27/09/2024
"YOU CAN'T CHANGE THE WORLD, BUT YOU CAN CHANGE THE WORLD FOR 1 PERSON" - and that is exactly what happened last week.
And I'd love to introduce you to that very person - Mr Vuthy. The Ripple Effect continues and the Ultra Series community will never stop helping whenever we can.
Here is how it all unfolded, it's a long read, but trust me, you really want to read this beautiful story.
Last week, I had the absolute privilege of spending a week in Siem Reap in Cambodia. Whilst this trip had been 5 years in the making, originally planned for 2020 with 37 other eager runners looking to tackle the Angkor Empire Marathon with me, it became a different trip this time as we decided not to include a running event, but make an actual holiday of it, whilst also doing some ground work for some future tours that have come onto our radar once more.
But the thing I love about how we approached this trip, is we really went in with very few plans, knowing we already had some amazing connections on the ground in the form of fellow Ultra Series runner in Sergio Gustinetti and his partner Jennifer Tomkinson who have worked their butts off renovating a boutique resort they bought and have since grown amazing network connections throughout the area. We went to Siem Reap with open hearts and open minds, ready to embrace a culture with eager anticipation.
It was pretty quickly realised upon landing, that gratitude was going to be a big component of the Cambodian people. Gratitude that us as tourists, were coming to visit their country. You see, unlike a lot of neighbouring countries, Cambodia just hasn't had the return of visitors since Covid. They have had a fraction of the travellers return back and I can only guess that there hasn't been the government investment in overseas marketing to attract the growth? But I can absolutely confirm that the locals have invested so much pride and energy into their city, as Siem Reap blew me away with how tidy it was, how incredibly attractive it was along the river with so many new plantations and the street light installations along some of the main roads were just beautiful. And the people. The absolute number 1 main ingredient for how attractive this place is. Have I mentioned their gratitude?
And it was not long after arriving at River Retreat and settling into the rooms, before heading to the bar, that I met a local man that I know will forever now be a part of my life. Vuthy, the resorts local Tuk Tuk driver. A tall (taller than most Cambodians) and solidly built fella with the most beautiful of smiles. Sergio pointed him out to me (as he was patiently awaiting across the road for his first ride for the day - sometimes they don't even get a ride) and I waved and to him. He mistakenly thought I was waving him for a ride, so he started up the tuk tuk and drove it across the road to park at the foot path. Given the excitement and effort, I thought it would be rude not to take up the gesture as I needed to get a few power adaptors and some money out.
This was the first ride of many with Vuthy for the week. He spoke amazing English and was so, so grateful for our custom. A half hour ride of running around, cost me a miserly $3 USD (about $4.20 AUD). I later discovered that a good month wage would be $150 USD (YES - a month!!!) and that on one occasion, Vuthy had even pushed his tuk tuk to the hotel as ran out of fuel on the way and didn't have money to top it up.
Throughout the week, between the crew we had (there were 9 of us in the group), we would have taken close to 2 dozen rides with Vuthy and it became one of his busiest weeks in a very long time. And he was so grateful and so good with us. My 20 month old daughter absolutely fell in love with him and his heart and would cuddle him like a big teddy bear (that is exactly what he is!) and Vuthy just became one of us.
When travelling with 4 of us in the tuk tuk, I could tell that his old scooter was struggling. And his tuk tuk was certainly aged in the tropical conditions that Siem Reap offers. When I was on a solo trip with him, I quizzed him nosely about whether he'd enquired about having a makeover of his tuk tuk. He had got a quote, but it was up over $500 USD (4 months of wages) and he just couldn't afford it. Instantly, a seed was planted, as I knew our running community could help here through the Ripple Effect - where our pledge is to help people outside our community where we can.
As the week progressed, I made some enquiries into the costs of a new motorbike (was suggested upwards of $2500 USD) so thought this might be out of the question, but was pretty determined to really do what we could do get the tuk tuk renovated, and support Vuthy with an income for the week or 2 that the tuk tuk would be off the road.
So we hatched some plans and we booked Vuthy to pick us up at 2pm on the Thursday.
I shared my plans with Lynlea P***k (the previous Ripple Effect recipient - which happened to be this Cambodia trip - but I will get to this in another post) and Sergio, and the 2 of them wanted to join me for what was about to unfold.
So Vuthy rocked up with the Tuk Tuk, and the next 2 hours just evolved into one of the most magical 2 hours of all of our lives and we just all rolled with it.
We asked Vuthy to take us to the main area and help us look out for blinged up tuk tuks as we wanted to do a story on the socials about them (I guess this is that exact story 😍) and to point out any as we wanted to take some photos. It wasn't too long for us to find some really nice examples and we took several photos. Until we hit pub street - the main tourist street of Siem Reap, and where the fanciest of fancy tuk tuks and their drivers hung out. It was here we saw the most magnificent tuk tuk we had seen. An oversize model with an extended rook that actually covered the driver on the motorbike too and not just the occupants. We immediately stopped and I asked the driver if I could take some photos. He absolutely obliged and with pretty decent English, I was able to quiz him as discretely as I could, on costs of this tuk tuk. It was literally less than 2 weeks old and was custom built with rims, beautiful leather and led lights and was $1700 USD or $1900 for the braked option. And it was locally made. But on top of that, the brand new and much more powerful bike on the front, was only $1350 USD!!! I couldn't believe that for less than $3500 USD, a complete business could be created to support a family. See, the flasher the tuk tuk, the more custom. I just had in my heart that I thought we could make this happen.
I called Vuthy over, and asked what he thought of the brilliant looking tuk tuk, and he beamed a smile and said that it was beautiful but he could never afford one. It was hear that I announced to Vuthy the bigger picture of this incredible community that I am so lucky to be part of with life and that the thousands of us together with small gestures and contributions, can make a giant impact and that to thank him for his incredible service, his gratitude and his beautiful instant friendship to all of us, that we have chosen him to be the next recipient of the Ripple Effect. And rather than getting his older tuk tuk renovated, we'd like to buy him one of these new tuk tuks.
The other drivers had congregated around as they realised what was unfolding. Vuthy became incredibly emotional, put his hands to his face, then gave Lynlea, Sergis and myself a giant group hug and jumped up and down saying 'I am so happpppppy', and was in quite the shocked state.
The other drivers excitedly pointed us to the address of where the tuk tuk was made, and Vuthy knew the exact location. We instantly headed there. On arrival, I am still not certain he realised what was unfolding, but in speaking with the owner (who was pretty blown away with what was happening and was proud to be involved), a date of early December for build time was given, a deposit was placed and Vuthy's brand new tuk tuk was locked in. He got to choose some accent colours, and the most beautiful request from Vuthy was made when he asked Sergio if he could get the accents in the 2 greens (olive and teal) of the River Retreat that Sergio and Jen own. A beautiful request and touch. We got some great videos and photos of these moments and snapped an image of Vuthy getting the deposit invoice for the tuk tuk.
And just when the day couldn't get any more emotional, I asked Vuthy if he "would like to do a little bit more shopping? How would you like to get the matching new motorbike with this tuk tuk? He knew where the dealership was and we headed again straight there. We arrived, found the bike instantly and the staff were blown away by what was happening, filming the whole thing on their phones. Vuthy broke down crying whilst being so happy, saying that this would change his life and it would take him 10 years to even be able to afford what happened today. We also bought them 2 helmets (1 for him to replace his already severly cracked helmet and one for his wife)
It was a truly beautiful moment in time and I am so grateful that with the support of this incredible community at Ultra Series, I have the honour of speaking on behalf of you all, to help change people's lives.
Little did we know, the impact this would have. The next day we were invited to Vuthy's house where his wife cooked us lunch and we met his son. We broke the news to his wife and she screamed with excitement and explained that she had goose bumps running all up her arms and down her neck. She was bouncing off the walls as knew that this would bring them more business and more income. And then Vuthy announced to his son, that he would be handing his older tuk tuk and bike to him, and soon they would have another income coming into the household. His son was as high as the sky!! See, they live in a shed on a very small farm (I guess about 200m2 total), no shower and no toilet, so they try to be as self sufficient as possible and this is all about to make a massive difference to their lives. (we'd love to get a toilet and septic system installed for them and we have made this connection in Siem Reap - but this is a wish list for down the track now that we know of the situation).
So, once again, through the incredible Ultra Series community and our reignited Ripple Effect, we can and have changed the world for one person (and also now their family), but our job is not yet completed. We have paid for the deposits thus far from Ultra Series, but we need to top up the kitty for the Ripple Effect account (yes, we have a dedicated bank account for the Ripple Effect) as we still have about $2500 USD ($3500 AUD) to raise before the vehicles are ready.
So, if this is something you are passionate about, this story has touched you in some way and you want to be involved, we'd LOVE your support and rather than setup a specific fundraiser (and have them take a percentage of the funds), you can contibute directly into the Ripple Effect account (bsb 086 366 acc 722944679). We will also be having a Ripple Effect promotion day upcoming to get some more momentum for this beautiful programme, as we ramp it back up.
Much more to come on this beautiful story.
