Day 5 Sisophon Distribution

Day 5..Wheel Chairs in Sisophon
Up at 4:30 to head to Sisophon for our first wheel chair distribution. Sisaphon is the central city in the Banteay Meanchey District about 105 Kilometers from Siem Reap. We picked up two visitors from Kentucky that wanted to be involved in the distribution. They had read about FWM on the web site and wanted to see a distribution. We hit the road at 5:30 with our Cambodian hosts. A four vehicle caravan on a low speed thrill ride through the rice growing region in the northwest part of the country. This is the dry season and I do mean dry...and very dusty. Even at 5:30 there is lots of hustle and bustle on the roads. People walking carrying huge loads on their heads, on motor scooters with huge loads ,bicycles with similar loading and the most unbelievable packing jobs on all sorts of funny looking motorized contraptions. Every one wears a mask because the dust is so thick. The road condition gives new meaning to the term pot hole. This road is under construction as a joint project of the Thai and Cambodian governments. This effort is being done basically by hand and painfully slow. Cal Trans has nothing to fear.
During the rainy season the whole area is under water and very green. However now the area is very dry and the livestock along the side of the road have to work very hard for any nourishment.
We passed by a number of small villages. Each with a small central market and lots of people doing their daily shopping. I was told that the average annual income for most of the people in the rural areas is about $240.
It took us about 2 1/2 hours to get to Sisophon. We were taken to a small local restaurant...thatched hut... for breakfast. The Deputy Prime Minister General Nhek Bun Chhay was there to great us with two of his brothers, one is the head of the regional police force and the other I believe was the provincial governor. The general wanted to serve us an American breakfast so we had scrambled eggs and toast. There was plenty of security every where. After breakfast we headed to the Governors compound for the distribution. The disabled from the region were brought into town in whatever manner they could muster. Many had traveled quite a distance to get to the distribution site. The distribution was set in a large meeting room. There was a raised stage at the rear of the room with many chairs set up for our family and the local officials. The wheel chairs and the disabled were assembled on the right side of the room. Behind us was a large sign that had been painted with words thanking the McDaniel family for its generosity. As I looked down at row after row of disabled I was struck by the number of men whose legs were missing. Each had stepped on a land mine with terribly maiming results. However, many had manufactured some form of artificial limb if there was anything left to attach them to. Otherwise, the men used wooden blocks to scoot along the ground. I was pleased that we were finally underway. There were a number of speeches from officials as well as General Chhay. Each thanking us for coming to Cambodia. I made a few short remarks and then we walked down and placed 5 of the land mine amputees into wheel chairs. It was incredibly touching. Each would press their hands together as if in prayer and say thank you to us. The General gave us a bolt of silk material and money for returning transportation to give to each of the disabled. They all were so very patient and gracious in accepting the gifts. There were a number of children in the group...some with crippled legs...some who merely had stumps. There were also a number of elderly people who had been crippled in some form. Although the recipients may have been disabled, they were all incredibly strong of body and spirit.
Thankfully, the wheel chairs had been assembled but many of the tires needed to be pumped up. Tommy and Danny went to work on these and got them rolling in fine fashion. One man came in very late as we were saying good bye to every one. He also had no legs and was very happy when we brought out a wheel chair for him.
All in all a very good start for our distributions. We were told that a number of the wheel chairs were being taken to the disabled further out in the region because it was too far for them to travel. There many tears of joy shed by Pat,Erin,Natalie and Laura.
We also gave the Governor about 50 pairs of reading glasses to give to the elders in the region. He said they were very much needed and the stronger the better.
After the distribution, the General took us to a memorial for the killing field victims. It was filled with bones and skulls of those killed by the Khmer Rouge. The General told me he had escaped through the jungle into Thailand to avoid being killed. There he organized an army of freedom fighters that he led back into Cambodia to help over throw Pol Pot.
Our whole entourage that now totaled about 10 cars rambled through the city to the central market place. It was quite a sight with little stalls filled with all kinds of basic necessities. The food part of the market was a little tough to take. Raw meat hanging every where. Fish drying and very smelly vats of fish parts being fermented. It was hard to keep from losing it but our hosts wanted us to see everything. I'll pass next time.
We roared off down the road again to a countryside restaurant. The General put on quite a feast for us and we threw all caution out the window and obeyed none of the rules about hygiene. Yes we drank beer with ice...ate salads..drank wine..ate lamb,beef,chicken,soups,pork rolls...there was way more than any of us could eat. So far only moderate cases of the tourista's by some in the party.
After our good byes we motored back to Siem Reap dodging broken down vehicles that littered the road.
It was a long day but well worth the effort. We will be forever grateful to the hospitality shown to us by the Cambodian people.