NEWSLETTER
4
UPDATED
26th AUGUST, 2005
"Give
a man a fish and you feed him for a day, teach him how to fish and you
feed him for life."
Hello everyone, I hope you are
all happy and well.
As usual, I've been very busy here
both with the village, Prasat Char, as well as doing some photography work
(no point becoming a beggar myself!).
After two weeks in hospital, the
doctors gave Lee-a the all clear to head home. Both she and her
father were very excited as they were really missing the village and their
family. I went to the hospital to collect them and bring them back
to my guest house where they were to spend the night before heading back
to Siem Reap the following morning. That evening I took them to a
restaurant for ice-cream, it was the first time they had tried it and they
both enjoyed it immensely (actually I think Lee-a's father enjoyed it the
most.)
The next morning I put them on the bus
and sent them on their way. As I had a photography job to do on
Monday I couldn't accompany them and I was a little concerned about
sending them off on their own - but fortunately, they made it back to Prasat
Char without any problems.
As
soon as I was free I jumped on a bus and returned to Prasat Char as
well. I found them very happy and well. Lee-a's parents were
very grateful for our help and Lee-a seems to have really come out of her
shell. Before the operation she was very shy and reserved (around me
at least), now she has turned into a cheeky little minx - which is really
nice to see. You can see her in the photo on the left with a couple
of friends in a rice field. Lee-a was due to go and see a doctor
again a couple of weeks after arriving home to have the stitches out but
for some reason her mother decided to take them out prematurely herself,
most likely with some very un-sterilized implement. Hence, when I
arrived the wound wasn't looking too good and I immediately decided to
take them to the local children's hospital the next morning. The
doctors cleaned and dressed the wound and instructed them to go back in 3
days. (I had to return to Phnom Penh again for a bit more work, so I
hope they went back.) From what I can gather, the doctors didn't
seem too concerned.
As they had no gift to give me to show
their appreciation I was told that Lee-a's mother wanted to cook us a
meal. I'm a bit hesitant about eating anything in the village as the
water is dirty and hygiene is
basically an unknown concept! But I couldn't get out of this one as
it would have been extremely rude and ungrateful. They decided to
cook a chicken and I noticed them take a live chicken up into the hut so
at least I knew it was fresh - even if it was very scrawny (I hope it
didn't have the flu). The photo on the right shows Lee-a's mother in
her kitchen preparing the meal. After some time Sovan (my driver,
friend and helper) and I were called in to eat. Nobody else ate with
us but they all sat around watching. Fortunately, Sovan is the only
one that can speak English so I was able to plead with him to take the
chicken head and feet without anyone knowing what I was saying, there was
no way I could eat them. The chicken head is considered the best
part. The chicken itself was actually quite tasty.
After
the feast we went outside again to discover all the children had been
collecting flowers and had made them into posies to give to me. It
was really sweet as they are usually so shy, but now that I am becoming
more familiar to them they are relaxing more .
We returned the following day, after
visiting the hospital, loaded up with more seeds, watering cans and
tools. Its actually not that easy to transport 8 large watering cans
when you are travelling on a motorbike! We get lots of stares from
both other foreigners and tourists alike - its common to see Cambodians
travelling on overloaded motorbikes, but not so common to see foreigners
do so. All up we've given out 12 watering cans. Without
watering cans the people have to water their crops using a bucket.
They drop the bucket down into the well, drag the water up and then go and
tip it on the crops. Very hard work. With the watering cans
its still hard work, but at least its a little more efficient. They
walk along the rows of crops with a watering can in each hand.
The
photo on the left shows Mr Som's family proudly showing off their new
watering cans. They seem to be doing quite well and are quite
happy.
The photo on the right shows a woman
who we had previously given seeds, watering cans and tools to. I
think it is her brother helping her. She asked for some tools so
that she could clear part of her land in order to plant crops. (Her
husband has been
sick in hospital for a very long time.) I have a lot of respect for
this woman. Every time we go to visit she is working hard on
something; such as weaving mats out of sugar palm leaves to sell, making
new walls for her hut, sewing clothes for her children, or working the
land. I'm hoping that we can put in a proper water pump for
her so that they can have clean water. I currently have Sowana, from
the village, getting quotes on the cost of the pumps.
Another person I really admire is my
friend and driver, Sovan. He has been so keen to help the villagers
and yet he is dirt poor himself. One day we were near his home so he
asked if I'd like to visit it, which of course I did. I was
astonished to see that he only lives in a very simple and basic hut
himself and is not that much better off than some of 
the
villagers. Despite that, on a number of occasions I have seen him
quietly giving some money to the poorer families that we've visited.
(It sort of humbles you to see that.) Sovan's dream was to be able
to buy a tuk tuk as most tourists that come to Siem Reap want to see the
temples of Angkor Wat and prefer to go in a tuk tuk (he only had a
motorbike). Sovan needed $360.00 to buy a tuk tuk but had only
managed to scrape together $260.00. I didn't hesitate for a second
to offer to loan him the additional $100 so that he could get his tuk tuk
straight away. As a result, the very next day we went and collected
his shiny new tuk tuk and he took his first customers out to the temples
yesterday. The photo shows him proudly taking possession of his new
tuk tuk - the other men in the picture are the tradesmen who made it.
Well, I have a lot more to write
about, but I'll save it for the next newsletter to prevent this one from
becoming too long.
Take care everyone and "somnan
laor dto nayuk" which is a traditional way to part company in
Cambodia and means "good luck to you"
Deborah
