According to a survey done by the American Red Cross, 79% of Americans prefer to have someone donate in their name than receive a gift they don’t want or need.

As you finish up your Christmas shopping, would you consider giving in someone’s name to Chab Dai’s project on Global Giving? By giving $10 or more, your donation will assist Cambodian leaders protect their children from human trafficking and abuse.

When you give in someone’s name, you have the option of emailing, printing, or posting a card letting them know about the gift! Even $10 can make an impact, and there’s only 9 days left to meet our fundraising goal.

Find out more

Happy Holidays & thanks for your support!

Genilson, Tania & Ezra DoCarmo

What is the Global Giving Open Challenge?

Global Giving is a charity fundraising web site that gives social entrepreneurs and non-profits from anywhere in the world a chance to raise the money that they need to improve their communities. In order to be highlighted on the site, each non-profit must participate in an “Open Challenge” to raise $4000 in 30 days.

What will the challenge raise money for?

All funds raised through this challenge will go toward supporting our Doorsteps project in Cambodia. Doorsteps empowers, mentors and assists local Cambodian leaders to protect children in the community against abuse, exploitation and trafficking by providing small improvement grants, collaboration, and capacity-building opportunities to grassroots programs. More information available here.

How can you help?

There are several ways you can help make Chab Dai’s opportunity on Global Giving a success!

• Donate online. Click here.
• Text to give $10. Text ‘GIVE 9309′ to 80088
• Ask 10 to give $10. Ask 10 friends & family members (or more!) to give $10 to the project. Let us know of your success and we will give you a special thank you in our upcoming newsletter!
• Share our project page with friends via Facebook, Twitter & other social networks!
• Present or share the challenge with your church, Bible study or book club!

If we successfully raise $4,000 by Dec. 31 Chab Dai will be able to remain on Global Giving’s website and add up to 4 additional projects! Please help!

Thank you for your support!

WHAT WE’VE BEEN UP TO
Back in July, Genilson traveled to Ratanakiri province with Children in Families (CIF). Overall, it was a very fruitful time for him, not only to see and experience a new (and adventurous) area of Cambodia, but also to bond and spend time with CIF’s other organization leaders – especially during their 10 hour car drive up and back. During their visit, they encouraged some of the families involved in foster care, and made contact with potential future partners.

{L to R} Genilson Ratanakiri style; A very tipsy canoe was needed to get to one village; Traditional Krung house

In August, Tania started back at school toward her Masters in Applied Anthropology; and had the honor of serving as “Rapporteur” at a workshop hosted by UNICEF and the Royal Cambodia Government Ministry of Women’s Affairs on researching violence against women and children. Ezra received some very special “surprises” from Abi (Tania’s mom).

{L to R} UNICEF/MoWA Event; Ezra receives special gift from Abi

In September, we celebrated Tania’s 28th birthday with a nice dinner and family evening at the Mekong riverfront. In addition, we made the exciting decision to start the process for adoption #2!

Because of our great relationship with the agencies we worked with for Ezra’s adoption (Pact & Adopt), they have been very gracious in assisting us go through the process here from Cambodia. Together, we have found a social worker who can perform our home study here from Phnom Penh. We will go through the same process we did with Ezra – we will put together our family book and wait to be matched with a birth family. Once a match has been made and the baby has been born, we will come to the U.S. where we will spend a couple of months while we wait for an expedited finalization process (probably 6-8 weeks). To follow along with the process, jump over to our adoption blog for updates.

As many of you already know, Ezra was very sick in early October with H1N1. As new parents, this experience was very scary and overwhelming for us, especially over the four days that Ezra spent in the hospital; and even more so when Tania got sick herself, leaving Genilson to take care of everyone! Thankfully, we were pleased with the service we received at the hospital (finding quality medical care in Cambodia can be very challenging), and we truly felt the love and support from our community here in Phnom Penh, and friends and family at home (thanks!).

This month {November} we have been hosting our dear friend from Sacramento, Sean Randall, who is pastor of SAAM Church (and previously Flood Sacramento). Sean serves as a board member of Chab Dai USA, and recently started a non-profit organization called Solstice, focused on care, counseling and leadership development for overseas organizations focused on social justice. We have really enjoyed hosting Sean, showing him around the city and introducing him to the work of Chab Dai and member organizations here in Cambodia. {To read about Sean’s journey here, follow his blog}

{L to R} Ezra in his hospital pajamas; Genilson and Sean hanging out in Phnom Penh

WHAT’S COMING UP
We have a lot of travel coming up. Later this week (Nov. 9-11), we are headed to the town of Kep for a 3-day spiritual retreat with Sean and some others from our house church. We are excited to get out of the city for a while, and trust it will be a fruitful time of reflexion and fellowship.

Next week (Nov. 13-17) Genilson is going with Children in Families to Thailand for the Asia Family Placement Conference, hosted by Care for Children - an amazing organization based of China that focuses on placing orphaned and distressed children in family-based care (as opposed to institutions such as orphanages). This will be a great opportunity for Genilson’s organization to network with other organizations doing similar work across Asia.

Over Thanksgiving and into early December we will be traveling to Hawaii (woohoo!) for a family wedding. This is a tremendous blessing and we are very excited to not only take a break, but also to spend time with Tania’s extended family over the Thanksgiving holiday.

HOW TO PRAY
- For upcoming travel. Pray for safety, relaxation, and patience (traveling with a toddler is not always easy!). Pray that we will fully take advantage of our time in Hawaii to rest, rejuvenate and spend quality time with family (who we miss very much!).

- Pray for physical health.  Over the past several months we have all had several colds, the flu, etc. When one of us gets over it, someone else seems to get it. Pray that we can move past this cycle.

- For emotional health. Both of us have felt somewhat emotionally overwhelmed over the past few weeks. As we come into a time with a lot of travel and busyness, pray we will be patient with one another, and seek God for a sense of peace.

- For finances. The economic crisis has been difficult for everyone, and because of this we have lost some support along the way. We would appreciate both prayer and personal consideration as to whether you are able to give, or if you know someone else you think may be interested in our ministry. Donations can be given through post and/or online.

THANK YOU for your continued support and prayers.
Genilson, Tania & Ezra

Over the next few days he will continue to be on anti-virals and other meds, but we are all relieved to be in our own home again. Based on Ezra’s blood tests, exams, symptoms, etc. it looks like Ezra had H1N1 (swine flu) or H1N2 (bird flu). We have NO idea where he picked this up – but the flu has been going around here – so who knows.

Looking back at the last couple of days we feel very blessed to have so many people in our lives who care so deeply about us – both here in Phnom Penh, and back at home in the U.S. and Brazil. Our nanny Malin was an extra special blessing, especially once Tania got sick; and we really couldn’t have kept a positive attitude without the emails, text messages and Facebook notes, etc. we received from so many people.

We will keep everyone updated on Ezra’s recovery over the next couple of days.

Love, Genilson, Tania & Ezra

After taking loads of Vitamin C and getting over 12 hours of rest last night, I (Tania) am back at the hospital with Ezra today. Overall, it was a better day than yesterday – Ezra’s fever continues to go up and down, but not as drastically as before; his appetite is coming back; and while it’s clear he really wants to go home (we all do), he doesn’t seem to be as scared of his nurses/doctor. Most of the day was spent sleeping, singing and watching Elmo.

Perhaps the most devastating part of the day was when one of his nurses came in to clean up and re-bandage his I.V. As she took off the bandages Ezra’s face totally lit up with excitement (do I get to go home?)… until he realized it was going right back on again. He just wept. Broke my heart.

I’m staying with Ezra in the hospital tonight so Genilson can get some rest at home. The doctor says we can probably go home in the morning as long as his fever doesn’t get out of control again, and we can commit to some bed rest once he gets home.

Ezra’s fever continues to spike up to 103-104 degrees – which is a bit lower than when he originally came in, but is still worrying. It’s been disappointing because every few hours he is “back to himself” and we think he’s better – and then the fever comes back.

Unfortunately, I (Tania) am now sick myself with similar symptoms (fever, body aches, headache, cough) so am home in bed, while Ezra stays in the hospital with Genilson.

Please continue to pray for all of us – for Ezra’s recovery, for rest, patience, and that we stay strong! We originally were told that Ezra could come home tomorrow morning, but since his fever keeps coming back, I don’t think that will happen.

We love you all – and thanks again for your prayers, love and support.

Love, Genilson, Tania & Ezra

We are in one of Phnom Penh’s better hospitals, and so far have felt confident in the medical attention we’ve received.

We are confident that Ezra will be fine, but would greatly appreciate your prayers over the next few days as we work through this.

Please pray:
- That Ezra will fully recover.
- For Ezra’s emotional comfort. Understandably he’s been pretty freaked out by the hospital environment.
- For “mom and dad’s” emotions! We’ve been pretty freaked out ourselves!
- That we are all able to rest well and get some much needed sleep!

We’ll keep you updated.
Thanks for your love and support.
Genilson, Tania & Ezra

Our beautiful Cambodian home

As mentioned last month, Genilson has started work with a local organization called Children in Families (CIF) – also known as Komar Knong Krousar in Khmer. Both of us have been familiar with the work of CIF for years, not only because they are a member organization of Chab Dai and have had an amazing impact on the standard of care for vulnerable children in Cambodia; but also because the organization was founded by a dear family friend of ours. They are a fantastic organization dedicated to seeing Cambodian children placed in long-term family based care (as opposed to institutional care such as orphanages or group homes). In Genilson’s new role as Office Coordinator, he is helping CIF with bookkeeping and other office duties. In addition, he has been supporting the national staff by coming along on family visits and follow-up. Outside of work, Genilson has been enjoying playing soccer on Saturday mornings with friends from his previous organization AHRDC.

Tania has also jumped back into work with Chab Dai in her new position as International Communications Director. In this role, Tania helps oversee some of Chab Dai’s international media strategy, and assists with research and grants. Tania is also assisting with the development of a new Chab Dai project called the Global Learning Community (GLC) being launched this year. After successfully working to build collaboration and raise the standard of care for vulnerable communities in Cambodia for six years, Chab Dai has gained an international reputation for its achievements and success. The GLC project takes Chab Dai’s successes and lessons learned to assist agencies and organizations outside of Cambodia develop similar programs for their own context.

Ezra continues to adjust well. As always, he is very busy. He enjoys running around the house, playing on his new swing set, and “reading” books. We struggled for a while about what to do in the area of childcare (daycare, nanny, etc.), but after considering our options (visiting day care centers, interviewing potential nannies), three weeks ago we hired our lovely new nanny, Malin. Malin is a joy. She came to us after working for an Australian family for about four years (and another family for three years before that!). She is very good with Ezra, and in the end we felt very good about our decision to keep him at home.

Ezra in the backyard

As we have mentioned in the past several emails, our family is still in need of financial support. Currently, we are at approximately 85% of what we need per month (this includes projections of annual expenses such as health insurance, etc.). Knowing that many of you already financially support us, we ask you would sincerely and prayerfully consider: 1) whether you are able to financially support us; and 2) whether you know anyone who may be interested in financially supporting us. Feel free to email us with any questions. We appreciate you and your commitment to us. Click to Donate 

Here are some ways you can support us through prayer:

• Tomorrow morning, Genilson will be leaving with CIF to the northeastern Cambodia province of Ratanakiri. It will be about a 10 hour drive (on a very bumpy road), and he will be there for four days (12-15 July). Ratanakiri is home to many of Cambodia’s hill tribes, and is a very remote and undeveloped part of the country. While the region people are very beautiful, it is vulnerable to exploitation, corruption, and other dangers. Pray for the safety of Genilson’s team and that they will be able to make the connections there that they need.
• Pray for Tania as she continues to get adjusted to her new position at Chab Dai.
• Pray for our physical, mental, and spiritual health.
• Continue to pray for Ezra’s adjustment. That he continue to bond with Malin; for his safety; and his health.

Some blessings and happenings from our first month in Phnom Penh -

• Tania’s mom (Joan) and family friend Dolly spent our first three weeks here with us helping set up house,  settle in, watch Ezra, etc. They were a tremendous blessing. We were sad to see them go last Wednesday… but thankful we had so much time with them!
• We’ve been blessed with time off of work to give us time to adjust. Setting up home is getting there – we love our house and are just finishing up with furniture, appliances, etc. Pictures to come!
• We found a car! Now that we live outside of central Phnom Penh (and have a little one in tow!) getting a car was a major need. After looking for a couple of weeks, we found a good one that we could afford. {Nothing fancy… but functional!}
• After exploring various possibilities, Genilson has began work with a Chab Dai member organization called Children in Families (CIF), a local Christian NGO focused on finding Cambodian Christian families for children through adoption, long-term fostering and kinship care. They are a fantastic organization and we are very excited about this opportunity for Genilson. (In addition to working with CIF, Genilson will still be involved in boys issues as we originally planned. Details to come.)
• Last Friday we were able to connect with a small house church here in Phnom Penh that we plan to start attending regularly. It’s a great group of families (with lots of new friends for Ezra) from various countries (U.S., Australia, U.K.), and we are looking forward to being part of their community.

Since our arrival, things have gone pretty smoothly. We’ve already had the chance to see many of our friends, and everyday we find our Khmer language skills creeping back (slowly, but surely). We still have quite a bit of unpacking to do, but nonetheless we have moved into our beautiful new house, and are working around the clock to make it home.

Considering what a tremendous transition this is for a 10 month old, Ezra is doing well. There are lots of adjustments to make – new food, lots of bugs, language, new people, new house, etc. – but perhaps the most difficult this time of year is the HEAT. Ironically, this week has been one of the hottest of the year so far (just in time for our arrival!), but we are doing the best we can to keep ourselves cool – Ezra’s kiddie pool has definitely come in handy (read: and not just for Ezra!).

Here are some ways you can keep us in your prayers during the coming weeks:

• Adequate rest. Moving and adjusting to a new culture is hard work, and can be very tiring (especially in extreme heat). Pray that we are able to sleep well in the evenings, rest when needed, and have adequate energy to get through each day.
• Ezra’s emotional adjustment. Moving can be very stressful, especially for a young child. Pray Ezra is able to feel comfortable and at peace in our new home and other new surroundings.
• General adjustment.  Pray for all three of us as we continue to physically, mentally and emotionally adjust to our new life in Cambodia.
• Finances. Our family is still in need of some financial support (either monthly for ongoing costs, or one-time for moving costs). If you are interested in supporting us financially, please click here.