The Floating Village in Cambodia

Most of us associate Cambodia with the word genocide: the stories of killing fields, the wonder of fertility tree, and the dictatorship of a ruthless ruler Pol Pot.  Actually, no one will know Cambodia without knowing these things. Truly those historical stories are remarkable.

However, there is another thing, another story of life in Cambodia that I have found. These are the floating Villagers. They are called that way because literally their houses or boats are floating on the river. They are considered as the poorest people in Cambodia. 

The sad fact is that they cannot really afford to have a house or even rent one because the money that they have is just enough for their food (most of the time, there is no money even for food). Just imagine how hard it is for a family of many members to live in a boat.

They have hammock used as their bed for sleeping. They cooked their food inside the boat. What’s more, they even dispose their body wastes to the river. Most of these floating villagers are fishermen because that is the closest thing that they could do for living. When there is storm or even just rain, it would be a struggle for them, but they have to survive. What they do during rainy seasons is tie their boats on the near shore so that the wind and the waves would not blow them and destroy their houses.

God loves these people. I hope and pray that these people would be given a chance to live a normal life with a normal house. Nevertheless, while waiting to be blessed and to have a normal life, may these floating villagers find their shelter and refuge in the Lord.