Cambodia – Monk’s Blessing, Tonle Sap Lake Floating Houses

We started today with a very special visit – our wonderful guide honored us by taking us to his family’s local monastery and the senior monk blessed us with holy water. We walked around, saw the original small temple, visited the stupa where his grandmother’s ashes are interred, and looked over the rice fields along the river – no other tourists around to distract us … a really beautiful morning.

 

 

 

We also visited the monastery school – they have about 40 students, but no books or writing tools. The teacher was drilling English alphabet, and he let us talk to the class – we brought along some picture postcards of Colorado (you can see the kids have them on their desks). We may try to find a way to help this little school get some English word learning /picture books – we’ll let you know if we ask for help after we get home.

 

Steve had a chance to teach alphabet to Cambodian kids

Then we drove to Tonlé Sap Lake; it becomes the largest body of water in Southeast Asia once a year when water is pushed up from the Mekong River into the lake during the rainy season; the direction of the current reverses and it increases the lake area to from 1,000 to 6,000 square miles This expansion floods the nearby fields and forests, providing a great breeding ground for fish.

 

 

Floating houses (boats built on old oil drums) move as many as 8 times during a year to adjust to the size of the lake and find fishing. Life is carried on by boat – even delivery of groceries and recharged old car batteries which provide about 3 days lighting (and yes, even TV) for families. Some families are refugees without legal status, but there are floating schools – Cambodian, Vietnamese, and even a Catholic free school.

 

Finished the day at a training center for young crafts artisans – including deaf painters. (Irene used American sign Language to chat with one of the artists) – this is a new NGO business – 20% of income goes to the artists, 10% to the government, and 70% goes back into the organization to support training programs.

 

Wood carver in apprenticeship

 

Tomorrow we fly to Sihanookville for 3 days of quiet on the beach.