Day 73: Delivery Double Time

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Delivery days include loading up 7 bags of washed sand, 1 bag of washed gravel, 1 bag of washed pebbles into the truck, and 7 filters in to the back of a truck. All are heavy enough to require a team lift so my muy, pii, bey (1, 2, 3) in Khmer is now very proficient. We then fight over who gets to sit in the back and bet on if we are stopping for bagged ice coffee. Heng is always the driver. His control of a manual is INSANE. He drives through and 90 degree backs into things I don't even think a motorcycle should fit through let alone a large truck. Today's delivery was to a new village. This one seemed to be more "wealthy" than the previous two delivery days. I have not figured out how to define wealth here, but today I made the determination by the materials the houses were made of. Previous days have had more houses pieced together out of sheet metal, wood, blankets, and banner advertising, where today there were more concrete structures. However, as soon as I made this conclusion that this was a wealthier village, it hit me that even the village wealthy do not have indoor plumbing, do not have access to hot showers, do not have water that they can drink without first boiling it. They might never have a hot shower in their entire lives or have a private shower (the majority run water out of the well and will either run a hose over their heads or use buckets). Part of this made me sad at the lack of access and the exposure to illness that is unnecessary due to modern developments. Then tonight I was reading a book from the guesthouse exchange and came across a passage (this is a discussion between two librarians about a local tribe):

American Librarian: "Without education and exposure to the modern world they have no future."
Kenyan Librarian: "Of course they have a future. The people here have existed in one shifting form or another for thousands of years. Longer than your country. Sometimes countries like your own can begin to believe yours is the only way."

Sometimes you hear/see/find exactly what you need, exactly when you need it.

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