At 7 and eat at 730 but the grade school is at the breakfast table 630-7. Then they head to class.
The Caramatico foundation director, Nathalie as well as the program head, Ann Caramatico are very serious about children nutrition.
This is the first primary school known in Ratatankiri to have a full scale breakfast (for every child) with meat. According to Tom, it became glaringly obvious early in the schools conception that the kids had improper nutritional intake. It immediately became imperative to the foundation that the kids would get a solid breakfast to begin each day. A usual day starts with fresh eggs and produce being delivered by the Caramatico foundation's director, Nathalie.
She and her mother, Monie have painstakingly committed their lives to providing for the impoverished children in their community.
In addition to the 400+ children in the CFC school Monie and her family care for a dozen young orphans.
These kids are picked up every morning and brought to Monie's home where they are fed breakfast and then brought to school after they complete their daily chores.
After school they are picked up, brought back to the home, prepare their own dinners and clean up.
By 8 pm they are shuttled back (to where ever it is they live) to sleep. The next morning it happens all over again.
Hunger and lack of education are two of the biggest problems the Cambodians have to deal with. After over 30 years of oppression and an obliterated national educational system (complements of Pol Pot and Khmer Rouge) things are beginning to change (slowly!).
Monie and her incredible family are making huge impacts on multitudes of children and their families as they help build the national education system back into gear brick by brick and one meal by one meal at a time.
For me? I've never had an opportunity to have such an integral part in something so important.
In the US my big conversation as well as where I've spent the last decade has been developing sustainable means of building designs and energy systems.
Here I was in northern Cambodia with a group of university engineering students to design and build a potable water storage and solar pumping system for the school, as well as break ground on the kinder/nursery school (first one in Ratanakiri Provence. Forget about sustainable energy use. These guys don't even have electricity or running water let alone one meal a day.
Are these trips fun? Hmmm?
Of course! But the trips themselves would be no more fulfilling or sustainable than solar panels on the White House without giving some back along the way.
I feel truly blessed to have met all of you in Banlung, Ritanakiri.
Thank you greatly for allowing me the honor to share some of my knowledge and time.
Well Monie being Monie was not going to allow a whole day of work without some play (Nature!).
After we had completed our day at the CFC school we were immediately shuffled into 3 SUVs and carted (along with a 6 course picnic lunch!) to a destination East of Banlung (closer to the Vietnam border). After traveling through jungles and rubber tree ranches for close to an hour we, along with my engineering students and 4 out of 5 of Monie's children (plus all their kids and husbands)
We landed at one of the most awesome waterfalls I'd seen to date.
Monie and her daughters laid out a half dozen straw knit mats as blankets and began dishing out a resort style lunch for 23.
(Students: Lucy, Meredith, Patrick)
Swimming, photos, river yoga & a few beers followed before we were once again all packed into the 3 cars and mobile.
(Local flava)
(Picnic grubbin Cambodian(Monie) style
(Cambodian Shower)
(River yoga)
On the way back we all stopped by a new hotel just completed on the hilltop overlooking Banlung where we swam in the infinity pool, ordered a margarita and discussed our day. Not a bad model for a business meeting (Partners?).
When all's said and done....
Just another day at the office;)!
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