93. THE BOAT PEOPLE

Post 25 Mother - As above so below
Post 72 : Mother - Unconditional Love



 

The Tonle Sap Lake and her floodplains

The huge Tonle Sap lake is the largest inland freshwater lake in SEA. Tonle Sap is Khmer for 'large freshwater river'. There are 9 provinces that form part of the Tonle Sap UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. It is a combined lake and river system that is so special it can support at least 3 million people providing them an income and main food source.

What makes the ebb and flow of the Tonle Sap so spiritual is that for most of the year this lake is fairly small. During the monsoons, the Tonle Sap River flows into this lake connecting it with the Mekong, reversing its flow.

Water is pushed up from the Mekong into the lake increasing its area and depth, flooding nearby fields and forests. This floodplain provides a perfect breeding ground for fish, making this area one of the most productive inland fisheries in the world. At the end of the rainy season, the flow reverses and the fish are carried downriver. The reversal of the river's flow also acts as a safety valve to prevent flooding further downstream.
During the dry season, the Tonle Sap Lake provides around 50% of the flow to the Mekong Delta in Vietnam.

This unusual flow changes direction twice a year. The portion that forms the lake expands and shrinks with the seasons. During Cambodia's dry season - Nov-May, the Tonle Sap drains into the Mekong River in Phnom Penh. When the heavy rains begin in June, The Tonle Sap backs up to form an enormous lake.

Left to her own devices, Mother Nature provides. Everything hums along in perfect harmony and rhythm until Man interferes. The building of high dams in Southern China and Laos has threatened this reverse flow and fish catches are down. I expect more damage to lives, livelihoods and the environment.

This annual rhythm in Cambodia, Vietnam, even Thailand, shows how very interconnected we all are, that what happens in one country affects very much countries nearby, even the world. That what takes place naturally in this region is the work of an intelligent unseen Power that provides and loves unconditionally and that we, the inhabitants on Her body only need to respect and appreciate her work with a thankful heart
 

The floating village here is home to large numbers of ethnic Vietnamese and Cham communities...

The Vietnamese boat people are an amazing bunch of humans - resilient, flexible, highly adaptable, clearly with strong minds and bodies.
Generations have lived this way. The Vietnam War ended nearly 50 years ago - they have fought the Chinese, French, Americans and none could obliterate the Vietnamese Tribe. (see post 37: Good Morning Vietnam!)
 
They have formed communities in countries nearby, others have made good in the West and in Australia and many have now returned to their ancestral land to contribute. But still others seem to enjoy their lives living in such boat communities - it's home to them and they go about their daily business the way landlubbers go about theirs.














 

A crocodile farm on a boat is possible where there's a restaurant selling its meat and small goods made from its skin

 









Can they swim? Maybe. Do they or their parents care? Maybe

 













These young 'uns are on their way to school, note such communities are never obese

The Village School - on a boat of course....
By the side of their school on the river bank was their basketball court

  

Baguettes to go

With education and skills development, such people in the region will surpass Singaporeans. They are young, lean and hungry with great initiative and think out of the box all the time.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes - Marcel Proust, French novelist

......For the mind, once stretched, can never go back to its original dimensions - Oliver Wendell Holmes