Willing Workers
It has been a real pleasure to work wiht the Cambodian workforce building the BTC (Bakong Technical College).
The other day a young Cambodian woman and I carried heavy pails of sand and gravel on a bamboo poll placed on our shoulders. She had such a great stride and knew the best speed at which to work.
When we have been preparing rebar, our Cambodian co-workers graciously give us direction and correction – usually with laughter and good cheer.
If one of us get a cut or scrape which might get infected, they point it out to us and encourage us to get it properly cared for.
The women especially are amazing. This morning a young woman about half my weight and two-thirds my size was carrying about two and a half times the load of bricks the rest of us were carrying.
It is relatively ‘cold’ here for the locals – about 30 – 35 degrees Celcius – and many of the women are wearing two or three layers. Most of them have thongs for footwear in a wet, sandy and mixed cement environment.. They work right along side of the men, sometimes laying brick.
There is the possibility of getting some construction equipment here but tha would result in a smaller workforce and smaller economic impact of our project.. BTC is the largets employer int he district.
– Rodger Cooper, Rotary Club of Cobourg