In April Sarin and the Spitler School teachers initiated a new environmental program, which we are sure will make a difference in the lives of the students, and the village in general.

As with most poor countries, with little or no infrastructure, there is normally a huge problem with garbage.   In the poorest villages, like the one surrounding Spitler School, trash containment is not a priority as the villagers struggle day to day, just finding enough food and shelter to survive.   However, the lack of sanitation only compounds the health problems faced by our students and their families.

At Spitler School the staff has organized a program whereby the students participate one day a month in an organized effort to collect and burn the garbage that litters the village.  We are hopeful that the students will be setting an example for the rest of the village.  With a vibrant school, a new road, and a cleaner village we hope that every family, in the village of Ang Chagn Chass, will begin to see that there is a brighter future ahead for the children and the whole village.

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Progress continues on the village road project.  In the past the road through the village and into the school becomes almost impassable during the heavy rainy season.  We reported in late March the beginning of this long awaited project.  The first phase of the project involved the digging of drainage ditches along side the road and building up the elevation of the road.  There were also three concrete culverts placed under the road to prevent water from flooding over the roads during the heavy rainy season.

Almost all of this work was completed manually with many of the village residents accepting jobs to perform the manual labor of digging the trenches and carrying the fill dirt onto the top of the road surface.  We are hopeful that the wages earned during this time infused some much needed funds into the village economy.

During this time many truckloads of fill dirt and rocks were delivered and dumped onto low spots along the quarter mile section of road way.

Last week, after drainage ditches and culverts were completed it was time for the arrival of heavy equipment to level and pack down the fill dirt in preparation for the final application of a special red clay that is water resistant and is the preferred surface for rural roadways in the Siem Reap area.

We hope you will enjoy the following photographs of the recent activity as Sarin and the road company manager oversee the work of the company’s heavy road work equipment.

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