With the rainy season in full swing, and more powerful this year, CHOICE wondered how the people in the isolated communities were coping with all the flooding. Rudy, our medic, called an emergency meeting and put it to the rest of us that we should double the budget for supplies for this week, to combat the high water problem. It turned out to be an excellent suggestion. On the way out to the communities, we could see what might be in store for us when we got there. Even the main highway out, was awash with fast flowing high river water.
The dirt road to the first village was impassable so we tried an alternative route. When we finally got to the village, we saw that many of the shacks had survived the flooding for now, and were just above the water, but there were also a few that were already well below the water line, and with the straw roofs having been blown away in the storm, what was a miserable existence had gotten even worse. Water was now coming in from above and from below. Some shacks were simply abandoned, left derelict by the flood.
We handed out more than double the rice quota, along with blankets, floor mats, charcoal and much needed tarpaulin. As always, these resilient people with their ever smiling children showed their gratitude for the little help we could give. A medic report from Rudy, told us that health conditions were thankfully not as bad as anticipated, but that situation could easily change at any time in the coming days, with more flooding on the way. Cholera, malaria, and dengue fever are all prevalent in these conditions so we are keeping a more cautious watch on events.
Travelling back to Phnom Penh that evening, we were caught in a massive downpour. Thankfully we have solid ground beneath our feet to go back to. One can only imagine what it is like for the forgotten people of those isolated communities in Kandal province.