February 9

I am caught up!!

Today did a lot of paper work and blog work. I had a meeting on my own personal project which is to work with Sam who is the original guide by whom most of our own personal wells that we gave were built. He has done over 400 wells and he estimates that there are another 400 or more that his guide friends have done; however, as wonderful as this is to provide water for his people none of these wells have been tested and none of the water is being filtered. So it has been a patient and deliberate process over time to get Sam comfortable with the idea of testing and filtering his wells. Today we had a meeting with the principals of Trailblazers where I have been volunteering together with their Khmer director Rattana to acquaint Sam with their program of selling - giving thru donations biosand filters. It was suggested by Chris Coats that there be a partnership with Sam. There was a lot of discussion in Khmer between Sam and Rattana and I do think that Sam is interested in the program. I have learned to read Sam and he does not show much emotion or enthusiasm. So I am cautiously optimistic and does take a different dimension of my deal making skills to understand his customs and practices and not to be a western know it all. After all it is his country and I have seen that so much of the country is without a potable water supply and that a well even without testing or any filtration is a vast improvement over a hole in the ground.
This afternoon Steve Curtis, who did some video work for us in the Village where we are now building more wells, came over and we downloaded his video work on my computer and hopefully some of it will be useful.
I was going to bike over and work out in the pool but decided to take it easy and watch the sunset and read on the roof deck. Also took a quick dip in the pool there, which is quite small but certainly a huge luxury. I am reading an amazing book called The Gate by Francois Bizot, who was inside the French Embassy in 1975 and previously had been held and released by the KR and Douche or Duc who later became the executioner at S21 in Phnom Penh. He ( Duc) is currently being tried and the trial has gone on for more than a year at a cost of over $70 million dollars and is a total stupid charade.
Having dinner at an Italian restaurant with an American friend Bryse Gaboury who is here with Engineers Without Borders and worked on the reconstruction of a reservoir that we shall have in our film. Bryse was introduced to me by my brother's friend Mike Shuller, whom Lauren and I met here 3 years ago. So I am caught up.. and took no pics today so I will find something intriguing to post.