Saturday, November 24, 2007

A new school - beware!

Whilst this photo of my brother Tim in a beat-up truck isn't significant in itself, it brings back memories of pain and anguish for me personally. We were in the wilds of Ratanakiri province and seeking out waterfalls and gem-mining villages near Bey Srok town when we came upon an elementary school being built near a pagoda called something like Wat Sayos Moniram. We hopped off our motos to investigate as we're both incredibly inquisitive and were enjoying our interaction with the builders and the children when I stepped on one of the numerous planks of wood, but this one was different - it had a nail protruding upwards and it went straight through my training shoe, sock and into my heel. As I hopped around for a few moments with the plank of wood nailed firmly into my foot, the kids, and Tim, thought it was hilarious. I on the other hand was in a lot of pain and carefully pulled the offending object out of my foot, once I'd recovered my composure. The builders' cook rushed over to offer her healing hands, and water, tigerbalm and bandages appeared from nowhere to administer first-aid and to wash away the blood. Fortunately, the nail was new and two hours later I was getting the wound properly cleaned and tended to by a medic in Ban Lung. No after-effects I'm happy to report but the picture reminded me that Tim showed no concern for my predicament whatsoever, preferring to carry on playing with the children. Thanks bro.

1 comment:

CAO- Chef Azura othman said...

whereby in Malaysia .. we would ring the ambulance and call our family members just because I got some thumb tacks sticking in my feet.Hope your feet is healed by now.yes beware of new Schools..(In Cambodia ).