Trash is a serious issue here. Water is contaminated, so there is an endless use of water bottles by tourists, and even some locals. Trash is everywhere along the shores and in the waters of this beautiful archipelago.
Water shortage in the dry season is also an issue. I mentioned earlier that the Song Saa Foundation has put in some water tanks to store rain water during the rainy season, and they are in the process of getting filters in the homes of the vulnerable who can't purchase one for themselves.
A few days ago we accompanied Laurel, a Song Saa Foundation director, to a neighboring village to distribute filters.
We boarded one of the common taxi-like boats off of the jetty for the 45-minute ride.
(These Cotopaxi bags are getting some serious use!)
As we pulled up there were stacks of water bottles next to our water filters. There is some educational work to be done!
A typical village shoreline.
As we entered the city we were assaulted with love and joy by a little girl. She is not mentally whole and couldn't speak, but her heart was certainly whole! She couldn't stop hugging and smiling at us.
After an hour or so of her physical love, it became a bit much, but from the look of how the villagers treated her, she was seen as annoying, so we did our best to love her.
Everywhere you look there are stray dogs and cats, and puppies and kittens. How any of them survive is a miracle. They usually have sores and scars. It is a hard life. They are often lying in the sand, trying to keep cool.
Each village has a chief who is voted in by the villagers. He wins votes by paying them the most for their vote.
When we arrived to pass out the free filters, the village chief hadn't done anything to inform the people we were coming. We should have called him the day before to remind him, he said. We asked if he could gather some village men to bring the village to a designated gathering place. How much will you pay us, he asked? Laurel reminded him that we were GIVING the village filters to help the people, and we would not pay. Soon the filters were in push carts being moved. The chosen location was in front of Cambodia's one political party's village headquarters.
The same party (and prime minister) has been in power since the 70's. He was put in place after the Khmer Rouge (a post for another day). During this upcoming "election", a new party was formed. The party was forced to shut down, leaving only the ruling party as the sole option.
We played with the village kids while we waited in the hot sun for the village chief to gather people. It was not a quick process!
We went off to find a bathroom, always an adventure in itself! One rule: always carry your own toilet paper and hand sanitizer. My blind eye is getting really strong here!
We found a small cafe run by foreigners who had captured a monkey. We didn't get a great picture, but the poor thing is tormented by the children, who are looking for the smaller dog to beat. The owner tried to get the monkey to attack the children back!
Back to our gathering place.
We were introduced as the family that would pass out the filters.
The villagers loaded them on their motos and were off with the promise of clean water.
Our boat was rented from the Palm Beach Bungalows (where we are staying), and due to the delays in the village we were late, so we had to go pick up incoming guests. This included a stop and wait at another village. It got us home an hour and a half later.
We saw some bioluminescent plankton on the way home! They looked like sparks in the water as we dragged our hands along! Apparently they are easiest to see when there is no moon, which isn't happening during our stay here, darnit!
Water shortage in the dry season is also an issue. I mentioned earlier that the Song Saa Foundation has put in some water tanks to store rain water during the rainy season, and they are in the process of getting filters in the homes of the vulnerable who can't purchase one for themselves.
A few days ago we accompanied Laurel, a Song Saa Foundation director, to a neighboring village to distribute filters.
We boarded one of the common taxi-like boats off of the jetty for the 45-minute ride.
(These Cotopaxi bags are getting some serious use!)
As we pulled up there were stacks of water bottles next to our water filters. There is some educational work to be done!
A typical village shoreline.
After an hour or so of her physical love, it became a bit much, but from the look of how the villagers treated her, she was seen as annoying, so we did our best to love her.
Everywhere you look there are stray dogs and cats, and puppies and kittens. How any of them survive is a miracle. They usually have sores and scars. It is a hard life. They are often lying in the sand, trying to keep cool.
Each village has a chief who is voted in by the villagers. He wins votes by paying them the most for their vote.
When we arrived to pass out the free filters, the village chief hadn't done anything to inform the people we were coming. We should have called him the day before to remind him, he said. We asked if he could gather some village men to bring the village to a designated gathering place. How much will you pay us, he asked? Laurel reminded him that we were GIVING the village filters to help the people, and we would not pay. Soon the filters were in push carts being moved. The chosen location was in front of Cambodia's one political party's village headquarters.
The same party (and prime minister) has been in power since the 70's. He was put in place after the Khmer Rouge (a post for another day). During this upcoming "election", a new party was formed. The party was forced to shut down, leaving only the ruling party as the sole option.
We played with the village kids while we waited in the hot sun for the village chief to gather people. It was not a quick process!
Ceci had some stickers.
We went off to find a bathroom, always an adventure in itself! One rule: always carry your own toilet paper and hand sanitizer. My blind eye is getting really strong here!
We found a small cafe run by foreigners who had captured a monkey. We didn't get a great picture, but the poor thing is tormented by the children, who are looking for the smaller dog to beat. The owner tried to get the monkey to attack the children back!
Back to our gathering place.
We should have gathered at this lady's restaurant, because she had a robust business cooking on this little stove! We would have doubled our attendance!
Ok, we finally decided to start with our small group of villagers. The gentleman representing the filter company educated them on the importance of clean water and how to use the filter.
We were introduced as the family that would pass out the filters.
We got to work assembling the filters. Each individual person was called by the village chief, their fingerprint was taken and they signed a paper before receiving the filter. One by one. It was a LONG process!
Ceci was a machine! She worked the entire time.
The villagers loaded them on their motos and were off with the promise of clean water.
Our boat was rented from the Palm Beach Bungalows (where we are staying), and due to the delays in the village we were late, so we had to go pick up incoming guests. This included a stop and wait at another village. It got us home an hour and a half later.
We saw some bioluminescent plankton on the way home! They looked like sparks in the water as we dragged our hands along! Apparently they are easiest to see when there is no moon, which isn't happening during our stay here, darnit!
We were so dirty from all of those kids climbing all over us, we were so tired and hungry and ready to SIT after this day. AND, it was really insightful to see some of the challenges of a non-profit, hear what Geoff would do differently, and great to work with some of the villagers who were very appreciative of the gift.
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