This morning I happened to walk to the restaurant for breakfast and I bumped into an American man who had just finished eating. “What are you doing in this backwoods part of town; most tourists are in the centre?” I told him I wasn’t a tourist and that I’d been coming since 2002. Dr. Ray turned out to be the co-founder and President of the new Dewey University. He joined us and mentioned that he wanted his students to do social work along with their studies so I told him he’d come to the right place. I mentioned that we gave money for six young adults to study English at a nearby centre and they agree to come to the restaurant every evening, from Monday to Friday, to teach English to around 100 young children. I also told him that Thornin had worked with another university to take students to a very poor area to give food to the local people. He got really excited and the upshot was that Thornin and I have to go to the university on Monday to talk to more than 100 students.
Some of you may have heard Chamnan’s story. He’s a friend whose wife died, while giving birth to a healthy daughter. I believe the hospital staff caused Sola to end up totally paralysed and unable to communicate or feed herself. She needed 27 bags of blood which had to be repaid by Chamnan. His 8 year old daughter, Tin Tin, had to be with her mother for the seven months, in her grandparents’ home, until she died and so it’s been very traumatic for her. She came to the restaurant with her dad and he said she speaks at home but nowhere else. He tried to get her to talk but she wouldn’t. Then he left and went to talk to someone else and lo and behold Tin Tin started to chat. I’ve known her since she was a baby so maybe she felt comfortable. She’s very good in English and I told her I liked the way she spoke because she did it carefully and slowly. When her dad came back she let him know that I’d said her English was better than his - in some ways it is too. Sadly, the baby has to be with his wife’s parents, which isn’t the best situation as it’s far away. I’m hoping he finds a way of bringing his daughter home.
In the afternoon a bunch of lads came to use the swimming pool. The family charges them 50 cents each if they come from families but it is free if the children come from an orphanage. The family have a large basket of t-shirts and shorts for the kids to use. In Canada there’s such an emphasis on safety so this situation wouldn’t be tolerated. Here, nobody worries about insurance, having a lifeguard etc. The kids just change and remain in the shallow end. In the heat of the day it’s a lovely way to cool off and I often just sit in the water, up to my neck; it’s even better than a cold shower.
