Luxury with a Conscience.... through Shinta Mani Hotel Siem Reap, Cambodia
Our experience with the Shinta Mani Hotel in Siem Reap, Cambodia changed forever how my partner Jim and I view the world.
We went to Siem Reap to visit the temples at Angkor Wat. The temples were magnificent, and surely not to be missed. What changed us forever were not the temples, but an angel named Chitra Vincent. Chitra is an angel in a human costume. She is also the Academic Director and Community Support Projects Coordinator at the Shinta Mani Hotel in Siem Reap. A Sri Lankan who moved to Cambodia to work for Shinta Mani 5 years ago, Chitra fell in love with Cambodia and its people and never left. With the support of Shinta Mani’s founder, Chitra is the visionary and devoted energetic force behind Shinta Mani’s Community Support Programs.
Through their Community Support Program, we were able to purchase a fresh water well for a Cambodian family for only $90 US. We were given the opportunity to meet the family in the nearby rural village that had received our well and see the well in action. As we walked toward the village we did not know what to expect. So far our experience with the tourist infrastructure in Siem Reap (excellent), and the luxury of Shinta Mani (also excellent), provided us with a very protected first day. But on our second day, as we got off the main road and drove into the rural villages, the glossy veneer disappeared.
As we walked down a muddy footpath, we saw a thatched roof shack with just 3 walls and a board laid across the back wall. I had the passing thought that this must be where they keep their goats. In fact, this was somebody’s “home”! The board was their sleeping platform. If it rains, a plastic tarp is used as a bedspread to help keep them dry. I thought to myself, “Toto, we’re not in Kansas (or, in our case, Marin County) anymore!” We began to see the reality of how too many people in Cambodia live – below the poverty level (40%), often hungry, often with no fresh running water. Despite it all, we found the people in Cambodia to be genuinely gracious and friendly, and always ready with a huge, beautiful smile.
Because Chitra believes in accountability for every dollar, it is very important to her that donors know that they purchased something specific, not just a contribution toward some well some where. Our visit happened to coincide with Jim’s 40th birthday. As a surprise for Jim, Chitra had sign on the well painted to read “Happy 40th Birthday Jim”. Needless to say, when I saw it I broke down in tears knowing that this very small gift for Jim was a huge gift for this family.
Water health is of paramount importance. Cambodia has one of the largest deficiencies of clean drinking water, leaving 1 in 5 children dying due to water related diseases. With no fresh water, a family’s primary goal each day is to walk miles to obtain fresh water. With no fresh water, families can’t grow produce to help feed them. The gift of a fresh water well is a starting point for a family, and their village (One well can actually support up to 5 families.)
Life for the family grows from the well. They no longer have to spend hours seeking out fresh water. These hours can be spent developing agriculture and growing their own foods as they now have fresh water readily available for irrigation. In fact, the well design includes an irrigation run off channel that captures water run off from the well directly into a small family plot of vegetables. Mr. Arif, Shinta Mani’s GM, says "We find that the lives of many of our guests are changed after just one excursion to the villages". Mr. Arif went on to say, "Our guests experience a whole new realization; its difficult for those in developed countries to appreciate the level of poverty in Cambodia; their eyes and hearts are opened; they feel compassion and a desire to help. The support provided by our guests is primarily to the benefit of those less fortunate, but their donations are also an uplifting experience for our guests".
In addition to the well, we also purchased for our family a 50kg bag of rice and fish and soy sauce that will provide sustenance for a month ($25 US) and a bicycle ($46 US) to allow the kids easier transportation to school and a means of assisting the family to earn some income. The rice was also delivered to our family at the time of our visit. Chitra has developed an incentivized program of giving and receiving: as families illustrate they are properly using the well and developing their own sustenance, they then receive the larger gifts of piglets (breeding provides income), sewing machines (a tool for creating gifts and clothing that can be sold for income), and finally, a new home.
Shinta Mani is derived from the Sanskrit word that means “the gem that provides all”. It’s an appropriate name for this charming boutique hotel, founded by Sokoun Lo, that not only provides luxury and excellent hospitality, it offers ongoing and legitimate programs that give back directly to the people of Cambodia. These programs include the Institute of Hospitality, a vocational training facility for Cambodians, funded from the operations of the hotel as well as donations from private individuals, and the Community Support Programs.
Through Oct. 31, 2006, Shinta Mani guests and benefactors have generously donated (and they have installed) 201 water wells with hand pumps, bringing improved hygiene and health standards that provide a better life to more than 800 families in Cambodia.
For more information on reservations at Shinta Mani while visiting Siem Reap, or for making donations through Shinta Mani, please visit http://www.shintamani.com/ or contact their Community Based Activity at cba@shintamani.com.
If after reading this article, you would like to include the purchase of a Fresh Water Well (or the program's other items) in Cambodia on your HoneyLuna gift registry as a wedding present, please select and add the template "Cambodia Giving" to your gift registry. Please let us know that you are including these items in your register and HoneyLuna will monitor your account to coordinate the gift with Shinta Mani if it is purchased off of your gift registry.
For an idea of how it could look to include Cambodia giving on your honeymoon registry, click here....
