On Saturday 19, July, The Nurse and I wandered over to Street 108 to check on Lin and the kids. Now that Tran – her husband and a waste of oxygen – is dead I’m afraid she is regularly getting raped by the tuk-tuk drivers who park in front of her mat on the sidewalk. 
The reason she is there is that she won’t be as easily spotted by the police patrolling the area.
The Kingdom has a sordid record of violence and one in three men have admitted to violence against women.
It is a reality here for unprotected women. It is the rainy season, so the family is sleeping under the awning of the shop across the street that closes at midnight.
Reality check: there is nothing we can do except give them food, milk and minor drugs, such as antibiotics, salve for the chest infections and cream for scabies. It isn’t pretty, but it is what it is and will not change any time soon.
The good news is that they ate on Saturday and got some medicine. And the kids drank milk. The entire bill came to $26. The local merchants are getting to know us –hard not to be noticed when you have five or six street kids trailing after you — and they are generous with their portions.
The local government rounded up the street people and put them in “training” – read jail – but they have made their way back. They are tough – seriously so.
The navy SEALS think they are, but they don’t have to spend a decade sleeping under a tree when it is dry or on the concrete when it is wet. Both The Nurse and I are constantly reminded of how fortunate we are. Between the dump and the street, we don’t whine.
That said, I always have to come home to shower and wash my clothes, a bit of a purging ritual. I’ve had lice, fleas and scabies when I lived on the reserve and really don’t want to see the movie again.
Neil and Emma slid some money into the DITDs fund for the balance in now at $943.52. Scroll down to see more photos from Street 108 and the people who live under trees.
Best, J
