May 10th - update from my world...

The bathroom is done, and the total cost was $750. While the slum will likely get moved, possibly next year, the good news is that the most expensive materials can be taken with them, so the only loss will be a few hundred dollars for the bricks, cement, and labor.

I hired an American-trained doctor to come and do hygiene training for the kids (the adults need it most, but the kids are more apt to listen). It was timed well since the new bathrooms have 2 sinks with running water, and sometimes there is soap on hand. The doctor did a lab on hand washing, teeth brushing and bottom-wiping for a standing room only audience of 110 kids from the Center and the community. The kids loved it, and hygiene should be on a higher level since washing hands and brushing teeth can now be done without the chore of pulling up a bucket of water from the depths of the well. We handed out toothbrushes, which turned into a treacherous mob scene and I was worried someone was going to get hurt in the frantic push to get one, like when the trucks arrive with food to the starving people in Africa. In my naivety, I bought assorted fruit for all the kids for after the training. I thought maybe they’d think fruit was lame since they’d want candy, but fruit (or anything edible) was a huge hit and rationing it evenly for such a mass became an impossible chore, but thankfully the Khmers were in charge of all that. Overall it went really well, and at the end of the night I gave a small, sad girl $.75 to replace her sandals that were stolen during the training (but she was still really sad).

I now have a great interpreter, Chin (like that area below your mouth, he points). He lives with the monks at a wat (Buddhist temple) where his grandfather is the head monk. He’s 23, and about to finish his associate’s degree in English literature. He made conversation with me at an outdoor market a few weeks ago, and I was impressed with how good his English was, as well as his overall disposition. He seems to have retired from working as a motorbike driver for now, and works for us as needed for $1 per hour. He has impressed us incredibly in his short time, and seems to be perfect for the job. Since there are no jobs here it isn’t surprising that he was available to start right away. Chin comes from a family of 10 kids, and 1 brother lives in Colorado somewhere.

I can not articulate so much of what I am experiencing here. One evening, we visited the city dump and witnessed the families who survive by picking through the garbage for recycling they can sell. Children make up a slim majority of the workforce here, and for this I can’t put to words what I saw, but have included a few pictures (see May 10th… post for login). My new friend Morsi, a photo journalist, has created an excellent short story about the dump including amazing pictures that you can view online (it’s the last story in the PDF document, “Seeing and Believing,” p.11);
http://www.mindzoom.dk/stories/DifferentReality.pdf
One kid casually showed me a recent wound on his toe, which not yet been cleaned. With a little charades, he told me that a rat chewed through his floor, and bit him on the toe!

I will prepare a “donor update” at some point, to fill everyone in on where the funds from your generosity are going. In addition to the bathrooms, there have been a lot of small expenditures for building improvements (new stairs, electric, plumbing..) medical and dental expenses (almost all the kids have seen the dentist now, most for the first time, and most had at least 1 tooth pulled), and I am cautiously evaluating the needs to see what will leave the greatest impact on this group for the remaining funds. I will be extending my stay here so I will continue to learn what is needed and how best to get it to the kids. I so much appreciate the outpouring of generosity from my friends. The fundraising so far has almost exactly met the initial goal.

It wasn’t entirely surprising, but the people in charge seem to have little accountability, credibility, and have over the years failed to carry through with attempts to improve the quality of life for the kids. This is the system I have to work within and around, and it is often heart breaking to see the affects of a broken system.

The project changes and adapts regularly. I am putting my efforts and the donations primarily towards education/training, hygiene-related infrastructure, and nutrition. I also started a free English school, which has been a huge success – more on that soon.

I have a few other stories that I will post soon. Check out my pictures;
1. Go to;http://www.snapfish.com/login/t_=0
2. Use my login drewmcdo@msn.com and password "drewmcdo" and select the Cambodia #2 album.

Picture notes;
Key and her sisters eating bananas after our pizza dinner.
Sobum scraped his face quite badly after falling on his bike. He was told by the orphanage medical person not to wash the wound because it would cause swelling (we eventually convinced him otherwise).
The Center’s cook got married, so they set up a tent in the street and had a big wedding.
I took side trip to Malaysia and visited the 2nd tallest building in the world, then did a trek in the jungle and slept in a cave.