Our Destination: Phnom Penh, Cambodia
This is the capitol and largest city in Cambodia.  Many of our travelers have already arrived in Cambodia and have been taking the time to acclimatize and adjust to their new environment.  Susan, our trip manager, has been updating Jenay, the director, on the general environment of the area.  According to local sources and her observations, the city is safe for American travel.  The most exciting sight is the flier for Lake Tahoe Yoga hanging up at Nataraj Yoga! 

It's time to close the office, turn off the phone and shut the suitcase.  Our team departs in shifts this week starting Monday at midnight.  We are reading that Phnom Penh is in turmoil with anti-government protests and garment worker strikes.  Our friends in the city assure us that the protests are distant from where we are staying and that we will not even know anything is going on.  We plan to be safe, avoid crowds and just do our good work.

The donations have been distributed to each participant.  Itineraries have been finalized and are being printed up.  Monetary donations are still coming in and at this point we have raised funds for four wells.  Friends and family have been generous with both donations and encouragement!

Tomorrow is departure day for me.  The first few days will be spent scouting some other locations in Cambodia for future visits.  I will meet rest of the group on Saturday, February 1st, in Phnom Penh.  Our work will start then..................Stay tuned!!!

Blink and you are there...........

Our group leaves in three weeks for Cambodia with suitcases filled with donations and lots of enthusiasm for our still expanding projects.  Our original vision for the trip included a yoga project and a school project.   As we prepare for our final group meeting, we are coordinating projects that include teaching at an orphanage, clean water, sustainable agriculture, hosting an art class for village children, teaching English in the JWOK school, distributing eye glasses and a health project for young village women.  This is in addition to the yoga projects that were originally planned! We are packing school supplies, art supplies, donated yoga mats from Manduka, hand made eye sachets and straps for yoga practice, children's books, first aid and health materials, safety lights, donated lap tops, donated digital cameras, photos, videos, numerous gifts and donations for three wells.  Our suitcases are full, along with our hearts, as we prepare for this adventure of a life time!