Be the Change Network

Chrauk Tiek/The Grady Grossman School: One by one they hand them to me, letters with pictures of the forest, the animals, the birds, fallen trees, muddy waters, dead animals. The children definitely know what is at stake for them. Tomorrow I will leave this village with a pile of over 400 letters from children and community leaders. Forty-eight more letters are on their way from the Souy hill tribe villagers. Some people are afraid to sign their name; they live in fear of the corrupt police and military. But these letters are the beginning of a participatory democracy. Voice of America, CNN Asia, Cambodia Daily, The Phnom Penh Post, I promised to take their letters to show the international community the environmental crisis and concern of the local villagers. The proof is in their letters. I hope I have enough evidence to interest some reporters. Embarrassment may be the only weapon we have to get the government’s attention.

Last night Nou Noun, the deputy head of commune, invited villagers to the school to watch a video. The teachers set up the computer outside in the dark school yard. With power from a DC car battery, he showed his community the documentaries I brought, Voices from the Forest, Khmer Buddhist Forest Conservation Project, and Community Forestry International. Some people were quickly bored and left, but a small group of twenty, mostly women, stayed. It is a beginning. This is how it works in Cambodia; we plant the seed of a new idea and wait for it to spread.

In the morning I made a speech to our teachers, asking them to lead the education effort, especially with the adults. I can give them all the resources they need to educate, I can support the local efforts to protect the forest by bringing attention to their concerns; but I cannot do the thinking and the changing for them. We must solve the problem of student drop out. We have 92 children in first grade, 68 in second, 58 in third, 42 in fourth, 32 in fifth, and 16 in sixth. It seems that after the fourth grade children are big enough to help haul wood.

Once the teachers and students were off to their classrooms, we turned our attention to the charcoal briquettes, attempting to just introduce the concept and determine if the community might be interested in a training session. The response was overwhelmingly positive. They are desperate for an alternative and would start building a press tomorrow if we let them. As with any new technology, it’s important that the product be introduced to the market properly, not hodge-podge; they must prove to have a consistent, quality product offered at a competitive price. This will take some time to develop the skills, test, get feedback and make improvements. It’s not an overnight solution, but it’s the quickest alternative we have. Community leader Bun Vana asked me to come back as soon as possible to train the trainers from each village. “If the people have something different they can do,� he said, “then no reason to cut down the tree and more kids can stay in school.� That’s why I keep fighting; I want to see 92 students in the sixth grade.

The forest people have invited me to return in May for their annual ceremony to honor their forest ancestors. Ek Chun, the Souy group leader requested $50 worth of tin to finish the roof of their community building. I told him if I get 50 letters, they get fifty dollars. He’s been running around the village all afternoon, getting thumbprints onto letters.

We’ve been working so hard on the forest problems I’ve had little time to spend with the kids. Today after class everyone joined me in the library for a photo session with their letters; we broke out the play dough, puzzles, magnetix and leapfrog games. I sat with a group of boys instructing them in a game of word-recognition dominos. Squeals of laughter filled the room; they are so hungry to learn.

We can give the children the opportunity to stay in school only by giving their parents diverse, alternative options to make a living, charcoal briquettes, agro-forestry and eco-tourism. Everything depends on stopping the forest destruction and the corrupt governance tied to it. Everything depends on those letters.

Be the Change.

Please buy Bones That Float, A Story of Adopting Cambodia and Spread the Word.

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