Reflections

As we watched November grow smaller in our rearview mirror, we couldn’t help but reflect on all of the months that went before, that led us to now being about to complete House Number One Hundred.

The fact that we are about to finish our one-hundredth new home is surreal and super-real if the two can coexist peacefully. It has been almost 10 years since we built our first House and almost four since we first opened our Community Centre. It seems like a minute - and a lifetime.

We want to share some of our reflections and invite you to visit our Facebook page to share your thoughts – or send us a note. So many of you are why we have been able to reach this milestone. Our thoughts here are a bit rambling, but that’s been our overall experience: sometimes rambling, honest, funny, sad, humbling, rewarding, and always full of gratitude and optimism.

When we moved from Australia to Siem Reap, we knew we were giving up a way of life much easier than the one into which we were happily entering. We really miss our family. That never stops. Our kids and their kids also sacrifice to help people here have safe homes. We are all committed.

Our house sponsors are our cornerstones.

It’s incredible to us how much each sponsor puts into funding a house. Money doesn’t come easy, but for some reason, people do keep asking and people do keep giving - over and over again sometimes - to help change a life. It’s humbling, renewing, and a daily reason for us to be grateful for your love and humanitarian spirits. Sponsors don’t get a lot of recognition, but they are with us, month after month after month. They are the superstars amongst superstars.

You see a lot of photos of our House Builds, but it’s impossible for you to have felt the scorching heat on our backs or the slicing monsoon rains that left us up to our knees in mud, leeches, scorpions, snakes, and rats. Still, we have fun! The volunteers help make every house special and full of love. It’s never “just” a house. It’s a new life. One we hope will only continue to improve through additional assistance and education through our ever-growing Community Centre.

We have had lots of celebrations and lots of sadness as we have watched some people change their lives, and move forward, while others- wracked by a life of poverty and addiction just cannot hold on. But we believe that when people have let go of life, they have done so with a bit of peace that they leave their families with a solid roof over their heads and a community of support.

The struggle against extreme poverty and its multitudes of despair is real and seems endless. But, our whole team keeps going - with compassion, love, and always with a smile. And our relationship is stronger than ever. We are grateful every day for each other.

We are so proud of our team. All of the work they do to help people, always listening, evaluating, prioritizing, and making everything better. Their flexibility, curiosity, and commitment are things to behold. Our Community Centre is a lifeline for dozens of families; seeing the joy and excitement as young people learn new skills is worth dozens of monsoons with scorpions and rats.

So as we move to finish House # 100, we reflect that from the very first one, there has been a constant in our minds: Maybe this family’s life is going to be a little bit easier, these kids are going to be safer and we will have been a part of that?

How lucky are we???

To all of the people who have helped us achieve this along the way - from our generous donors to volunteers, our gorgeous local staff and everyone in our community who pitches in on a regular basis: Thank you. Thank you.

What a vast Heartprint family we have become!

Love,

Wendy and Garry

PS: While we have you here. Here’s a reminder of the Heartprint Christmas giving!

Every year Heartprint holds a Christmas giving campaign to supply gifts to local families. For kids in Cambodia, this may be the only gift they receive for the whole year.

For kids in Cambodia this may be the only gift they receive for the whole year.

Donate a Christmas gift.