In the morning, we were split into two separate groups with the first group who stayed on in CROAP to listen to the staff that came to explain more about the BSF while some of us went to a kindergarten nearby to interact with the children before the rest came to join us after listening to the staff from SC.
The 2 staff from SC came with the sample test result that showed the before and after result of using the BSF. The samples made use of water from the rain water as well as the pond water which is where the villagers get most of their water from. From the results, it was seen that the use of the BSF greatly reduced the amount of bacteria remaining in the water. This is important to explain to the villagers the importance of making use of the BSF to get clean water.
At the same time, the rest of us made our way to the kindergarten nearby and that was the highlight of the day. We met tons of energetic kids who had lots of smiles on their faces. We shared food from Singapore with them and then returned our gestures by singing 4 songs for us. Then came the exhausting portion where we played with the kids- ball games, frisbee, piggy-bagging etc. They were FULL OF ENERGY! Though we couldn’t really communicate with them except saying stuff like Choo—mo-ah (which means wat is your name), we could still play around with them and it was real fun especially upon seeing the joy on their face.
The kids were very independent and you will see kids as young as 4 years old who made their way home alone. Many of them were barefooted as they made their way home and you will really realize how tough for them to go to school. It was totally different experience which will remind ourselves and we believe many in our team why we even venture to such a place in the first place.
