Ly Vid, A Brave Boy
February 9th, 2009 - Chrauk Tiek Village, Cambodia
Ly Vid is a 7 year old in the first grade at the Grady Grossman School. About a month ago he was sleeping in his family hut at the nearby village of Po Meas and got up to pee in the night. A poisonous snake bit his leg. He was rushed 2 hours on the back of a neighbors motobike to a hospital in Kampong Speu where his leg was amputated just above the knee. This was apparently the only solution to keep the venom from reaching his heart.
I met Ly Vid on the first day at school when his father came to ask for help getting his son to school. His older brother cannot carry him on his back the 1.5 kilometers. The family has no means of transportation. I gave Ly Vid a bicycle so his brother can ride him to school each day. I asked his dad to rig up a basket to the back rack so this darling, bright-eyed boy would be safe. Ly Vid flashed me his dimpled smile and showed me his new crutch.
I met up with Ly Vid later in the newly painted library where teacher Ya was instructing the first grade class how to make their Khmer letters. After each student draws their letter on their slate, they raise it proudly to show the teacher. After the lesson, I was moved to tears at the joy the children express while playing with the toys and books in the library, especially the Legos and K’Nex!! Ly Vid and his friends were deeply engaged in their creations and their Khmer letters closely resembled the real thing.
When I visited Ly Vid’s parents at their home, I realized how poor they are, subsistence fisherman with a tiny thatch hut surviving on a small plot of land that was given to them by a widowed woman on our school supporting committee called Long Sum. They came here to catch fish and snails in nearby Peam Levia lake after they were evicted from their former home near the provincial town by the government. Land grabbing and selling it off to private companies happens all over Cambodia, and some refugees are making their way to Chrauk Tiek to start over with nothing. For Ly Vid’s family the bicycle is a new beginning.
His family allowed me to take pictures of them and their home. The parents do their best to catch enough food to survive each day. Ly Vid is skinny but clearly loved. He showed me the white scare of his stump where the still fresh stitches are already beginning to stretch because of the growth of his bone behind it. It hurts most of the time but he still smiles. Because he is a growing child and his bone will continue to grow through the skin, he will need multiple amputations of the bone until he stops growing. He and his family accept this with little dismay. He is so very brave. I asked Ly Vid what he would like to be when he grows up and he said “A Doctor.” I will do everything in my power to make that dream come true.
The 3 day meeting with the school supporting committee goes well….stay tuned.
