Water Buffalo

This post is mostly for our niece and nephew.  Evidentally, Larry the Cucumber wasn't completely wrong.  It seems that in rural Cambodia, everybody really does "got a water buffalo."

If you're totally confused, go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ltG37Bbx1qk

--Katy

Good Reads

I recently finished 2 books. One is Half the Sky: How to Change the World by Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl Wudunn. This book explains how empowering women in impoverished countries will effect change. There are lots of ideas and resources in the book for ways people from the “1^stworld” can help. The book is filled with stories about real people in real situations. Some of the topics it discusses are human trafficking, education, microloans, and medical treatment.

The 2^nd book is A Billion Bootstraps Microcredit, Barefoot Banking, and the Business Solution for Ending Poverty by Phil Smith and Eric Thurman. This book suggests using business principles as a way to end poverty. It provides examples of how microcredit and microloans have helped to end the cycle of poverty. This book is helpful for people who are interested in the details of microcredit, whether someone is wanting to start their own microloan or is wanting to give to one. 

--Alan

The Bamboo Train

If you’ve ever been to Cedar Point, Indiana Beach, or any other amusement park with wooden roller coasters you have had a similar experience to riding on the Bamboo train in Cambodia. The Bamboo train is a platform made of bamboo, a small engine, and two barbell axles that make for a fun trip down an old railway. An interesting note… there are multiple bamboo trains on one set of tracks. When another Bamboo train is heading in the opposite direction of the one you’re riding, you simply both stop. One of the bamboo trains is lifted off the tracks, and the other one goes hurling down the track. Bamboo trains are light weight but can carry up to 3 tons!

Enjoy this video.

-Alan