The trip I have just returned from was an amazing success but also reminded me yet again of the difficult circumstances these people are confronted with every day.

The Village –  Mr Thuong – Tra Leng Commune is a village so remote it took 9 hours on motorbikes & 4 wheel drives to get to the village where we were building the school. The old school was literally at the END of the road….. it does not go any further. The old school was not fit for animals. We as individuals had huge problems getting there, imagine the transport drivers in 6-wheel drive army trucks, delivering the materials getting bogged.

Kindergarten & primary students walking 10klm to school through rugged bush & having to stay at the school for the week as it was too far to go home each day.

 Imaging your accommodation being a bed on a mat on the dirt floor the timber slats that are the walls, letting everything through including the torrential rainfall of the tropics & the oppressive heat & humidity.

No bathroom, no toilet (actually yes, a toilet… in the bush & wipe your bum with a leaf & your bathroom …. The creek), no kitchen.

 Through the generosity of supporters of CTO & Donations from BNI we were able to provided a new classroom, a teacher’s quarters, toilets & kitchen.

These people are inspirational. They do not ask for handouts or sympathy they just get on with their lives. An attitude we can all learn from.