my bloody trip to the dump

Once upon a time...
there was a land full of garbage, waste, toxicity, and overall filth. This land was called: Stung Mean Chey Landfill. People not only had to physically work in that shit (pardon the pun), but they had to live there as well. The workers who were also inhabitants consisted of all ages, though the majority were small children. Human beings covered from head to toe with black toxic dirt - especially their hands since they were used for digging out and sifting for the valuable plastic from the rest of other people's waste, and especially their feet for they were used for walking on all the garbage since they could not be properly covered and protected with sandals or shoes due to extreme poverty. Some of them had acid burn marks on their faces and bodies, some of them had wounds that will never heal properly - physical wounds just as much as mental ones - and everyone, every single individual there was ill to some degree and unable to seek proper medical attention since there was no way of getting to a treatment centre let alone paying for treatment. Death at this Landfill was commonplace: getting run over by a large machine or malnutrition, whichever came first.

Everywhere you could see was garbage and the most discusting living conditions known to Mankind during this time. It stunk all the time, there was no refuge from the horrible stench no matter the weather; when it was hot - which was most of the time - it smelled worse, but when it was rainy it smelled just as bad and the chemicals from all the waste flowed like a river of everthing that is just not good for any living creature, but created by fellow human beings who called this "progress". Imagine this river (of everything that is just not good for any living creature) full of floating debris and waste so thick that you cannot differentiate where the land meets the river, creating a never-ending landscape of waste. Imagine, too, people - women, men, and children of all ages - up to their necks in this toxic chunky liquid searching for plastic bags, of all things. Try to imagine the stench eminating and steaming from all around: from the burning of this waste, from the people themselves. Try now to imagine bringing up a family in a land such as this...

...reality check...

This place really exists and I saw it with my own eyes and felt the sting of the toxins, smelled it with my own nose, felt the touches and tugs of the children on my arms and on my heart. We went - Carly, Leigh, Christian, Roath, and myself - to pay a visit to this place I didn't want to believe existed. We bought what seemed like a tonne of bottled water to give out, but of course it wasn't enough. Upon our arrival we were swarmed with children. We walked down to the village where Roath and I tried to disperse the life water fairly among them: it was an intense experience to say the least, and one that I won't soon forget...

But you know what? Despite all that, they were so happy to receive us and the water (probably more for the latter) and their smiles lit up through the steam and the smoke. It was beautiful in many ways to know that we helped in some small way... to know that this place exists and that these people exist is a knowledge that inspired all of us to act upon in any way we can, when ever we can.


Comedic relief?
Carly - the ever adventurous woman - was trying to get the perfect shot of the river (more like a stream) I detailed earlier; however, in doing so, she fell in to it!! up to her waste, managing to save the camera and the purse. I was on one side of her - having took the "bridge" across - and Leigh was right next to her and was able to pull her out. I couldn't believe what I had just seen! My first reaction was to laugh, as was Leigh's, but we were both unsure whether that would be a rude thing to do... since Carly had just about drown in toxic waste... Luckily, she handled it very well and and Leigh and I proceeded to laugh our asses off at the sheer incredibility of the whole incident. The locals were laughing too - a "barang" (foreigner) fell in the waste - and one of them ushered her over to him and he cleaned her up as best he could with somewhat clean water before the toxins seeped into her body... which they managed to a little since she claimed of a burning sensation in her bum. ***Don't worry, she took a hot and soapy shower at a clean hotel room as soon as we got back to the city and is just fine now.*** But, we had to laugh. Sometimes it's the only thing one can do in a situation such as that one.

Wondering what the bloody part is referring to?
Carly and I gave 350ml of blood this afternoon at the children's hospital here in Siem Reap, where we are now located.

Stay tuned for the next installment of my life. Thank-you for reading and thinking.