Romdeng Village

While skilled workers constructed the roof of the classroom, we volunteers had a chance to get to know the village. There is no town center, only narrow red dirt roads lined with trees, houses, and rice fields. We walked along them in pairs and threes in the morning, observing all the activities of daily life. People here spend much of the day outdoors, where an occasional breeze dispels the oppressive heat.

A typical Khmer house in Romdeng Village

The houses are simple wooden structures on stilts, with roofs of corrugated metal or tile. The raised houses prevent flooding during heavy rain.  At other times, the sheltered area below the house is the main living area—shaded from the hot sun and open to the wind. There’s no privacy to speak of for people who live largely outside. We saw people cooking over grills, washing clothes in basins, resting in hammocks, eating at wooden tables, and socializing with family and neighbors. The children stopped playing to stare at us as we passed by, or wave and call hello.



Dogs lolled on every doorstep, and chickens wandered through every yard. One woman was kind enough to catch a puppy for me to pet, from the litter playing about her feet. Skinny white cows were staked in many yards to graze. Some families had a patch of vegetables, and many had fruit trees.

The people in the village live simply. They have no running water and very few possessions. Electricity, if available at all, comes from small portable generators. Cambodia has experienced great economic development in the three decades since the Khmer Rouge, but people living in rural villages are still extremely poor. The per capita income in the country is only a little over $1,000 per year--and incomes are much lower in rural areas.

People living next to the school supplement their income by selling drinks and sweets to the children and workers.  They keep the drinks cold in red coolers filled with big blocks of ice delivered daily. Candies and snacks are laid out on tables by the road.

"Cat--chhma. "

Others earn money through handicrafts. A family that makes brooms graciously agreed to let our whole crew come to their house to observe the work. We spent a pleasant afternoon enjoying their company and hospitality. The brooms are made from dried stalks of rice or branches that have to be found and collected in the woods. These are tied together by hand, with string wrapped around the stalks to form the handle. One broom sells for fifty cents. While some of the volunteers took turns trying to make brooms, I learned Khmer words from the children. They taught me the words for the animals and trees in their yard—cat, dog, cow, banana, and grapefruit. They also practiced the English they had learned in school: “What is your name? My name is Sasha. How old are you? I am ten.”




It was nice to get to know more about the children who attend the school, and their families. They are the reason we are here.

A woman makes a broom