Here are bits of my journal entry from Sunday 29 December 2011 explaining what happened.
"This afternoon a boy came running into the coffee shop. He started talking to Ra, our contact, in a very panicked rushed voice. Once he was done Ra got up with a scared/determined look. He started walking towards me saying 'baby, baby, baby…', handed me his 2 month old and took off running down the road."
At this point I had no idea what was going on. I knew something was wrong. I could feel it in my spirit but I didn't know how bad until I followed Ra and saw for myself, praying the whole way.
"… everyone is at the edge of this pond next to our house. I take a moment and look around. It's then I notice the people on the edge are crying and yelling at the people in the water. Ra tells us there is a little kid under water and they can't find her. The next moment I am in the water praying, searching. I try to go under to look but as soon as I open my eyes I can't see a thing, the water is too muddy. I forgot it rained this morning and with all the people in the pond, the water was too stirred up to see anything"
We looked for about 10 minutes before I got out. I remember feeling completely helpless and lost. I didn't know what to do. I just sat and prayed.
"I didn't know what to do. So I got out and started praying for the family. The little girl's sister was on the side crying and watching everything, Leah was with her. I looked around and her mother was sitting on the ledge on the other side crying histarically, so I went to sit by her. She was screaming and crying and the only thing I could do was let her cry on me. She couldn't stay still and I didn't try to make her. She laid in my lap and waled. She cried on my shoulder. She kept hitting my leg. She would look me in the face, directly in my eyes, with a hurt and a pain I could NEVER understand or begin to co bmprehend."
When she would look at me I thought that was the most painful thing I could have seen. Then they pulled the body out…
"After looking for 25 – 30 minutes they pull her out, her arms and legs flopping around. They have to pass her down an assembly line of 3 or 4 people in order to get her out of the pond. One of the men takes her and hangs her upside down on his back and starts to run around a field; trying to bring all the water in her lungs out again. The man stopped and set her down. Daniel, the YWAM leader there, starts to do CPR. Water starts coming up and everyone gets hopefull but nothing else happens. She's gone. Later we found out she died because her sister went out too far and started drowning, so she went out to save her. She did save her but lost her life in retern."
The little girl's name is Srey Poa.
She was 6 years old.
Poa had a mother and a father who loved her.
She had 2 sisters.
A little girl who is a joy to the community
and loved by all.
