Legacy

Though we have been home a couple of months now, I still get flashbacks of the wonderful time we had on this trip to Laos and Cambodia. Because we spent over a week in Siem Reap touring and teaching, I often think of the school and orphanage where we taught and the B&B where we stayed. Journeys Within is not only a lodging with all sorts of special touches to make your stay comfortable and enjoyable, the folks who run the place are a charitable organization involved in the community . They run an English class at a local monastary (volunteers welcome) and accept donations to dig wells in small villages in the area.

After seeing the people bathe and wash their clothes in stagment ponds on the sides of the roads (shared by water buffalo) and from greyish streams, I willingly made a donation of $100 to have a well dug in one of the villages.

Geez, here at home you can barely get a well digger to come give a consultation for that price.

Each well serves about four families and John screens carefully to ensure that the well does not become the property of some corrupt village chief and he returns periodically to ensure that the wells function properly. The tearing of a 25 cent washer can put the well out of commission for weeks as discussions in the village revolve around who should pay for the replacement part (if anybody has the spare quarter to spend).

John graciously sent me these pics, not to feed my vanity, but to prove that the well was actually in place. So if you folks have a spare C note floating about and would like to see it put to good use, look them up and send your donation their way. www.journeys-within.com

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