Having put forth my intention that my book, Bones That Float, benefit education in rural Cambodia, I hold onto the integrity of that mission and watch the magic unfold as we attract like-minded souls. I ‘m beginning to believe that this is indeed the way the world is changed. Behold:
Philadelphia, PA. Oct. 24
I spoke to over 500 high school and middle school students at Penn Charter, an elite, private educational institution, where the dedicated staff is focusing that privilege on service learning and a passionate student body is ready to engage in helping to educate disadvantaged children in Cambodia. After a morning spent debating my experience half way around the world with the Penn Charter students, I drove 3 miles down the road to the HOPE LOGAN school in an inner city neighborhood.
Hope Logan is a “street school” occupying a creaky 5 room house, painted pastel blue on a rough neighborhood street, dedicated to educating the children of Southeast Asian refugees, K-8. Forty one of their 48 students are Cambodian. It was begun by adoptive parent Ken McBain, who was drawn by his Christian faith to offer respite from the urban jungle to a population of kids who are lost in mainstream public education to drugs, gang violence, and drop-out. I was humbled by Ken’s dedication to administer education to refugee children who fall through the cracks. Afterward, I wrote to the Penn Charter administrators about Hope Logan to suggest their service learning project incorporate this local refugee “street school” as well. What a wonderful opportunity for the children of privilege to gain a fuller perspective of the effects of war on a culture. I am blessed to be able to connect the two.
Bethesda, Maryland. Oct. 25th.
I spoke at The Barker Foundation to about 35 adoptive parents and adoption social workers, one of whom works State Department implementing The Hague Convention on international adoptions. Among the intelligent and engaged crowd was an adult adoptee, Paul Goodwin, who had been adopted from Cambodia as a child in 1975 by a foreign service employee who escaped from the roof of the US embassy via helicopter at the time of the Khmer Rouge takeover. What a humbling experience to meet someone who lived the history I wrote about.
Afterward, I was invited to speak to the office of Children’s Services at the State Department for National Adoption Month in November. The State Department employee who witnessed my presentation says “the government workers need to see that this is what adoption is all about.” I look forward to the opportunity.
North Haven, Connecticut Oct. 26th
Father Matt Lincoln at Saint John’s Episcopal church in North Haven had been reading passages from my book in his sermons for several weeks, so half the congregation showed up to hear me speak. I was honored by both the diversity of the audience and their heartfelt compassion for Cambodia’s unknown story. A woman in her seventies, Alberta Delguidice, told me she read the book twice and enjoyed it as much the second time. As a mother of two young children, I can’t imagine having time to read the same book twice, but I am honored by the attention that St. John’s Episcopal has given this story. It is a busy world afterall.
Schnectady, New York Oct. 27th
At the Open Door Bookstore, I met Lay Heng, a Cambodian woman with a most unlikely background, a graduate of Phnom Pehn University pursuing PhD. in education at SUNY Albany! After my presentation about sustainability for Cambodian Schools, she said to me, ” I love your program, it makes so much sense, what you are saying is so logical. ” She continued, “But for me, as a Cambodian, I cannot say what you are saying, it would mean trouble for my family.”
What she means is that a Cambodian cannot call a spade a spade, as I do, without fear of reprisal. I assume that the Cambodian government will not change, and stop the corruption in favor of supporting schools. Change must come from the bottom up, that is why community based economic development in support of a schools empower a local community with control over its own educational future. Ms. Heng was smiling when I told her, “you get your PhD and I’ll create s school supporting model that works, and then we’ll go to the government together!” With proven success on our side, they can’t say no.
Boston, (Jamaca Plain) , Massachesettes Oct. 28th.
A fantastic Cambodian meal was served at the Wonderspice Cafe, where I spoke to about 25 people with a passionate interest in social justice. The connection between what happened in Cambodia and what is currently happening in Iraq was not lost on them. The restaurant’s owner, Dhavi, is a Cambodian woman who escaped before the war, worked in Thai refugee camps in the 1980’s, and adopted a son orphaned by war. The soul connection we mothers feel has the power to transform the world.
George Mason University, Alexandria Virgina, Oct. 29th.
I spoke to 50 students in the sustainable tourism program, engaged in a semester project to create a business plan for the future “Green Lion” Eco-lodge at the Grady Grossman School. The students bulleted me with questions and a discussion of great ideas surfaced. They seemed grateful to work on real world problems and to be a part of positive change.
Upcoming….Nov. 17…..Denver,Colorado
I will be speaking to the International Baccalaureate regional conference in Denver, Colorado, as part of their Awareness to Action program, along with my personal hero Loung Ung, author of First They Killed My Father. We hope to engage students all over the Rocky Mountain region in support of Cambodian schools, working as English tutors in our future VOIP English tutoring program….stay tuned.
Who knows where the Magical Mystery Book Tour will lead next?
Would you like it to be your town? Contact me!
She went first, delivering a heart wrenching speech about her life’s journey from childhood under the Khmer Rouge, to American refugee, and back to Cambodia as an activist for a land mine free world. Over 150 teachers from International Baccalaureate schools in the Rocky Mountain region listened with rapt attention, their minds churning with desire to communicate these events to their students, K-12. The theme of the Denver, Colorado conference was Awareness to Action. Loung spoke to the Awareness part, and I was there to inspire Action.
I will call for volunteers to join our school supporting network. Through building relationships and listening to local communities, our partners will find a way for every school to become income-generating and self-supporting in 3 to 5 years. This is a people to people endeavor and our job is to work ourselves out of a job, to usher each school to its own, unique sustainability.
