Some notes from 30 jan 08

getting a ride.jpg, originally uploaded by c_p_lew.

The woman's husband is pushing the family and their rice to the market. This is a very poor family. I'm wondering if they are selling their rice to take care of some emergency, rather than saving it to the end of the harvest season.

One of the measures to assess poverty is how many months does a family have their own rice to eat. People who only have rice for nine months or less are really in trouble. If the rice is not overly ponded, it's a source of B vitamins. It spares protein by supplying the calories for energy. If families don't have enough rice, they have to borrow - some villages have rice banks to help people get through, but most villages don't. So people borrow money, often from village lenders who charge outlandish interest rates, sinking people even deeper into poverty.

Well, my mind spins a lot of stories from this picture. And pictures I take around the hospital or in the villages. Often I can stop and fill in the details. However, this time, I took the picture as we were driving past in our nice truck (the strange shape on the right is a reflection on the window). The girl is looking at us, as if we're strange creatures.

Anyway, even when I'm tired, I think about the people that we have helped through our various projects. However, some days it seems not enough and not soon enough.