Navigating Waterworld

Lieng Sopha maintains a wary eye for branches just itching to whack passers-by.

I don't know how many of you readers out there have seen that vintage classic film, African Queen, but images of the 1951 movie came to mind as our vessel fought its way through a watery thicket under the hot Cambodian sun. I had memories of Humphrey Bogart and Katharine Hepburn up to their chests in swamp water, dragging their boat through the marshes of an encroaching jungle. Only a tropical deluge raised the river enough for the African Queen to escape the clutches of the strangling vegetation. We got off easier.

Jay Hastings stands in the tippy "took" with its crew.

Our group was riding in the fanciest "took" I've ever used to travel the Tonle Sap river/lake system. The last time I was on this river -- four years ago -- I had the unforgettable experience of falling off a more austere took at a place I remember as Half Moon beach. The name is based on the fact that I had to moon potential onlookers to remove from my trousers all the rich river mud I managed to scoop up with my hindquarters  when my bottom hit the river's bottom. Yes, I proudly admit it -- I soiled my pants in that splash. But it was good soil, and helps to explain why Cambodia produces so much rice (1.25 million metric tons exported in 2017-18, according to www.statista.com). It exports 1/10 India's volume and is just behind China and the U.S. in output.

But I digress.

The took's canopy lets Jay ride in the shade.

The row of foliage on the left defines a lane indicating the river's channel through the lake.

For half the year, the Tonle Sap River drains the Tonle Sap Lake, the largest freshwater lake in Southeast Asia, into the Mekong River. But when the monsoons come, the Mekong swells and pours its water and all the nutrients with it back into the lake, making it an enormously rich protein resource for Cambodia. The Tonle Sap Lake rises from one meter deep to 9 meters deep and swells in volume to 50 times its smallest size. The photos you see in this post reveal a lake-river system draining from its maximum size.

A bamboo structure peaks up from the gradually receding Tonle Sap.

The stilts supporting this building hint at the decline in the river level.

Finding your way on this constantly changing system can be a challenge. We were heading for the village of Anlong Oak, and the boat driver tried a channel which gradually closed in on us. The motor was shut off to avoid tangling with roots and discarded fishing nets, and we gained a gondolier. However, this isn't Venice, so he didn't sing.

I had doubts we would make it past the encroaching banks and brush, but finally we were in open water again, and heading toward the location of our first meeting for the day -- a floating, ramshackle building with a Cambodian flag fluttering in a gentle breeze.

Our destination -- a floating fishery enforcement office

As the floorboards below indicate, this meeting room was definitely not the Ritz-Carleton, but it served its purpose -- a meeting location to discus Jay's loan program for one of the 10 Cambodian fishing villages it serves.

Jay Hastings is a childhood friend who spent his career working for the Japan Fisheries Association. He is now semi-retired and a principal in Sustainable Communities International, a non-governmental organization. Twice a year he travels to Cambodia to work with Cambodia's department of fisheries to manage an interest-free loan program benefiting the 10 villages. They re-loan the funds to their members for interest at conditions more favorable than offered by banks, and use the interest to develop community-owned capital.  Jay's program is creating capital resources for these villages in the hope that these villages will eventually be able to manage their fisheries without outside help.

Space is limited, but Jay finds a perch to take notes.

Sopha discusses the program with Anlong Oak Village representatives,

A toddler stops nursing long enough to size up the photographer.

On this day, most of the village representatives at the meeting are women.

After the Anlong Oak meeting, we headed for a very special village -- special to me, anyway. It is Kangleng Phe. I have a small amount of skin in this game. Some people entertain themselves by purchasing season tickets to the opera or the Seattle Mariners. I entertain myself by making donations to Jay's organization to fund community loans. Kangleng Phe is my community. I'm told that, at least sometimes, when the community meets to discuss their loan business, my photo is on display.

Somehow the boat captain recognized this as the current landing for Kangleng Phe.

This 2014 photo shows Kangleng Phe's chief (left) and me (tall guy on the right).

The head of Kangleng Phe Village is Chhim Chhoeun (or) Chhoem Chhoeun  (or) Chhim Chhoeurn. It's hard to know just how to spell his name, because Cambodia sounds don't match up well with the Roman alphabet. The certificate below, which was hanging in the main room of his home, was one of several, and together they had three different spellings for his name.

Let's just call him "Chhim" (the double-h makes the "ch" sound more emphatic). In 2014, at age 63, he struck me as a quiet, thoughtful man who was very grateful for the pittance I contributed for  the loan to his community.  It is less than 0.4% of my annual income, but for them it is more than a  windfall, and the gratitude is palpable. I was disappointed to learn that I would not be shaking his hand this day.

One of several training certificates displayed in Chimm's home.

Climbing the steps to Chhim's home takes you past a small golden shrine.

Homes are on stilts not only for flooding, but also for storage and to provide a cool place to sit.

Chhim's family provided a meal for Jay and fisheries officials prior to the community meeting.

I really wanted to see Chhim. There's something about having a friend halfway around the world that made this trip special. Unfortunately, that wasn't going to happen. At this writing, he is in a recovery center. Within the past two weeks he was surprised by a water snake and bitten.  The snake escaped, so it's not clear which species made the strike, but Chhim's leg became quite swollen. The swelling is down now, but he still cannot walk. We took up a small offering to help. There is no health insurance, and what we would consider a small expense in the United States can be exorbitant in Cambodia.

Following the Kangleng Phe loan meeting, there was an evaluation meeting involving two other communities before day's end and the boat ride back to Kampong Chhnang City, the capital of Kampong Chhnang Province. We would have one more day "in the field," before returning to Phnom Penh.

The sun was lower in the sky, so the ride back was much cooler.

I'm coming home next week, but before then there are some more things to share about this trip -- distribution of One World Futbols, a visit to a Muslim Village, and -- of course -- Angkor Wat, one of the great religious sites of the World. And I haven't even finished telling you about my previous trip to Malawi! There's more to share. Hope you've enjoyed this so far.

Love,
Robert

Early evening on the swollenTonle Sap