La Sonya

Would you believe it? I am still having trouble believing I get to live here in Cambodia. I am settling in to a life in Phnom Penh. It seems natural and normal, which is funny because how many people do you know that get to help build a bamboo house, encourage teachers, learn Khmer, hang out with people and call it a living?! Right?! Who? ME! That's who. I feel even more settled in because I just bought my bicycle or as the Aussies say, "push bike". (DOn't worry I am dedicating a whole blog to the new bike!) I'm working on settling in the apartment too. I've bought some spices and little things to hold the garlic and ginger. I am eyeballing a rice cooker and I've just made a pot of beans. I live here. Today was an office day and since I didn't get the chance to make my beans yesterday (Sunday) I went on an adventure to find a restaurant around the office that had vegetarian food. It was a quite successful adventure too! I found a place where I ca...

Kids playing in the Mekong river. It's been raising heaps everyday.  Sunrise from the ferry. We were waiting for the school kids to cross so we could go on our epic field trip! Sunset after a storm rolled through.  Village road. Storm rolling in seen from the back porch. This tool has a funny Aussie name. . . I wish I could remember it.  Morning sitting on the front porch. Great view. . . 

So this last week was a blast. Getting to work on the first house for the  Every Piece Matters project  (EPM), starting to get to know people at our partner school, SALT and the rain mixed with the dirt --topped off with dirt bikes. Best week ever. (Granted it was also my first week here so there wasn't much to top) I've posted several pictures of me going somewhere on a dirt bike and not much about what I'm doing once I get there. So here is a tiny update. One of the schools we are a part of is in the same village as our EPM houses. So I've been able to catch a ride this week with the group that was going out to build. We had more people than normal out on the site because of a couple from Oz being here to help build the first home. I actually went out to build twice this week and had a blast. I learned the Aussie words for some tools and got to work on the flooring for the house. In fact, here's an update video of the house: It was filmed on a day t...

This is the first blog post from Phnom Penh. Can you believe it? We are finally here. I say we because I feel like this is a group effort to get me here and thus it should be addressed with WE.  I arrived Thursday morning after time traveling right past Wednesday. Those of you who were able to experience Wednesday I hope you enjoyed it for me. My apartment is on the second floor, which is nice in the fact we didn’t have to carry the luggage up too many flights of stairs. The stairs here are a bit of a challange but don’t worry I’ll explain more in a later blog.  I’ve gotten my local sim card and have charged up on heaps of data for the month. Way more than I will ever need and more than I’ll ever use, all for the low price of $6.  Side note: if you don’t have an iPhone then you need to get whatsapp so we can text. Isn’t that exciting?! So go, get it now! I’ve gotten settled into my room for the most part. I need to pick up a few things still like a ru...

I have made big strides this week in packing!! Thanks to my friend Melissa who came down to visit me yesterday and help me pack. I had been doing well on my own but was daunted with the task of actually putting things in my suitcase. So Melissa responded to my S.O.S. and drove over 2 hours to accept the challenge of packing, or as I like to call it playing Tetris with a 50 lb limit. This is how things started out: They got pretty serious after lunch and we attacked the pile with vengeance. The key to our success was in friendship, good music but also in those nifty vacuum bags! I have just a few things left to take care of and then I'm ready for a jet plane. I'm excited, scared and jazzed. It's time for a change and I'm packed and ready for it to come.

A very exciting update! As of today I have met my base fundraising amount of $13,000. I can now comfortably cover all my living expenses in Cambodia, which is a HUGE blessing! Thank you, thank you, thank you! Now that we have met this significant goal, I would like to start on my next fundraising goal of $10,000. Here's why: My plan is to live abroad and continue serving those in need for the long-haul. This would be much easier without my remaining student loan debt still hanging over my head. I've worked pretty hard over the last few years to reduce it, but without a regular income, I am praying and asking for help to eliminate this financial burden. So every donation that comes in from now on will go directly to help pay off my student loans. This will be a huge help and will give me the ability to work freely in serving the people in Cambodia for as long as needed.  As always if you have questions please feel free to contact me.  Blessings to you. ...

Happy Friday! I am a little over half way to my fundraising goal! I have been given a donation by a church in Canton, Ga for my dirt bike. I'll be getting it in a couple months so I can drive myself out to the villages we work in! Thanks guys!! I leave a week from next Tuesday. The final count down has begun! I am almost fully funded and can use all the help I can get! If you know of anyone interested in hearing about RAW Impact let me know! I'll keep you updated as the countdown gets closer! Lots of love, Sonya The packing has begun. Tax Deductible : If you need to make it  tax deductible  you can donate it directly to the umbrella organization that RAW Impact is under for it's non profit license in America. The name is Global Development Group (GDG) . You can do that here:  GDG . If you do donate there please mark it with my name and email me to let me know. Please note that because it is such a small organization I lose 25%. Here's the breakdo...

For the entire month of July I have been on the road. I took the month to cram in as many family and friends as I could. I'm quite impressed with my journey and thought I'd re-cap it all. Started off visiting my good friend Rachel at Loma Linda University, where I promptly got bit by a big dog. (See photo a for evidence) Side note: I'm okay and I did report the dog etc, etc. Right after the bite. The bruise got really gnarly! After a day or so. More Mexican food please! From there on the 4th of July I flew to Texas where I chill'axed with the fambam. I saw my girlfriends from high school, a friend from camp and the livestock at my dad's house. I also tried to eat my fill of Mexican food as I don't think it will be quite the same if I can find a restaurant that serves it in Cambodia. My mom and I adventured to San Marcos where we both got henna on our hands. My pops, and yeah, he looks like Lazar Wolf from Fiddler. More on that later. . ...