We take so much for granted!

While combing through articles and video footage for my FLS assignment It came to my attention just how blessed and lucky we are to live in Australia. The environments that children in poorer, undeveloped and war ravaged countries have to endure are in appalling. My FLS is going to focus on the children of Kok Tnoth, a rural village in Cambodia.

Kok Tnoth's children have had no access to clean water or sanitation. They are uninformed of hygiene practices and as a result, the children are experiencing numerous health issues, inhibiting their ability to attend schools or be in a mental mindset to learn. Clean water is a fundamental human right and it is something that we that we don't even think twice about. We turn on a tap and out it comes!

Let me introduce Arian. She lives in Kok Tnoth. The temperature hovers in the 30s and often reaches 40 degrees. Both her parents leave at dawn to work all day, every day, to earn enough money to eat. Arian is looked after by the village, that is, her parents assume they will keep an eye on her. When she is thirsty Arian can not turn on a tap to get a glass of water. She knows that she is unable to drink the water around her village as it will make her sick, so she has to make the long walk to the closest well that provides safe drinking water. This journey takes her through the jungle along a walking track. You must stay on the track as the jungle is still littered with live landmines. Despite Arian being too small to carry any storage containers, her family is too poor to own any - so each time she is thirsty, she must make the journey. This occurs numerous times throughout the day; on her own, she walks to get a drink. It is difficult for us to imagine a child, without any company or adult supervision,walking through a dangerous jungle to get a drink of water. But the fact that Arian is only three years old makes it inconceivable!

Photo: Arian & Alice (my niece)