Sim's baby Anna

one five month young baby + one old bucket = the cutest girl in Cambodia

story of the burning bus

It was a regular eight hour bus trip. Dubbed action flicks and karaoke DVDs with green mango and coke at the snack stop. On the home stretch, however, it became obvious that something wasn't right...

The driver (blue shirt) told us firmly to get off the bus. Girls panicked. Women with babies in their arms, pushed their way out as if the entire vehicle was about to explode. Lastly, the driver ambled down the steps. He squatted, lit a cigarette, waited ten minutes and told us that everything would be ok if we got on the bus again. It was just rubber, he assured us. Nothing wrong with a bit of burning rubber. We obeyed. We sat in silence, trying not to breathe the acrid smoke. We left the burning bus at the Poipet terminal.

strange welcome

Yesterday I saw a dead body in the middle of the highway. There was a traffic accident and a middle-aged man didn't survive. About a hundred strangers crowded around the bloodied corpse to view his twisted limbs. Some people were rushing over to take souvenir photos. A single police officer was on the scene making some effort to direct the traffic.

I was on the back of a moto-taxi, juggling my luggage on the short journey home. It was weird to be hit with the realities of public life and death on the streets before I'd even arrived at my door.

carry me

Yesterday was my last full day in Australia for a while. Top 10 on the 'to do' list:

1. Go out for breaki by the lake- thanks Sharon, it was beautiful.
2. Give mum a hug- & say goodbye as she heads off to the Middle East, UK & France for 9 weeks!
3. Buy Tim Tams to take back to Cambodia- but then give them away as my bags get filled up.
4. Wear uggies- nothing like wearing soft, warm sheepskins to kick around the house in winter.
5. Cook curries- Indian style with leftover veggies.
6. Bake- white chocolate brownies with a warm macadamia nut sauce. Soooo good!
7. Drink a couple of beers- part of the process of clearing out the fridge.
8. Light a fire- and feel like a girl scout pro.
9. Go for a run.
10. Be carried by a stranger.

Now you may be wondering about the last point. It was much more of a fun moment than a Mills & Boon highlight. Related to point 9, here's how it happened:

I love training for.... nothing. No long runs. No skipping dessert. I've just been running for the enjoyment of it. Yesterday I went for my last run in Australia for 2010.

I started from home, went down the hill, through the park and followed the bike path to Dee Why Beach. It was high tide so I ran slowly on the soft sand, took the path up to Long Reef headland and turned West. Under the last rays of this wild, winter sunset, I continued past the boat shed, up Anzac Avenue and kicked in for the final hill. My face was damp with cool, salty sweat.

And the best bit? I didn't run the whole way. A stranger carried me. There's a spot at the beach where the inlet from Dee Why creek drains into the ocean. Sometimes it is narrow enough to jump across. Not yesterday. There was a fast current flowing into the waves and a bunch of guys in their late teens in steamers were jumping from the sand walls with their body boards and riding the little wave down the channel. I faced the obstacle and resigned myself to having to get my feet wet. Just as I started to untie my shoelaces, however, a guy called out, "Oi! One of you boys going to give the lady a hand?"

The guys looked up. I wondered who the lady was. He said again, "Yeah. One of you boys give her a piggy back across."

One young guy stood in the shallow water in front of me so he offered his service. I put my hands on the shoulders of his damp wetsuit and crossed my legs around his waist. In a minute I was on the other side, feet dry and ready to run again. Such a great way to finish running in Australia! Carry me, carry me!

a youthful master?!

Yesterday I spoke at two meetings. (Shout out to Gordon & Punchbowl!) At the morning meeting I was thanked for bringing 'youthful enthusiasm', while in the evening I was referred to as the 'experienced master'.

It made me think: I want there to be traces of 'youthfulness' in me always. Hope and a positive attitude don't depend on age. So I want to be joyful and generous. I want to look forward and enthuse others with a vision of what the world can be.

And in response to the young crew at Punchbowl: I'll never be a 'master' but I'm happy to keep exploring and swapping stories with whoever will listen... especially when we meet over such great food : )

pulling out the big guns

I was running yesterday when some guy wearing black shorts and an orange T-shirt passed me. He looked buff enough but not super-fast. But this stranger came over my right shoulder and kept on charging. I picked up my pace, telling myself that obviously I wasn't running faster just because he happened to have overtaken me. I tried to stay with him. I wanted to look like maybe I was his training partner not the chick who was getting her butt kicked. A few hundred metres down the road it was clear that I couldn't keep up. But now I have some secret weapons:

I went shopping last week. I brought my old asics and the assistant pulled out a bunch of similar runners for me to test out. Then she made the dangerous move of allowing me to try the Noosa Tri 5. I fell in love. I bought them. (Correction... actually my mum bought them for me!)

Over Sunday lunch I was chatting with Beryl and I mentioned that I was the proud new owner of the coolest, craziest pair of pink asics racing shoes that you've ever set your spectacles on. I wasn't expecting eighty-something-year-old Beryl to share my passion but she replied, "Interesting... my daughter works at asics. Let me know if you want to get another pair." I called the Sydney office and bought these these GT-2150 trainers for less than half of the recommended retail. Sweet price.

Dear Mum: thanks heaps for the birthday gift.
Dear Beryl: you're awesome.
Mr Middle-aged man in the orange T: you have been warned.

32 laps

When I was growing up summer Sunday afternoons were usually spent down at the beach. There were hours of fun to be had with my fluro-pink bodyboard with the hot eighties lightening bolt design!

There was, however, one rule for the beach. Before I played in the surf I had to swim laps of the fifty metre ocean pool. The rule was: one lap for every birthday. Seven years old? Seven laps. No cheating. Ten years old? Ten laps. No excuses.

My parents did this for two reasons. Firstly, they wanted me to be a strong, confident swimmer. Secondly, I think they wanted me to be a little bit tired so there would be some fear in me when I hit the waves! ; )

Anyway... yesterday I went to the pool to do my laps. It's been a while since I did one for every year. But I wanted to try it coz this week I'll have to add another lap ; )

it bugs me

I was looking at a catalogue of bibles last week. Hebrews to the end of the New Testament is falling out, so I thought it might be time to update mine. However, it ended up being impossible to pick just one. I discovered that in today's Christian bookstores, adults may choose from any number of bibles to suit their style. There's the Niv Finding God New Testament: Arrows Cover, Niv Military New Testament, Niv True Identity Bible For Women or the Nkjv Hugs Bible For Women. (C'mon people...a HUG bible?! I'd rather the real thing...)

Youth are also well catered for with the Cev Youth Bible Global Edition, Niv Fire Bible Student Edition Hardback, Nlt Metal Bible Pink He Loves Me & Esv Compact Battlezone Weathered Bible. Children too may be enticed by any one of the following: Nkjv Precious Moments Holy Bible, Nirv Adventure Bible For Early Readers, Nirv Precious Princess Bible Pink Sparkle Italian Duo-Tone, Icb Compact Kids Best Friends Forever (Bff) Bible or the Niv Faithgirlz! Backpack Bible Duo-Tone Grape.

The final straw for me was the Niv Bug Collection Bibles. They come in three designs: Ladybug, Dragon Fly & Butterfly. I guess that's so we can collect alll three?! Sorry. Aint never gonna happen.

Small Change

I love coming to Australia and seeing how people remember the poor in their daily lives. Today I met Dot. She reminded me that the cliche is true: small change can change lives.

Dot, from North Manly Baptist Church, has been collecting five cent coints for as long as she can remember. She keeps her own change. Friends and neighbours give their coins. One friend bags his coins and brings them all the way from Forster when he visits! Every five cent coin is banked and sent to overseas projects. How much money is raised? Last year Dot collected an average of a hundred dollars a month!

Such constant, creative distribution of resources makes our work possible. We live and we give because Australians remember the poor. Thanks Dot!

Gold Coast Marathon 2010

Over 23 000 runners hit the Gold Coast last weekend. There was a race for nearly everyone- a 5K run/ walk, 10K, half and full marathon. My bro wasn’t tempted to run any of these distance but Scott did do the important ‘5:15am dash in the car from home to the shuttle bus’ with Naomi and I. (Thanks!)

On a cool, sunny Sunday morning, 4521 people chased David Camp’s marathon record of 2:10:11 set in 1989. The record still stands. First runner was Kenyan James Kariuki in 2:13:53. In fact, the mighty Kenyans took the first four places. Similarly, the Japanese women proved too strong for Aussie rivals, claiming the top three spots. Kaori Yoshida won in 2:31:33 with Australian Sarah McCrae finishing fourth in 2:39:10.

While the marathon records still stand, the women’s half and men’s 10K records were shattered. Lisa Weightman won her third Gold Coast 21K title in 1:09:00. (Seriously?! If that’s what it’s like to run like a girl these days….!) Gold Coast local Michael Shelley stormed the 10K in just 28:51, breaking the 1996 record set by David Evans. (Ouch!)

Cambodian runner Hem Bunting clocked a 2:30 and finished 11th overall in the 42K. He was very disappointed not to have broken his 2:25 PB but hopefully hindsight reveals the benefits of good racing experience. It’s a tough race to conquer. At best the marathon humbles an athlete, at worst it humiliates. Chin up Bunting: you did good!

Racing with the pack and against myself, I had to be satisfied with a 3:47:32 finish. I’ll admit that my goal for the July 4 run was to beat the 3:44 clocked by former US President George W. Bush nearly two decades ago! But I did my best, enjoyed the run and took nearly 10 minutes from my previous PB. And I will run again. In fact, I’ve been checking out a few unusual records that I think could be broken. I’ll leave these alone: the 3:43 ‘best marathon while running backwards’ record and the knitting challenge ‘157.5cm knitted over 42.2K’. But check this…. there’s a record for ‘the fastest marathon dressed up as a fruit (orange) 4:32’. I think I could beat that. Not necessarily as an orange…I think I’d make a great banana or slice of watermelon, for example. Honestly, I’ll dress up as almost anything for some attention, a shot at a world record and some US currency. I could be the fastest Big Mac at the next Berlin marathon or the next incarnation of the pink Duracell bunny in Dehli. Serious offer to CEOs & marketing peeps with large advertising budgets to play with: I want to run for you.

Ok… back to a truly inspiring record: Wellington hero Bernie Portenski ran 3:01:26 to set a new world record at the Gold Coast for the Female 60-64 year age group. She ran beautiful splits, taking the first half in 1:28 and finishing the second just three minutes slower. As part of her training, Portenski ran 60km on her 60th birthday. What a legend! Just don’t tell her about the fruit record… she’d make a damn tough competitor as a sprinting kiwi.

I have to boast that I had a great cheer squad at the Gold Coast. Mary left home at 3am to drive to the race and snap photos at various stages of the course. Scott drove Naomi and I to the shuttle bus at 5:15am, went home for some extra Sunday sleep and then came all the way back to see us at the finish. Lisa, Elissa and others called out encouragement at the 40K mark when I was really fading. Gail cheered at the finishing line. Finally, thanks to the stranger on the sidelines who made me smile by yelling repeatedly, ‘You’re all too bloody skinny! You’re all too bloody skinny!’ Awesome! There is nothing like running by the ocean with thousands of other competitors on a perfect winter morning. Very bloody GC.

In Print

It made my morning to see an article on Voices for Justice in our local newspaper, The Manly Daily (page 10). There's a great pic of Cathy Green, Doug Sewell, Michelle Dobbs, Nerissa Pragnell, Jules Shute and Mel Harwin. In response, I wrote a short letter to the editor. Even if it doesn't get printed, I'm posting it here!

Re: 'Residents lobby on poverty'
I was part of the Voices for Justice gathering last week. Having spent the past five years in Cambodia, I've seen poverty rob people of their rights, freedom and dignity. Our Australian government needs to increase the overseas aid budget to 0.7% of National Income to see global poverty halved by 2015.

Pip Miner
Collaroy