11/10/20007
I was invited to a party by Samnang last night. He had been mentioning it for a week now and it seemed like fun at first. He had mentioned that it was some type of get together concerning sports, so I imagined it involved some type of sports club or team. Later he mentioned that Samath was coming with his girlfriend. Now remember that Samath is married and his wife just recently gave birth to their second child. The wife is away to the province (what people say when they go to the countryside or away from the big city) to visit her parents.
Well, this didn’t sit too well with me and I was starting to think it would be a drinking contest ala college kids in their early twenties. But I had already said I would go so I did. Maybe it wouldn’t be as bad as I thought.
Well, it was worse. It was about the lamest party I’ve ever been to. We went to a restaurant and ate an unsatisfying meal. An hour and a half later Samnang was saying how some of the seven total people there were going home and some to the Royal Palace where the Independence Day celebration was occurring. He also gyped me out of a dollar on the bill. But whatever, I get a ride from him all the time.
We all finally decide to go to the palace and check things out. This also turned into a pretty lame event as we had missed the fireworks and people were just milling around now. We got separated then found each other then split for the evening. He drops me off and tells me he’ll take me to uncle Chheang’s place in the morning. ‘O.K. If you want to, but I can take a taxi just the same’ I tell him.
The next morning he shows up and starts off by asking to borrow $50. Apparently he is short the $50 he needs for this savings program he’s in. What happens is that a group of people get together and pool their money every month. So everyone puts in $50 every month and one person walks away with the entire thing. I try to skirt the issue, but finally have to tell him no, I don’t loan money. He takes me to uncle Chheang’s stopping to gas up on the way. I pay for the gas and we part ways at uncle Chheang’s.
Uncle Chheang introduces me to Pirom, a white haired, pony tailed, goateed, tattooed relative who has a wife here, a wife in Paris, and a four year old in Paris. He also rides a Harley of some sort in Paris. Pirom takes me to the breakfast place on the back of his brand new Honda Dream 125. He’s a pretty interesting fellow no doubt. When he found out I wasn’t married he said you have to be crazy to not be married here. He said it would be his mission to find me a wife and he’d take me by the hand.
After breakfast uncle Chheang and I ride out to the outskirts of town through dust and wind. Again I wish I had brought my sunglasses instead of having to keep my eyes closed. I don’t know how uncle Chheang drove since he wasn’t wearing anything either. On the way we pass this gas station.
We arrive at his late wife’s younger sister’s home at around 9:30. The home is a small two story with the first floor open. Looking at the back yard and at the neighbor’s yard, it looks like it floods quite a bit. The upstairs is pretty small, but immaculate. We are here to see her daughter Srey Pov, who burned her foot as a young child. Uncle Chheang wanted me to see if CSC could help her. Her mom didn’t even know we were coming and Srey Pov was in school at the time. School here is Monday through Saturday and she wouldn’t be home till after 10am (I’m not sure if it’s for lunch or if that’s the end of the school day.) Her mom notes that she is very smart and studies all the time, excelling in school. However, she always wears shoes in a country where everyone wears slippers.
We take our leave to visit other relatives and promise to return after 10am. We visit one relative at a slaughter house of some sort. The older woman is busy chopping away at a bowl of cow’s tails. I wander over to where several men are working and see the ground littered with the skin of what I assume are cows. There are four or five large buckets full of blood also, but I don’t see any live cows or carcasses.
Here they introduce me to an older woman (she couldn’t remember how old exactly she was, but they agreed on 50) who was having some pain in some specific joints. This pain would come and go about once a month or so and involved redness and swelling. I told her she would have to go get her blood tested and she said they had done that three times without result. So I tell her I would ask some of the docs at work and see.
We then return to the first home and meet up with Srey Pov. She appears in her late teens and is quiet for the most part. Looking at her left foot, the first, third, fourth, and fifth toes are contracted back to 90 degrees or more of extension. She can move them though and they don’t appear to be dislocated. She otherwise has full strength and movement at the ankle.
I tell her CSC should be able to help her with a skin graft. I didn’t go into detail concerning possible tendon contractures as I didn’t have a translator available, but we can at least allow it the ability to be splinted back down. I take some pictures, get her number, and tell her I would call after talking with the physicians. Really I just want to ask if they want an x-ray before she comes or not.
She is a very pretty girl and I ask why they didn’t go to the hospital when she was burned at four or five years of age? They said they were too poor and were afraid of a large bill. That’s when I decide that she’s going to get this fixed whatever it takes. I want to help as many people as I can, but I’m not going to spare any expense when it comes to family and friends.
November 12th, 2007 at 3:11 pm
You are the man.