Khmer Rouge following the war and their subsequent brutality. Certainly I was sorry for the people over there but I was safe here in Canada and had my own life to live and shamefully didn’t pay much attention to the situation in Laos, Cambodia and Viet Nam. I spent some time back in the early 60’s working for Naval Information so I knew better than simply accepting without questioning what the spin doctors were handing us. I could not have changed history but if I had been more aware, I would have appreciated Marion Dewar’s initiatives to help Cambodian refugees as well as being more involved with our church’s sponsorship of a Cambodian family, rather than viewing it as just another charitable project. My experiences at our building site had a profound impact on me. The gentleness of the people, their patience and acceptance of life as it is, as well as the generosity exhibited in deciding who most needed the new houses was indeed an insight into a way of life very different from what we accept as the norm here at home. Even in the cities, if you took the time to look for them these same characteristics were evident in the people you met. After finishing our building obligations, I did some touring with my family. On the day we visited The Landmine Museum, I happened to have on an Ottawa Renegades tshirt and I was touched and proud to be a Canadian when one of the guides took me over to their display of the Ottawa Treaty to Ban Landmines, bowed and said “Akum” (thank you). Later that same day I met the best 13 year old salesman in the world. After trying several times to sell me post cards (unsuccessfully I might add) he showed up at our table as we were having lunch and gave me a letter he had written in which he wished me a good life and luck. He left without mentioning the post cards. Needless to say, when I left the restaurant I looked for him, bought the cards (with a tip) and had my picture taken with him. What’s not to love about a youngster like this? What could he achieve here in Canada with the opportunities available to everyone?

I am always miffed by people who are surprised that the majority of immigrants do well in their new homelands. I fear that many of us in North America have ceased to believe in the nobility of work. Unlike other places that I have visited, I found that the vendors, be it in a market or on the street, were enthusiastic about making a sale, but not in an aggressive manner and once it was obvious that there was no sale to be made, they inevitably switched over to a social mode. Where are you from? What’s it like in Canada? What is snow like? What are you doing in Cambodia? You are building houses for our poor?

Do you like us? Do you like our country?

Canada (I admit I am a patriotic snob – I hate being asked or told you are American) Cold ????? Building houses Yes (I just choked up at the expression on their faces when they understood that we were there to do something for their fellow Cambodians) Yes Yes

Simple questions all but each one provides a wonderful opportunity to really think what the whole answer is or should be. Would I go back to Cambodia? Emphatically, yes! I would make another trip without hesitation, however, I expect that time is working against me having another opportunity to build more houses in Cambodia. Would I recommend this experience to others? Yes! There is no way to describe the satisfaction you feel when you complete your building project and finally turn over the houses to their new owners – you just have to experience it. I know that respect for our elders is not a trait unique to Asia. Most of us exhibit this same trait without even being aware that we are doing so. With this in mind, I want to thank each and every member of the Rockin4Tabitha building team and their concerns for and many kindnesses to me. My cup was never half empty. It was always half full.

Sincerely Terry J. Brennan (Terry #1)

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