Village tour and Tarantulas

My adventure started at 5am with a motodrive with Hueng Li, a Khmer staff working for Rainwater Cambodia. Just a note...motodriving on the highway can be super sketchy. Hueng Li is about my age and is one of the few Cambodians who want to take care of his own people - he is a very generous and kind man.

We drove to the city of Khompong Luong and then another 30km on the dusty dirt road North to the villages Pra Pang Thmor and Kor. This is where a World Vision office resides to offer classes and resources to the villagers. Rainwater Cambodia works with them in the surrounding villages. They have 30 rainwater harvesting tanks in these villages and there would be more but, like all projects, the families must contribute to the cost of the system and Rainwater Cambodia is currently waiting for more funding to subsidize these costs. For Rainwater Cambodia, they only ask for labor assistance from the family. Some families in the village attempt to use jars to collect rainwater but, of course, there is no protection from insects and animals and therefore no guarantee in safe water (see photo).


I had the opportunity to visit the original tanks, test a few systems, and film the good work that Rainwater Cambodia has done. I also had Hueng Li interview some locals who already had the system and some other locals who have decided to build a hand dug well. It is nice to hear the concerns and the praises directly from the people.

The Results
All the people we talked to said that rainwater tastes better than well water; probably because about 74% of deaths in Cambodia are from water borne diseases. I didn't have the heart to tell them that it was because of how acidic the groundwater is. The rainwater coming out of the tanks has a balanced pH and looks great. There is no contamination from insects or animals and is 100% safe. I also witnessed the post project work when Hueng Li shadows the farmers in maintenance of the tanks. He doesn't do the work for them, he lets them do it on their own and then steps in if needed - a method of teaching that I respect.

Spiders
On the way back to Phnom Penh, I was at a restaurant (kind of like the pit stops along the highway) and I was offered some of the finest local cuisine. This, of course, includes deep fried spiders. Not just ordinary daddy longlegs but tarantulas, legs and all. It wasn't really what I wanted for my first meal after being sick for 2 days...but soon I will attempt.