Day Five -- Wednesday, July 6

Today Shelley and I went to different locations in the field.  I went with a team that was retrofitting more rainwater collection tank systems.  The team went to three different schools, but were only able to work on two.  One was in such disrepair that we couldn't even begin to fix it.  The other two schools were similar situations as we have encountered.  The tanks were not being used, probably due to complexity and lack of preventative maintenance.  It seems that culturally, no one really does preventative maintenance on anything.  So RDI is faced with changing behavior along with providing access to clean water.  In addition to retrofitting the tanks, they are implementing a three-phase process where they provide items in stages, with subsequent phases contingent upon the school administration maintaining and taking care of the earlier phases.  They are also employing a "train the trainer" strategy where they teach the teachers the lessons on hygiene and safe water handling and let them teach the students.  Both of these tactics should work better in changing behavior.  The ultimate goal is to reach the people at the household level, beginning with the schools.

This is the truck that transports us to and from our field assignments each day. That's eight of us in the back along with all the gear. The Cambodians aren't so strict on vehicle safety...

Both of our schools today had lots of children all day long, so we had a lot of opportunities to play with them and love on them through boo-boo care.  Lori and A.C. were quite busy all day long and had to make due without Shelley.  They provided outstanding care.  At one point, Lori called me over and said, "You raised boys, right?  What do you do when they bump heads and their lips are cut and bleeding?"  My answer was only partially satisfying since we had no ice nor stitches...

A freshly retrofitted tank -- and the water is working!

For a report on Shelley's day, I'll turn the keyboard over to Shelley herself.  Her narration begins here: "Started the day riding on the ferry to a village surrounded by water. Did post-op visits, wound checks, BP checks and participated in a Bible Study. There were 15 women, 5 babies, 5 men & 14 children. Several among the women professed to be believers, with 5 asking to be counseled for baptism.  At the end of the lesson the leader asked me to share a word. God was good to give me some good words of encouragement and a translator (thanks, Da!) to share them for me.  Oh, and I almost got up the nerve to pat a big cow -- but not quite!"

At one of the schools, this hog was "hiding" in the bush.

Thanks again for your prayers.  We continue to need them!