This I Believe: Mekong Edition

I believe in the unseen. That two atoms of hydrodgen, bonded to an atom of oxygen, comprise this substance that we call water.

I believe in the turbulent force of water. The power to shape a landscape, roar, and influence a regions weather patterns.

I believe in stripping down to ones undergarments and running though holy waterfalls while Tibetan children, screaming at the top of their little lungs, are precariously carried like awkwardly shaped footballs through glacial melt water by their fathers.

I beleive that one person’s efforts can make a significant and lasting impact. That in the case of Sinoduji the Tibetan hunter, we as humans often must know evil before we are able to rectify our wrongs and work to improve the human and environmental conitions under which we exist.

I believe in devotion. I do not yet know what I will devote my life’s work and efforts towards, but when I do, I hope that I will have the courage to devote myself entirely to the endeavor, just as Tibetans devote themselves to their religious and cultural practices.

I believe that rural China is a place where traditional values and livelihoods that have changed little over the course of centuries can instill a humbling respect for the country’s past and all that has changed throughout the last three decades of breakneck growth.

I beleive that even though the rural areas of China are often regarded as a backwards afterthought, much can be learned about living off the land in a sustainable manner, in comparison to the imbalance between development and environment in China’s mega-cities that leaves its populations under a dome of pollution.

I believe that China’s attempts to control water and engineer its way around environmental constraints are fundamentally flawed and that its large-scale hydropower and water diversion projects will have irreversibly negative environmental and social impacts.

I believe that the paranoia of the Chinese Communist Party will be its undoing. The suppression of human rights, grossly unethical social-engineering experiments, and attempts to dilute traditional minority cultures will have extremely harmful repercussions that will continue to tarnish China’s international reputation.

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I believe that for many Laotians the concept of time and the idea that the efficient use of time as having an inherent economic value is eroneous. Like the Mekong, for many Laotians, time is something that just flows by and is not to be troubled over.

I beleive that the Mekong River has been instrumental in the development of Laotian culture and is as vital of a resource to the country, economically speaking, as oil is to many Persian Gulf states.

I beleive that the impact of water and its role in people’s lives is all too often taken for granted.

I beleive that water is so much more than its every day practical uses, water is spiritual. But I believe that the spiritual powers of water extend well beyond religion. Floating in the Mekong’s current, bouncing along the river bottom as if you were a clump of sediment, and watching a sunset’s orange rays and red hues as water buffalo take an evening bath is beyond spiritual, the sublime beauty is overwhelming.

I believe in the healing powers of water. That a day of frustration and stress can be alleviated by the total submersion and subsequent weightlessness that water provides.

I absolutely believe in the necessity of regular adrenaline rushes. Finding naturally occuring objects, the higher the better, to jump off of into water’s embrace. Swinging like a monkey and falling from the trees surrounding the Blue Lagoon allows one to revert to a childhood state of adrenaline fueled joy.

I believe that water is an intricate part of defining who I am. Growing up along the shores of Lake Michigan has instilled in me a deep respect for water. This reverence for water will hopefully see a major portion of my life’s work be devoted to preserving this resource and ensuring that all humans have access to sustainable and improved sources of water.

Yet, I belive that Laos, in its quest to become the battery of Southeast Asia through its mainstream dams on the Mekong River, is commoditizing the river’s resources at the expense of transboundary fisheries and the ecological stability that provides a livelihood for millions of downstream users.

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I believe in the increasingly adverse impact that climate change is inflicting on vulnerable populations. That because of a more volatile climate, the Tonle Sap Lake’s low water-level is resulting in decreased fish catches and an inability of the floating villages on the Lake’s periphery to support and feed themselves.

I believe in resiliency. From Cambodia’s troubled history and many personal stories of extreme suffering comes great inspiration and strength. Cambodians have a wonderfully indomitable human spirit.

I believe in potential. That Cambodia’s dynamic and young population has the potential to build a better nation that will not succumb to previous pitfalls.

Lastly, I beleive in the campassionate actions and wise words of the deceased Cambodian Buddhist leader and peace activist Maha Ghosananda:

“Cambodia has suffered deeply. From deep suffering comes deep compassion. From deep compassion comes a peaceful heart. From a peaceful heart comes a peaceful person. From a peaceful person comes a peaceful family and community. From peaceful communities comes a peaceful nation. From peaceful nations comes a peaceful world”.

After a journey lasting 80+ days and thousands of miles along the banks of the mighty Mekong, this is what I believe…