Raining Kindness and Courage

The rain washed away my plans to write Tammy’s story this week. It'll have to wait until next week.

The rain also kept the trucks from delivering food to feed the kids breakfast and cut the power to cook what food we had. The flood was deep enough that motorbikes, cars, and buses couldn't pass through without stalling, leaving the young kids to wade through the flood waters on their way to school. On Monday and Tuesday, I had to get off my bike, remove my flip-flops, and slide my feet through the rocky, slippery river bottom—my first time commuting to work by stream. What’s knee-deep water for me, though, is waist deep water for some of the little ones. As of Tuesday afternoon, ABCs made the difficult decision to close until the flood waters retreat. We can't run the risk of a child drowning. 

A few weeks ago, after another heavy rain, the ditches along the road at ABCs flooded.  After school, Long, our former Project Manager, got on his motorbike to head home for the day.  Just up the road from school, he spotted arms flailing and feet kicking in the ditch water.  A three-year-old boy, who often stops by ABCs to see what’s going on, was drowning.  Long jumped off his motorbike and scooped up the boy just in time, saving his life. On average, 6 children die from drowning every day in Cambodia.  In the US, 10 people drown per day, but the US population is 20 times larger than Cambodia.

As I shared last week, ABCs has an impact on the education, nutrition, well-being, and overall future outlook for nearly 200 children every day.  This week, due to the floods, I witnessed just how much they do for the whole community. 

ABCs and Rice Main Building

One of the boys at ABCs and Rice likes to hang out in the main building of the school.  This building serves as a library, playroom, and office for the staff.  He often pops by where I sit and shows me things he’s found in books or stares over my shoulder to see what I’m doing.  

On Monday morning this week, after the first night of heavy rain, he didn’t look like himself.  I asked him what was wrong and he said he didn’t get any sleep.  

“Why not?” I asked.  

“Too much rain,” he said.  

In my first world mind, I assumed he meant that the rain was so loud that he couldn’t fall asleep, or perhaps he was afraid of thunderstorms—something that affected my sleep as a child.  He then reached down and put his hand halfway up his shin and simply said, “Water here.” 

It wasn't the sound of the rain keeping him awake. His house flooded above his sleeping mat and he couldn’t lay down.  He then squatted down just a bit, showing me that he “slept” sitting down with his legs in shin-deep water. 

Many of the children at ABCs live in homes with just three walls made of straw and sheet metal.  Only some of the homes are built up on stilts to keep the floods out. 

The flood affected many people in the ABCs community

I told Tammy the story of the boy when she returned to her desk. As soon as I said the child’s name, she stood up and snapped into action.  Tammy, a volunteer named Nadine, and I walked down to the boy’s house to assess the damage.  To get there, we had to walk back through a quarter mile of the foul, brown water. We turned down the road to his house to find many of the homes had been overtaken by the flood.

We entered the boys home, the sun shining through the straw walls and a few holes in the rusted tin roof.  Through the doorway to the lone bedroom in the house, the mattresses were stacked on the floor, soaked through. Tammy had a conversation with the boy’s mother in Khmer.  The boy and his brother did their best to fill in the communication gaps.  I moved toward the back of the home to find that the home only has three walls.  Instead of a fourth, there was an open air space for the latrine and clothes drying rack. I could see right out into the field behind them. Tammy stepped into the open space and explained in Khmer that ABCs has extra bricks.  She said, "We can build a wall to stop the water coming in from the back of the house." A fourth wall turns a shelter into a home.  

The next day, with even more rain, we decided to close the school until further notice.  Tammy asked Houk, our new Project Manager, to contact the village chief to let the students know that school was closed.  While we won't be offering education and food for a few days, ABCs found another way to provide for the community. Tammy also asked the village chief to spread the word that the classrooms at ABCs are open to the public to get a good, dry night's rest. 

Classrooms built to keep out the floods

Though it might take time to build a new wall for a family in need, ABCs didn't waste any time to make an immediate difference for a community in need. I hope the boy, his family, and many others in the ABCs neighborhood are staying dry and getting some much-needed rest.

To support this great organization, I’ve set up a donation page linked here.  Over the next 6 months, together, I believe we can raise $5,000. We are already on our way with nearly $1,100 (£800) raised in just over one week!  At ABCs and Rice, just $6.80 (£5) feeds a child for a month. If you have the means to help ABCs and Rice continue to change young people’s lives every day, please donate what you can.