So there I am gently catching up and finding my way into Khmer life when despite assurances to the contrary we get side swiped by a Typhoon (Ketsana). She announced her presence very quickly on Tuesday night with a crack of Thunder that lit up the whole sky, and then deluge. The rain came down in a form I have never seen before and continued unabated for 36 hours.

Fortunately for Siem Reap the storm passed 200 miles North, leaving us with just the rain and little impact from the wind. Just as well as this is a crowded town, and once you venture outside the tourist centre you find homes are built of a very flimsy construction, made in the main of wood. Hopeless in typhoon category winds.

The school has been impacted by a foot of floodwater from the nearby stream which burst its banks. The boys who sleep downstairs were evacuated at three am, their dormitory will need substantial repairs. Khmer housing is traditionally a large wooden house on stilts, with a cool area underneath, where the family can breed animals, cook and carry on daily life. When the rains come this area can be abandoned if required. In our school this area has been built up to provide accommodation and a cooking area. All will now need repair.

Opposite we have our office and were able to save the electronics. All of our desks now rest on some old bricks left over from a construction project and should be OK. It takes some degree of bravery to obtain these. A stack of bricks left unattended in this country soon attracts unwelcome visitors, cockroaches, scorpions and snakes are common.

The bamboo schoolrooms themselves, situated to one side of the main courtyard were deeply impacted.

There is little we can do for now, some families we know in the project will need to be rehoused. But we sit and wait for the floods to subside before we can commence repairs. People here are hardy and practical. We will recover. In the former sandpit, now a lake two foot deep, a little girl is having the time of her life on her new waterslide.

I will post updates and a photo gallery on www.palfreystuff.com