Welcome to the rainy season in Siem Reap!

The rainy season here in Siem Reap lasts from May to November, with 80 percent of the annual rainfall occurring during these months. This past month has been especially rainy, with daily downpours followed by flash flooding. For those who haven't been to Cambodia during the rainy season, or perhaps not at all, we thought it would be interesting to share some photos and a video of the roads our team travels on everyday.[video width="1280" height="720" mp4="https://freetoshine.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/21174318_1419165344864193_6584356702114545664_n.mp4"][/video]

Our Education Officers and Social Workers travel to rural villages nearly every day, which can take anywhere between 30 to 90 minutes each way. These long trips make our day to day tasks more difficult, but it's very important for us to have a regular presence in each of the 49 villages where we work. This makes Free To Shine unique because many organizations support inner city populations, leaving rural communities vulnerable and with limited access to social services.

Above is our Education Officer, Chanda looking for the road for the next leg of their journey. (Can you find her backpack?)

Luckily, they found a picnic table to eat lunch on top of!

These conditions make our Education Officers and Social Workers' jobs even more impressive! It also shows how much they care for our beneficiaries and how important their monthly visits are, no matter the distance or road conditions.We are nearing the end to this year's wet season and looking forward to the dry roads ahead. Thanks for following along!