Written by: Maryanne Herron

I arrived in the village of Phum Thom on Tuesday, October 22nd spending time with the Girl Guides, 130 of them and with the parents of the 20 University girls in Phnom Penh from the village etc.  The Guest House has electricity through a generous solar panel on the roof. There are lights at night but dim. There is an amazing bed that is as hard as a board and am sure that is what is under the sheet & bedding.  But, it is off the floor. The room has loving guests – a frog on the floor and geckos on the walls that chirp at night – totally harmless. Bedtime is 7:00 p.m. – at dark. The roosters begin to crow at the first hint of dawn and I am definitely up at that time to plug in my little pot for coffee to drink with my peanut butter sandwich and apple purchased in Phnom Penh, the capital city  45 miles away.

Thursday morning, the families, 280 of them,  began to gather at 6:00 a.m. behind the guest house for the 7:00 a.m. water filter distribution.  They gathered quietly sitting on the ground just waiting for their names to be called to receive the wonderful gift of the water filters and the bags of soap, toothbrushes, and paste from our Springfield Rotary Club.  As the distribution is for more than one small village, the village directors were also present.  

The filters were delivered on Wednesday, the day before.  Girl Guides helped to put together the bags of soap etc. that are given with the filters.  The people were so grateful for the gifts. Each recipient bowed and gave thanks, Cambodian style as they received their gifts.  The filters were carefully tied onto their motos or placed in a wagon to pull to their homes. By 9:30 a.m. the sun was already high and extremely warm and the water filters were gone to be used to give the families clean water.

From all of them to you, I bring their sincere thanks for the generous gifts of life – clean water to drink and the soap etc. helping to keep their bodies clean.

There are many details not given but… for another time.