The Kingdom of Wonder

Since you are all coming along with me on this Kingdom of Cambodia adventure, I thought we should learn a bit more about the country.  As you can see, geographically, it is situated between Laos, Vietnam, and Thailand.  Phnom Penh is the capital and where I will be living for the next 3.5 years.  Land-mass-wise it is slightly smaller than Oklahoma,  In that tiny space, live 15,205,539 people.  The majority are ethnically Khmer, with Vietnamese and Chinese being the largest minority groups (less than 5% combined). Religiously, folks are overwhelmingly Buddhist with a small Muslim and smaller Christian minority.  Climate-wise, there are two seasons.  Hot and wet.  Hot and dry.  Thus, I am trying to enjoy the cold of New York Autumn. 

From 1975-1979, approximately two million people were killed within the country at the hands of the Khmer Rouge.  Prior to that occurrence, Cambodia boasted a 90% literacy rate.  It is now roughly 74%.  After the killings, there were only 8 people with a university education in the entire country.  The Pol Pot Regime (Pol Pot was the Khmer Rouge leader) targeted the educated, the elite, religious, those in authority, anyone with glasses - just to name a few of the categories.  This continues to affect the population in a number of ways - PTSD, trauma, lack of educated population for running things like schools, an incredibly young population, etc.  More than half the population is younger than I am.  For comparison,  33.7% of the US population is under 25.  52.9% of Cambodia's population is under 25 - 31.7% of Cambodians are under 14.

Many of the other social challenges Cambodia faces are augmented by their history.  This video, playing on the Tourist Slogan "Kingdom of Wonder" and using Sixto Rodriguez's song "I Wonder" shows some great images and raises some other questions facing the country.  I don't want to overwhelm, so I will leave you with the one recurring statement I have heard of Cambodia: It is a country of contradiction.  Despite such extreme suffering in the recent past, and ongoing, the people are some of the friendliest most hospitable folks in the world.

So, what are you doing?

These first couple of weeks of training have been intense.  There is a fair balance between self-reflection and history of mission/theology of mission, etc.  As a classmate said, we are covering the 'ology's. 
Last week, we covered a bit about the church history (pre-/post-Vatican II)
For me, this really helped in clarifying the church's view on mission.  Many, including yours truly, hear the word mission and think go out and baptize, save souls, bring as many people into the church as possible - which was the idea pre-Vatican II.  Since the Second Vatican, there have been a number of changes, altering what mission looks like today in the Catholic church.  It is more about walking the walk than talking the talk (my summary not the words you will find in any of the documents with great Latin names explaining this concept).  Mission is about: going out, meeting people where they are at, accompanying them on their journey, and meeting human need.  The new perspective speaks of embracing an ecumenical view and learning from the unique gifts each faith and culture has to offer.  It suggests we be grounded in and motivated by scripture and our tradition but that is just the launching part to putting our faith of love into action.  One of my personal favorite lines in unity without uniformity. 

I hope that gives a little more perspective as to what I am joining :)  I still don't know what exactly my day to day 'work' will look like in Cambodia but it will have a much stronger human need aspect than a convert focus.

Now for your viewing pleasure:

 The 15th was St. Theresa Day - she is one of the Patron Saints of Maryknoll (I believe that is the relationship).  Anyway, their founder liked her.  Their founder also liked ice cream.  Thus, to celebrate, we ate ice cream Sundays with supper.  (From the left: Ashley - heading to Tanzania, Sr. ... Sr. Theresita, Sr. Marci, Sr... j/k, me :) )

Sleepy Hollow cemetery.  Washington Irving is buried back there behind Evey and Eli (the children of two of the lay missioners heading to El Salvador)

  

 The headless horseman almost stole my head...

This is our group!  Community Taco Dinner night - YUM! (Plus two parents and minus one missioner who was away this weekend).

Cambodia and my multiple personalities

This is where I am currently living...

 

The leaves are changing!  Really enjoying the last autumn I will experience for a while.

Melissa and Peter, two of my group mates, celebrated their 8th wedding anniversary.  So, we ate cake.  They will be celebrating the next three in El Salvador with their two children.

 Can you find the frog?

 This was on a hike, Michael agreed to be in the picture with me.

 These are other group mates Michael and Ashley are married and going to Tanzania.  Joe - the one without shades - will be in El Salvador.  And, he make look familiar to many of you as we have a number of mutual friends and acquaintances.

Thought I would start you out this week with the pictures :)


As you can see, it is gorgeous, so, how could things not go well? This past week I have learned I have multiple personalities, loads about Cambodia, some about the study of scripture, and plenty about Maryknoll.


We spent one day on Enneagram, feel free to click here and take the free test to see what your type may be (and then you should let me know for my personal amusement). Each test or diagnostic tool we used came back with a different response as to what my base personality is – thus I have accepted my multiple personalities :) Though, 6 is the front runner. Will report back after the next two days on the topic.


The people here are amazing. They are very much about hospitality – an important charism of Maryknoll – which means everyone is excited to see you and share their story. I have met folks that have spent twice my life time living overseas in mission in locations such as Tanzania, Kenya, Korea, Venezuela, Nepal, Philippines, and dozens of other locations. Oh ya, and this country called Cambodia.


There are a priest, one sister, and one lay missioner currently here that were/are stationed in Cambodia, so, much brain picking has occurred. The fellow lay-missioner who is our Regional Coordinator has been a huge source of information.


I can now answer more of your questions:

1. When Hang (the other newbie) and I arrive in Cambodia, we will start off living with an experienced lay missioner who can be our guide and support.
   
2. We will have an assigned moto dupe – this is a guy with a moto that knows all the places we would need to go and can get us there without us knowing any Khmer – no worries, helmets will be warn as not wearing them is a great way to get a one-way plane ticket back to the USA.
   
3. We will be in language school for the first six months – four hours each day with private tutors. The rest of the time, we will be studying and potentially visiting the sites where some of the other Cambodia Mission Team folks are working. After the first six months, we will continue to have a private tutor for two hours each week. There is not an emoticon large enough to express my happiness and excitement about language school. As you may, or may not, know, there are few things I love more than talking to people and hearing their stories, so knowing there will be mutual investment in my ability to do that makes me very happy.
   
4. For more photos of my future life in Cambodia, Fr. Charlie is one of the missioners currently in Cambodia and keeps a pretty awesome photo blog.
   

Feel free to send me any questions you have for future posts on either what I am currently doing or what I will be doing in Cambodia. Thanks for your continued prayers, emails, and other communications – all are greatly appreciated.

Moving to Ossining...

Needle pricks for vaccinations/blood draws - 10
Church blessings (one in DC, one in Portland, OR) – 2
States visited in the past two months (counting airports) – 11
Spending intentional time with family and friends – priceless


There's some things numbers can't count, for everything else... there are numbers?


Ok, so, I didn't exactly stick that landing :)


As you all know, I have at long last initiated this next adventure in my life that will likely culminate in 3.5 years in Cambodia. Before I embark on the next leg – Orientation Program – that offers continued time for mutual discernment, orientation to Maryknoll Lay Missioners, and preparation for overseas mission work, I wanted to offer a few thoughts from my preparation/transition over the past month.


For timeline folks, I left my life in DC on Aug. 22 through the midwest, wedding, and reunions made my way back to Oregon, which was filled with another wedding, many happy reunions, and time spent with as many family members and friends as I could fit into my life.


I have learned:

1. I have some degree of object attachment for memory sake. I had very little trouble giving away items which I had obtained in the normal purchase for money manner. I had a much harder time parting with items that had been gifted to me by others and were being passed on in an anonymous fashion, as this would mean the story of that object was lost. Similarly, items that were passed on to others I know and love, were much easier to leave behind for further appreciation.
   
2. Good-byes have become easier for me. Thanks to the miracles of technology, good bye really just means I can't poke you, physically, anymore, as we will not be physically present to one another. Likewise, I have deepened in my understanding that all relationships change over time – regardless of the physical distance between individuals. If all parties are committed to sustaining a connection, it will be sustained. If not, then one can thank the Universe for placing that person in our lives for those moments and the positive change they brought to our being.
   
3. I have re-learned a lesson I seem to re-learn constantly: We are all so loved, if we will only let others do so. In transitions, it is amazing the love and support that comes from my friends and family, and complete strangers, from meals and orchestrating gatherings to kind words and emails, I in no way feel like I am embarking on this journey alone – though physically none of my current friends/family will be coming along, I carry all of you with me and only in that way, can I embark on this venture.
   

There is an analogy... may not be the correct word... I have been using to describe my transition thus far. I am like a potted plant. As with many potted plants, I can live in my comfortable little pot for my entire life. I have many, many, many amazing people who will water me, shine their light on me, provide me with everything I need to grow. My roots are strong and deep thanks to them and can become content with knowing every inch of that soil. Like many plants, however, to truly continue to grow and blossom, I need to be moved to a larger pot. At first, it will take some time to get used to new soil, perhaps nourishment coming from new sources, but in the end, I will be a better and strong plant for the experience.


With that, I will leave you with a few pictures from my final US adventures and thank you for your on going watering of the Karen plant. Cheers!

In case any of you all are letter writers is where you can reach me!
Karen Bortvedt
Maryknoll Lay Missioners
P.O. Box 307
Maryknoll, NY 10545-0307

 

This is Coco, formerly 1/3 my dog.  I decided to leave my 1/3 behind when I moved and miss it dearly...

 

Kansas City Federal Reserve.  Fascinating and free.

 One of my Border Servant Corps groupmates got married in Bellevue, NE.  Mini-Reunion!

This other girl I know got married.  We hiked for part of the bachlorette party (P.S. that is my sister, for those who couldn't figure it out)

Look who caught the toss bouquet...  I wanted the flowers...