It's a Jungle Out There! Really!

Today seemed like it might be just another day at our office, but we are not quite sure what that really means here in Cambodia. We had work to get done, then District Meeting at 10:00 a.m. There are two HR (Human Resources) people here from Hong Kong, so Phanna was pulled into an all day long training meeting across from our office with all the in country Managers. That meant we had to reschedule our afternoon staff meeting until later in the week.

With the Managers Meeting in the rooms by our office, we figured we needed to recommend that the young elders hold their district meetings on the ground floor, so we headed downstairs a little before 10:00 and found quite a surprise. The main stairway has been blocked with scaffolding since yesterday morning, so we had to duck through that to go down, but to our great surprise the gateway approach to the parking lot was entirely blocked by tree limbs, branches etc., and the beautiful trees that line the front fence of the church were completely cut back to the trunk with just a few green limbs remaining here and there. Wow! It was just a good thing we didn't have plans to go anywhere today!

As we stood in the parking lot waiting for the young missionaries come to the gate (just to be told to go around the mess and make their way through a tiny alley we hadn't realized was across the street, go around a little block and enter a gate on the South of the building that is usually locked). We also watched as some men in the trees did their work with the chain saws, taking the entire canopy off the trees. At least they were anchored with safety lines, and many of the huge tree limbs had cables on them to keep them from crashing through the power lines on their way to the ground. No wonder the internet was down on the weekend from being cut with the tree pruning. With the bulky mess of power lines that run under and through the trees it is just amazing there are not more fires or other electrical problems, or maybe we just don't hear about them.

By the time we finished our district meetings the gate was cleared, and when we left about 7:00 there are still loads of tree trimmings piles at least 10 feet tall that line the street. It will take a few more days to clear the rubble.