the Have-Nots

so let me warn you that this will end with me asking if you can help out with some money. not a lot of money. but $20 or so.

as most of you know, i have a room full of women sewing and embroidering in my home. srei-nad is one of those young women. she is 19. married...and just had her first baby. its hard to explain her level of poverty...but lets just say that even by cambodian standards its low.

she lives in a little hut. you might have seen a photo of it on my blog. i will try to get some photos on here once the planets align. anyways...this hut is a mishmash of rusted tin and palm leaves with a bamboo floor that tests your faith to the limit.

anyways..i could go on. but i wanted to let you guys know that this morning we had an incredible amount of rain. i stole an umbrella from one of the sewing ladies and headed down to the road to check on srei-nad and baby. and sure enough. they were wet! really wet. its no wonder since there are massive gaps between almost all the bits and pieces that are stuck to the shack.

ive asked them before about moving into another place...but they are worried that someone will take their home. BUT...miracle of miracles...today they did say that they would like to have their house fixed a bit if that was an option.

so. im thinking that if we are going to do this we might as well do it properly. a floor that is intact. some walls that dont have gaping holes. i would love love love to figure out some sort of toilet if possible since at the moment they have to climb down a ladder..and then go through a a deep puddle to get to some bushed... and maybe some sort of chimney to let the smoke out from the fire they have their pot on. (yes, its beyond basic).

so all this would probably cost about $500. a fortune here. not so much for a bunch of facebook friends. especially if those facebook friends ask their facebook friends as well.

so. i know this would be more effective if i had some photos...and yes..im getting there...but can you please have a think about helping out with this one... obviously we will go ahead even if we dont get people helping out...but it would be really great to share the load a bit.

so yeah...thats about it. you might not realise..but yes..i hate asking for money. but i just need to get over that...and hope you dont mind being asked.