By Eric: As part of our itinerary, we donated a motorbike to a very poor family (pictured with us above) whose farmland had been repossessed by the government to build a road. The motorbike could be used either to provide for-pay taxi service or as transportation for the father to get to a construction job. It was touching and uncomfortable at the same time to be exposed to such extreme poverty. The family lived in a makeshift stone/concrete house built against the side of one of these rocky hills, built by the father himself back in 1992. To access it we took a small boat across a flooded field. And yet, they had an extraordinary dignity – they invited the neighbors over as well and hosted us in their room with tea, homegrown bananas, and peanuts. Their kids were wearing their spotless white school uniforms. And they had electricity and a television set. Lauren says the mother had a hard time letting go of her hand when they said goodbye. As to the father, I could tell that he was grateful but was also humiliated by his own difficulties in providing for the family. And then there was the local Party official who was there undoubtedly just to make sure that we weren’t crossing any lines. I think the experience was very affecting for our kids and hopefully it opens their eyes a bit to how lucky they are.
Reception inside their house.
The motor bike (unfortunately I only had the telefoto lense and it was in a very small room across the swamp from the rest of the house!).
They pulled us across the flooded field in a row boat.
