John and Mindi

By: Mindi Clark

Our inspiration to visit Cambodia in 2006 came from our good friend and fellow orchid farmer, Greg Braun, who knew we were traveling to Thailand with our teenage son, Ian, and daughter, Cheyenne. As we travel to Bangkok regularly for our orchid business, this trip would also incorporate some history and adventure travel with our children. Greg highly encouraged us to take a side trip to Siem Reap to visit Angkor Wat and some of the 200 plus surrounding temples before restrictions to visit the upper level in Angkor Wat were put into place.

Once in Bangkok, we booked a 4-day package trip to Siem Reap that included airfare, hotel, and tour guide. We normally wing it, but this was highly suggested, and it worked out well.

Our temple guide, Sarin, met us at the airport and got us all settled into what we thought was way too fancy of a hotel for us. We knew the surrounding area was filled with small villages of poor, local Cambodians living in very sparse palm fond huts built on stilts with little or no access to all amenities that we take for granted. The dichotomy was huge.

Sarin is a kind, well-educated local who spoke good English and was extremely knowledgeable about the history of his country and the centuries-old history of Angkor Wat and many of the surrounding temples. He was certainly proud of this heritage and as we got to know him better…slowly more details about his own life and the circumstances he grew up in became revealed. Learning about his life and the lives of others who survived the atrocities of a genocidal war was as educational as visiting the temples themselves. Yes, we did make it up into the upper recesses of Angkor Wat which are no longer accessible, but we also had the opportunity to visit Ta Prohm, Bayon, Banteay Srei and a few other temples that all had so many intricate details and their own history to learn about.

On our second day, Sarin pointed out a hand painted blue sign that was in a village as we drove by, stating that it was a water well he had built with funds from previous tourists like us. He explained the current wells used by villages are an open pit with dirty water that causes disease and can be deadly for small children who can fall in compared the new ones that have a capped concrete slab and a hand pump that pulls water directly out of the Tonle Sap Lake located nearby. The seed was planted. We learned that as an infant, Sarin only survived the Khmer Rouge war because of a United Nations camp located on the Thai border. Because he survived due to the generosity of others, he was inspired to help his countrymen in need as a way of giving back. He certainly had our interest. Our goal of learning and experiencing the temples of Cambodia became so much richer through the history and cultural lessons he would give us during our drives to and from the temples.

On our last day as Sarin was dropping us off at our hotel, we told him we would like to build a well. We met inside the lobby where we learned that for a mere $300, he would build a well for a family in need and he needed to know what names and location we would like to have put on the sign. We handed him cash and wrote down John, Mindi, Ian and Cheyenne Clark Hawaii USA. We thanked him as we parted ways and were hopeful that we would eventually learn about the well being built.

We spent a few more days in Bangkok finishing up some orchid business before we headed back to Hawaii.  Upon our arrival home, we were pleasantly surprised when our farm manager showed us emailed pictures of the water well being built as well as a picture of the receiving villagers standing on either side of the sign at the completed well. This all happened in a week’s time which really took us by surprise. Upon sharing this news with my parents, my mom instantly said that she wanted to build one too. I thought, if we could build one, we could build a hundred. For the first few years, I would wire funds directly to Sarin, but then learned that he was also involved with a small school, The Spitler School Foundation, and that we could join forces with Danny and Pam Spitler, the founders of the school. Although our focus has remained on building wells, we interact with Danny and Sarin both.

With the financial help of many families, friends and sometimes strangers, we recently hit our goal of 100. Many of the wells built have been in memorial of loved ones who have passed while others to honor an event, a graduating high school class or in recognition of how clean water improves lives.  We were sitting at 98 wells built when Sarin asked if I could fund two more as the wells at the Spitler School had broken.

The last two wells were funded by good friends of ours that requested one of the signs read…” A Tribute to our friends John & Melinda Clark.”  Ironically, our first well and our 100th well bear our names. It is especially fitting that this 100th well is at Spitler School.

None of this would have happened without the continued swift work of Sarin and his full documentation of the entire process of the wells being built and a final picture of the families standing proudly at the sign with their new well that provides them clean water.

Today I received funding or two more wells from a high school friend who has now reached her goal of five wells built. Yes…we will continue….