One thing I can say for Cambodia is that most of the people here are hard workers.
What they may lack in mechanization, but they make up for it with hard labor. As we pass by various shops going to and from our hotel, the shops seem always open for business. There is no 8-5 vacationing ethic here! We regularly pass a primitive looking welding shop, and each time we pass the owner is throwing sparks beside the road. Day or night the sparks are flying.
The little shops stay open late into the night, I am not sure how late, but I would guess till around 2 am, and I have asked several how long they work, and they say "early till late".
I guess this goes along with a survival economy, where people make so little margin that they have to work a lot in order to survive. But while they may be weary at the end of the day, I see a resilience here in their attitude about work.
I have seen some very interesting ingenuity along the road sides as we pass by, where groups of men are effecting various repairs. Things are created and hauled around in ways that we would never imagine in the west, and here it just gets done.
I looked over 100 dump truck piles of dirt in front of a brand new new Adventist elementary school, and I asked if they had a tractor to help smooth it out. The school master said, "Well, we will see how lumpy it is after we work on it a few days with hoes and shovels." I think this was a nice way of saying, "We don't need an expensive tractor to be hauled or driven here. It just takes some hard work, and it will be fine!"
Wow, that is refreshing!
I am all for labor saving, but sometimes it is just great to see a group of people who will not take "No" for the answer. If they have two hands, there is a way to proceed.
How about us reaching others? Do we need some fancy bulldozers like an religious Internet website, or nation wide TV ministries? Are we truly incapable of grabbing a shovel and just doing the job of reaching our neighbors on our own? What would it look like if each of us said, "There is a way! I will make it happen!"
Let's grab a shovel and make a spark!
What they may lack in mechanization, but they make up for it with hard labor. As we pass by various shops going to and from our hotel, the shops seem always open for business. There is no 8-5 vacationing ethic here! We regularly pass a primitive looking welding shop, and each time we pass the owner is throwing sparks beside the road. Day or night the sparks are flying.
The little shops stay open late into the night, I am not sure how late, but I would guess till around 2 am, and I have asked several how long they work, and they say "early till late".
I guess this goes along with a survival economy, where people make so little margin that they have to work a lot in order to survive. But while they may be weary at the end of the day, I see a resilience here in their attitude about work.
I have seen some very interesting ingenuity along the road sides as we pass by, where groups of men are effecting various repairs. Things are created and hauled around in ways that we would never imagine in the west, and here it just gets done.I looked over 100 dump truck piles of dirt in front of a brand new new Adventist elementary school, and I asked if they had a tractor to help smooth it out. The school master said, "Well, we will see how lumpy it is after we work on it a few days with hoes and shovels." I think this was a nice way of saying, "We don't need an expensive tractor to be hauled or driven here. It just takes some hard work, and it will be fine!"
Wow, that is refreshing!
I am all for labor saving, but sometimes it is just great to see a group of people who will not take "No" for the answer. If they have two hands, there is a way to proceed.How about us reaching others? Do we need some fancy bulldozers like an religious Internet website, or nation wide TV ministries? Are we truly incapable of grabbing a shovel and just doing the job of reaching our neighbors on our own? What would it look like if each of us said, "There is a way! I will make it happen!"
Let's grab a shovel and make a spark!
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