Truly 3rd World

Because we have become so accustomed to life here in Cambodia, I sometimes "forget" we live in a 3rd world country. I know it might sound silly, but some of the 3rd-world-ness must be ignored in order to maintain a healthy lifestyle here. Because of this "forgetting", I tend to think we live somewhere normal. Until the following happens.... :

Yesterday I was watching TV after school in the back part of our house. All of a sudden, I heard a LOUD noise coming from near the street. I figured it was an old jalopy car or moto whose muffler had maybe fallen off, and this was the cause of the noise. I tried to ignore it, and I continued watching American Idol (YES!!! we get it here), but the noise didn't go away. I finally got up and walked out on our deck that overlooks the street. What I saw next horrified me.

There were tons of people who had also come out of their houses, stopped their motos, etc. to "watch" whatever it was making the sound. My eyes searched the street to find where it was coming from. Is it a funeral procession, with moto after moto filing down the street? No. Has a helicopter landed in the near vicinity? No. Finally, I spot the noise-maker. It was 2, normal sized pick up trucks driving on the very edge (in the gutters) of each side of the road. In the back of each truck were buckets of some sort of liquid, a hose and a fogger-like machine. Out of the fogger was being sprayed some green substance. I knew in an instant that these trucks were spraying chemicals up and down our street. My assumption was that the spray is for mosquito control.

There was no warning given to the people, like, "At 4:30pm we will be spraying toxic chemicals. Please stay indoors, and close all windows." No. In fact, the Cambodian people were standing in spray's path watching the whole thing!!! They were not afraid of the toxicity, they were not trying to get out of the way of the green spray...they were watching it, as if entertainment had just set foot on their once boring street. My heart broke, but my instincts also kicked in and I went inside as quickly as possible...closing all windows and doors. I could not believe that this country is not educated enough to know the dangers of spraying toxic chemicals into the faces and homes of its people. Or do I come from the overly protective country of America, where lawsuits over this kind of stuff are a dime a dozen? Ah, I don't know!!! It is hard to have lived in 2 such extreme places, and find the middle ground for what makes sense.

Education is knowledge, and knowledge is power. I am so thankful to at least be from a country where the people are educated. I am also thankful to be in a profession where I get to educate others on a daily basis. For now, me and my green spray-filled lungs need to get back to work.