December 2013
Dear friends and partners,
This December, January and February are months of expectation and celebrations all over the world – it is a time of faith – believing in our various religions, people and visions – some of which we cannot see nor always comprehend. So many different faiths are celebrating – even for those who have no religion these months are time of faith in their own strengths or children have faith in visions of Santa. It is a time of expectation; for many - a time of joy.
This month for Nokor Tep is a time of faith as well – faith in our vision for the women in Cambodia. It is an exciting time – a time of expectation as we begin our next phase of capping all our 1,350 piles, making support posts to the first floor, pouring the basement floor and erecting the outside wall (retaining wall)l to the first floor. It is a time of faith that the funds will come for this phase – a cost of $835,000.00 seems so difficult to achieve yet we believe it will be there.
We believe that efforts all over the world – efforts such as moon walks in Singapore, dinner parties in Australia, coffee mornings in Canada, donating a vacation day in the Netherlands, the 1 in a million campaign in the USA , the individuals who buy bricks from all parts of the world – all of these are done in the belief that the hospital will be.
As the building progresses – there are expectations amongst the women we work with. For some, the expectation is not for themselves – their lives are coming to an end. Im Sot is ill with pains that wrack her body – with memories that disturbs her sleep – yet she faithfully collects and donates a few dollars each year as her faith in Nokor Tep stands firm. Im knows that her time is short – in her mid sixties her body is no longer strong – but she believes that her daughters and granddaughters will receive the care that was not there for her.
Then there is Sok Che and her neighbors – women who struggle each day to put food on the table, women who talk in secret about the way their bodies are betraying them – they are ashamed of the smells that emanate from their bodies, afraid of pain that haunts them and prevents them from being the wives their husbands expect – yet, they have faith – faith that once Nokor Tep is built – we will welcome them with open arms.
Then there are the young people –young men and women who have faith in their own futures – in the goodness of life that lays ahead. These young people have faith that the hospital will be there when they begin to suffer. In their faith they clamour to join us in our fundraising events here. Young university students so terribly upset that they did not know beforehand of the walkathon last year and who will join us in the walk this year – only if we can make that possible.
How good it is that faith still exists – that belief in the goodness of humankind is evident even when it seems there can be no good at all. I am so thankful that faith and expectation are a part of all of us – I thank my God that so many have faith in Nokor Tep Women’s Hospital. I thank each of you for your faith and your belief in all of us here – in your faith and belief that all the women of Cambodia are worthy and beautiful and precious enough to stand beside. We wish all of you the very best of the holiday season – which ever holiday you will celebrate – from whichever faith you live.
Janne
http://nokor-tep.net/index.php/donations
