La Sonya

This week I was able to sit with Nic Roberts, Troy's wife and co-founder of RAW Impact . It was good to catch up with her and talk about how life is going. In all my other adventures abroad I was always there for just the school year. I always was the one to leave. Now that I've signed on a bit longer with RAW Impact I am the one to stay and say goodbye to people and IT'S HARD. Talking with Nic about it was nice, she understand the struggles of making friends and then having to say goodbye a few months later. When living outside my birth culture life is like living an extreme sport and when you share that with someone you can become quick, fast, deeply connected friends. Nothing makes a better friend than a shared experience, a struggle to overcome and the magical-ness of existing in a place that doesn't speak your language. That's what happens at RAW, especially when we all live together as well. I love Brené Brown and her words on vulnerability . But I am goi...

I only owe $2,222.58 on my student loans!!!  On knowledge of this I am filled with many different feelings. Had I stayed a teacher/principal I would have paid this off almost a year ago. If I was still a teacher/principal I could pay this off today. However because of my current financial position this could take me 1 to 2 years and that feels heavy. Do I regret leaving my old job to move to Cambodia? NO WAY JOSÉ. I love being here, I just wish I could have the pay of an American teacher (Lord, knows they don't make much either!). BUT I'm not going to let that get me down! I get to adventure everyday with Cambodian teachers and schools, people from all around the world who come to Cambodia to serve and learn and my Australian family. Being here and working with RAW Impact is more than a dream, it's the best reality I could ask for. In Ta Skor village, the RAW Impact Protect team  is working with the families to get them out of debt. It's our own version of Dav...

January gave Lou and I the chance to join a favorite team from Sydney, Northridge Church. We love them because they are a repeat team and we have struck friendships with them, they have great praise worship music every morning, they love people really well and it is a joy and privilege to work with them in Cambodia. They smashed out a couple bamboo houses in Ta Skor and in Koki. Putting in more hours to finish everything than I thought they had in them! They blew me away with their dedication and energy (this isn't a group of high schoolers, it is mixed with all ages. From 19 to 82!) While in Siem Reap Lou and I left the group with Jen, the other RAW leader, and we went out to check a few potential schools/teachers. It was INCREDIBLE and we hope and pray good things will come from it! Stay tuned! In a weeks time Lou and I rode in a Cambodia van at least 15 hours. 10 of those hours were in a three day time frame!! A couple of those hours we didn't even travel far,...