The Seuang River Project

So this will be my second night here now. I'm so pleased that I came - I'm learning lots from Graham and my opinions and understanding of Poverty are changing and being shaped by my experiences.

My first impression, or observation, so far, is that the people in these villages (well, the ones we've seen so far) are happy, shy, gentle and polite. They spend their days farming, teaching, learning, playing, building and socialising. There aren't any huge drug problems. They have a river. They have farm land and forest. They have buffalo and pigs and chickens. They eat very sticky rice, vegetables, chili paste and a bit of meat. The children run around in small packs and are much smaller for their age than you would expect and I wonder why? The 8 year olds look as though they are 5. And the 5 year olds look as though they are 3.

To be honest, the first thing that glared out to me was the pollution. I asked Graham about it and he pointed out that right now they are a small population so the problem is a small one. You can see where that one is going... when the population grows, so too will the problem.

It's unbelievable. They have this 'out of sight out of mind' type psyche. They collect rubbish from their yards and homes and dump it into the river. I mean, I'm not sure what they're meant to be doing with it... perhaps that is something worth looking at. Education, obviously, being a starting point.

And so the other main issue that Graham mentioned is access to adequate health care when they need it. People don't look sick and diseased, but if they get sick and diseased then it is mega expensive for them to get help. (An ambulance to the city or whatnot).

The Seuang River Project is the name of what Graham is running here, and it's incredible. It's hugely beneficial to the communities/villages. Each day, Graham is directly employing around 20 people from the villages to do things like cook, tour guide, drive etc. The students who are here are from the Dubai American Academy and are paying a bit to be here - which goes directly to the village for their serivces (accommodation etc). The children have also brought donations (books, toys, clothes) that are to be divided up amongst a few of the schools/villages.

It is totally incredible to see the children playing together - their common language is laughter and football and nothing else seems to matter.