From money saved in the Volunteer fund we were able to buy a new refrigerator for Chhang’s Place, allowing the old one to go to the volunteer dorm, which freed up the small refrigerator we were using there to put in the new girls dorm, making everyone happy. Because we are trying to teach the children environmental conservation, cutting down a tree to decorate for Christmas was not an option this year. The kids had a good idea however and decided to use the box that the refrigerator came in for our Christmas tree.

A few months ago, the US Navy donated a box of basketballs to the kids but we had no hoop or place to play and so most of them were just put away in storage. A few weeks ago however, we got an application from  Dr. Marjorie Seybold whose interest was in teaching basketball to the kids, and so another gift to the children this year was the basketball hoop.

 The children couldn’t wait to play and began shooting baskets even before the net was up.

 Mr. Pheap, our construction engineer, finally arrived with the backboard and put the hoop into place.

And the game has been going on ever since.

Today the Second grade teacher didn’t come and so our volunteers, Dr. Marjorie and Ben, showed some of the boys how to play the game correctly. They caught on fast and by the time the other children came home they were teaching them the rules.

Our evening meditation is often dedicated to someone and since it was Christmas in some parts of the world, we decided to dedicate our evening service to Jesus, who through his words and actions, demonstrated how to live as a child of God.

Elena, another of our volunteers had spent much of the previous day buying small gifts for each of the children and these were passed out with the evening snack after meditation. It was a great day for everyone.

We hope your Christmas was just as enjoyable as ours was. Thanks to all of you who have made it possible.

The Watopotians