A woman that attends the KEC church in Samrong visits the AIDS patients weekly, so the team from Battambang just goes once every 3 months to encourage her and to visit the patients. On their last visit in September, they were requested to teach about how to make compost, so this time we brought up some cow manure and sugarcane bagasse to help one of the widows make a compost pile. Below are some photos of everyone joining in on the process.
The first woman we visited started a small business with her husband making fried frogs, fried crickets, dried prawns and boiled peanuts (in the shell) and selling them in the evening at the street market. The peanuts were nice, but I was wary of the frogs and crickets. The team asked her questions about her health and what medications she is taking. Antiretroviral drugs are available free through the referral hospital in Samrong. She seemed strong and in good health, and she also said she is taking moringa leaf powder every day.
She will stay at the market in the
evening until all the tasty snacks are sold
Fried crickets
Fried frogs. Surprisingly yummy.
A chicken with no feathers
The team presented a small Christmas gift of a sarong, a toothbrush and toothpaste to each patient and also a bar of moringa soap for them to try. In addition, they gave her some gospel tracks about heaven, Christ's birth and making a decision to follow Christ, and said if she cannot read then she can ask her children to read them to her.
Next we visited a woman who is widowed and struggling to make ends meet. The rice that she planted produced grain in the field but was flooded recently when a dam was opened in Thailand. All the rice rotted in the field. We brought some 80-day rice seeds for her to plant when the rains start again. It was difficult to see her situation and how skinny she was. Her children don't help her much (very rare in Cambodia) and she almost started crying several times. She is raising 2 pigs and growing banana plants to feed them (mashed banana stalks, yum!). We suggested she make some compost to put in the rice field to help provide nutrients and improve the soil, and we offered to help her start the compost. We looked for items we could use to build a frame and she found some rice straw and wood. We decided to come back to make the compost after we visited the last patient.
The last woman we visited, also a widow, is living with her adult daughter and grandchild. She was fun to talk to and seemed hopeful for the future. She also lost most of her rice harvest from the flood of water. Sharon encouraged her to pray to God and ask him to provide for the things that her family needs. The widow goes off and on to the church and she cannot read so it is difficult for her to learn the songs. We encouraged her that the more she hears them, the easier it is to memorize. The team sang her a song about God loving and never forsaking us, especially widows. =)
After praying with her, we asked if she had any banana plants we could use for making compost for the other patient. She graciously offered them, and the guys cut down the banana plants that had already produced fruit. Bananas plants have lots of good nutrients (esp. potassium and phosphorus) for making compost and they easily decompose. They also stain clothing. =)
We returned to the 2nd woman's house and Sombok and Dara started building the bin for the compost out of a few scraps of wood and some coconut branches. Then they layered the compost: rice straw, sugarcane bagasse, cow manure, banana stalk and rice husk ashes. I call it fertilizer from God.
Chopping up banana stalks for the compost
Building the bin with what's available
Layering the compost. This is the cow manure.
God's servants!
After this the team met with the woman who does the regular visits and discussed issues. When we left her house, we were all ready for dinner! We went to our regular restaurant and while we waited for the food, we snacked on prawns, frogs and peanuts. The frogs were surprising tasty, though, rule #1: don't look before you eat.
The next day we attended the Christmas program at the church and after the meal, we headed back to Battambang.
An extra picture of a house we visited. This is the kitchen and the cows (and their business) are kept underneath. Interesting...
