Introduction to Phat Sanday Floating Village in Cambodia by Rachel Muradian

This first one and a half weeks in Cambodia have definitely been an adjustment. Adjusting to a 14 hour time change, adjusting to a new currency, adjusting to Cambodian moto traffic (if you want to cross the street, be brave) and adjusting to work with a new team. 

We made our first trip to the floating village, Phat Sanday, on Friday. On Saturday, Wetlands Work! (the NGO we are working with) was holding an event for the various villages around, to promote healthy practices and to raffle off some HandyPods (WW!'s sanitation solution) as well as buckets of sanitary products. The main focus of the event, and even in the village, is the children; because adults (even including me, yes I know, it doesn't seem like I'm an adult) are very used to living a certain way, I can see how hard it would be to change your practices simply because some foreigners said you should. The idea is to introduce the children to good sanitation practices at school, so they would take those ideas home with them.  The children were the best, and I think they were what made me feel the most comfortable. No matter that we do not speak the same language, they chattered at me, were joyful, and were just normal children. When seeing the very different way they live, from the customs to location, it could be easy to write off these communities as just poor and needing help, but it is important to remember that they have thoughts, feelings, and opinions on these subjects as well.

Image 1: The kids playing Musical Toilets (to help instruct the proper way to use a squatty potty)

Image 2: The kids doing some karaoke 

Taber, the head of WW!, told us a story of another sanitation project done in the same area that ended up not working because the project leaders had not considered all angles, and the villagers ended up not accepting the system because it had not worked for them in a way that worked with their preferences. The children helped me to remember that, which in turn helped us while designing, to try and create a system that would have little effect on the way they live.