The Good and the sad

This week has been a crazy mix of emotions full of both exciting times and hard news. First I share the exciting times. The biggest excitement of the week was the visit from Heidi! She works for the ELCA and is the overseer of the Young Adults program. It was fun having her come and see the program here in Malaysia. The adventure began last Sunday with church, brunch, and then adventures in downtown KK. We, the five volunteers, took Heidi on an trip to Gaya street (the Sunday street market that you can buy just about anything), the Philippine market (great fresh fruit and vegetables), and then the long steep hike up to our residence at STS. It was great having her here and sharing what we have been doing for the past five months. Talking with her and hearing her insights/observations on the program and culture were interesting and helped me take a step back and look once again at where I am living and the people I'm surrounded by. I hope Heidi enjoyed her time here. I know my friends here in Malaysia enjoyed her company and sharing their lives with her. I pray for her safe return to the states and wish her luck as she begins the process of organizing next years YAGMS.

This week has also been full of fun times at Cheshire Home and getting to know the residents and the staff. My Malay is slowly improving through conversations with them and so is my understanding of another culture/social group in Malaysia. I will expand on that in a future post. Right now at Cheshire home I am working with one resident on his English and computer skills. In less than a month he will be traveling to South Africa as a representative for the Young Voices of Sabah. This is a group of young men and women to bring awareness of equal rights for those with disabilities. It has been fun working with him so far and I think I'm learning as much as I am teaching about the English language. In all seriousness, English is so confusing! Why, oh why, do we have so many rules and so many exceptions to those rules?

Along with all the happy times this week there has also been some sad news. There have been two deaths this week of loved ones. The first being Ben Larson who died in the earthquake in Haiti. He was serving over there through the ELCA and was trapped in the home he was staying in. Ben's wife and cousin made it out and have since made it back home. My prayers go to all my friends back home as they celebrate the life that Ben had lived and the many memories he has left us all with. The second death was my Grandpa who died yesterday morning (this time may vary with the time change). It is hard to hear this news and not be with my family. Please keep them all in your prayers as we plan for the celebration of his life. Grandma, I know you will probably read this post, love you and thinking about you. I will raise my bowl of vanilla ice cream with strawberries on top to Grandpas memory!

Updated some pics on Facebook

Just a quick blurb to say I have posted some more recent pictures on facebook! Enjoy.

A New Year and a New Job

The new year is starting out with a big new adventure: A new JOB!!! This year I will now be working half days at a place called Cheshire home. It is a home for mentally or physically disabled persons. For this past week I spent time getting to know the residents and what their days consist of. It was a great and a little tiring time but I am very excited to continue working their throughout the year and how to see what tasks my position will take on. The residents are amazing individuals and are opening my eyes to a world I only had a glimpse at before. They are all unique with different challenges and blessings in their lives. One resident loves to show me where the swings are at least two or three times a day and another resident will start to giggle every time I see her. For this year I think there are going to be challenges in learning what my abilities are and what their abilities are. We will learn from and with one another through games, baking, and talking. Here are just a few facts about Cheshire home: There are 24 live in residents and 3 day care residents. The residents have a variety of disabilities from paralysis, downs syndrome, blind, and mentally retardation. The are currently constructing better living quarters for the residents and also a work building. If you want to learn more about Cheshire Home I would recommend checking out their website (http://www.sabahcheshirehome.org/online/)

In the afternoons I am continuing my work at Care Haven and am amazed each day at the four kids there. They have energy, spunk, sass, and an eagerness to learn! Spending time with them is a blessing and challenge each time. I am also continuing my work each Sunday afternoon with the 2nd KK Girls Brigade! Always a fun time and I never really know what they will be doing.

Christmas and New Years have both come and passed by in this new home. It is so hard to believe that there is snow at home as I am taking strolls under a hot sweaty sun. But, alas it is now January and the Malaysian adventure has been a roller coaster these past four months. There have been both challenges and highlights to this time so far and my outlook for this new year is so far so good as the close to last year ended on a great note and this one starts with vigor. However, before I get into the new year here is how last year came to a close. For Christmas the other YAGM volunteers and I accompanied Reverend Laura and Bishop Thomas to an kampung in Sabah called Sapulut or Sepulut. It was a wonderful time to see a different side of Malaysia, experience another way of celebrating Christmas. We attended a neighboring church service on Christmas Eve and then attended the BCCM Sepulut service on Christmas. Both services averaged three hours and consisted of Christmas songs (very much the same as the states but in Mandarin or Bahasa Malay), a sermon, a little scripture, and then a performance. The majority of each service was spent on the performances where a few groups would present a song or two to the congregation. We were asked to perform and so we sang some all time favorite Christmas songs! Overall it was a great time visiting the kampung and seeing another way of life. I think my favorite part was when we went to for a hike one evening to the school. We started at the church we were staying at and walked through a part of the village, past the market (a long building consisting of a few rooms that are open once or twice a week), and over the river on a hanging bridge. Once across the river we started hiking up the hill on a small path that would defiantly be a small creek when it rains. The following pictures are of the bridge and the school. This school is all grades for the surrounding kampungs. There are also dormitories (not shown in this photo) because it isn't possible for the children to go home each night. This Christmas was great and opened my eyes to new ways of celebration!

After Christmas it was time to get back to teaching at Care Haven, move apartments (I now live with Ellen at Sabah Theological Seminary), and get ready for the new year and new job. To bring in the new year the Erika, Ellen, Katherine, and I attended a BBQ and a live band with our new friend Kevin and his friends. It was a fun night and interesting to see how the New Year was celebrated on the other side of the world. Also, it was like a time warp because as we were entering the year 2010 our family and friends back home were still living in 2009. Crazy to think about! The night was fun but it is still hard to believe the year 2010 is already here. I'm excited for it to begin as with the new year comes a new job and new adventures!