Gecko Tails
August 2017
Adventure, Mission and Bringing the Message
to Those Still Suffering
My eyes shot wide open. Groggy, but awake I then hit the button on my
phone to check the time. It’s 4:45 am.
What the….? My alarm failed to go
off. We were supposed to be on the road by 4:30 am! Rism, frism, grism &%x@Z#! Bophal’s phone rings. Mr. Deth has been
outside for 30 minutes waiting for us to emerge. Last night as we were going to
bed, the Messenger app on my phone kept dinging and dinging. Bophal asked me to
turn down the sound so she could sleep. Hence no hearing an alarm go off at 4
am! As soon as I turn the sound back on, staccato blasts of dings, one after
the other of texts telling me to wake up shatter the quiet dark room. The last text message in the whole slew of
messages from Mr. Deth, who is waiting impatiently in the van out front, says;
“I am leaving now!”
“Honey,
please call the Mr. Deth,” I said, as I jumped into the shower, brushing my
teeth and showering at the same time. Meanwhile, Mr. Poya and Mr. LKL are
jarred out of a deep sleep by Bophal, a woman now on a mission. They also failed
to wake up on time. And John, our 13-year old son, who was supposed to wake up
and open COP front doors and gates, did not. And thus we could not get out of COP because
he could not find the keys!
Finally,
we rally and are off about 5:15 am. I ride shotgun holding a blazing hot cup of
Starbucks instant coffee that is sloshing around in my Seahawks mug that I am
trying desperately not to spill into my lap.
With all the confusion and rushing around,
it was a pure miracle I didn’t forget my material and supplies. Once on 4-day
trip I forgot my underwear.
Three and a half hours later, after we
cross a muddy, overflowing, and raging wide Mekong river in our van on a small
ferry, we arrive at the Catholic Church Khum Trea, Kompong Cham province.
We begin our seminar in the church building
that is both beautiful and spacious. Brilliant flowers of all kinds are planted
around the church and other buildings. Scores of butterflies are flitting
about. Alcohol Addiction and the influence it has on family members is the
topic of our seminar and the team begins by focusing on principles from Al-Anon
and then later in the afternoon, we talk about AA’s 12 Step program. 40 people
between 25 and 50 years old show up, and most are women. Because of flooding,
the men, most of whom struggle with addiction have to stay home to bring their
cattle to high ground. The Al-Anon lessons were exactly what the women needed. Although
we were deep in the interior of Cambodia, and the people were uneducated, they
engaged with the material and our methodology rather well.
Our
daylong seminar was successful though we had some challenges. We had to
improvise constantly according to the needs and understanding of our
audience. Now 40 people would spread the
news about Al-Anon and AA to friends and relatives. Having suffered emotional
trauma from an alcoholic husband or family member, they were committed to
applying some of the principles of Al-Anon for self-healing, and now have a
viable alternative to offer their husbands if they want to stop drinking.
As soon as we hit the road, we were met
with an intense downpour. An already flooded section of the country was getting
even more rain. We slipped and slid up and onto the ferry and the pilot had to
take extra time negotiating the violent headwaters of the Mekong. The late afternoon sun broke through the
storm clouds as we slid down the exit ramp to slippery red mud road and fished
tailed up the steep incline to the paved road where the wheels caught traction.
The van driver took a detour back and we drove through some of the most
beautiful country I had ever seen in all my years in Cambodia. I was overcome
with awe. The team: Mr. LKL, my A.A. sponsee and respondent; Mr. Poya, the ONYX
assistant; Mr. Nou Vandeth, my colleague in men’s work; and me, all enjoyed the
incredible beauty of the area, the adventure, and the challenge of our day’s
mission. We were invited to return in September.
