Our third COVID-19 cremation caught us off-guard, coming just a day after the second one and needing to be done late in the evening because no one wanted to keep the body overnight. A middle-aged woman died en route to Phnom Penh and the ambulance crew was unable to unload the body anywhere. Fortunately, we had cleaned the furnace and therefore not much preparation was needed, however, there were no lights at the crematorium and it made it difficult to see what we were doing. For that reason, I put the kids to work this Sunday getting things ready, should we get called on to do another.
The first thing we did was restock our woodpile by chopping down some of the dead trees around the property. Charcoal is used beneath the body but wood is essential to cover the body… lots of wood.
Next, we had Mr. Pheab install a solar panel and light, donated by the COVID Team, into the ceiling.
Although we hope that we will never need to use it for another cremation, we are now prepared to do it at any time of day or night.
Things appear to be getting a little better here… some of the restrictions are being lifted and we can now travel to Phnom Penh again, however, school has not yet started and our volunteer dorm is still packed with those being quarantined.
Thanks for checking us out… we really appreciate your concern and support.
The Partners
Hi Marilyn… Strang indeed, but stranger in the USA than here. I don’t understand how things have gotten so broken and why all of the king’s horses and all of the king’s men can’t put our country back together again.
We are doing okay here… just finished our 6th CORVID cremation today. Things do seem to be slowing down but the kids still are not in school. Hope all is well with you.
Hi Wayne,
I was glad to see you on Facebook this morning. I’d been wondering how you were all doing in this strange time.