Look out Wimbledon, here we come!
Phnom Pehn, Cambodia.
I’ve just landed in Phnom Penh and fighting off jet lag at the Almond Hotel. Need to get rest because tomorrow Yoen and I will hit the ground running with a whirlwind of work to be done over the next two weeks.
Tomorrow I’ll visit our scholarship students at the boarding house here in Phnom Penh to see how they are faring at high school in the big city. Next I’ll be meeting with some top education department officials to see how we can partner to help strengthen school support at the grassroots level for all the schools in our region.
On Saturday, I’ll be off to school to see the students at the Grady Grossman School, where we will begin a 3 day community mobilization and visioning process with the school supporting committee. I’m looking forward to creating an empowering partnership and to see where a sustainable approach will lead.
I am excited to see the new library, the interior was recently painted with cartoon characters and vibrant children’s colors by students visiting from Eckerd College in St. Petersburg, Florida. A big thank you to them and their professor Nancy Janus who led the trip to examine the “rebuilding of Cambodia” through service projects. We expect the happy environment will attract more students to read. Very cool.
One of her Japanese students brought a tennis set and taught the children to play. Look out Wimbledon, here we come!
You will all get Sustainable Schools International T-shirts and stars for service!
February 6th, 2009 at 5:48 pm
Hello, Kari. You probably don’t remember me specifically, but I was one of the student volunteers from CSULB in the summer 2006 Heritage Camp. I’ve been on your mailing list for a while, but since St. Petersburg is my hometown, this caught my attention. Actually, I wrote to you quite some time ago but figured you were just too busy when I didn’t hear back.
I wanted to mention a potential resource/contact in Phnom Penh–my father, who is working with a school called Village Earth there. As a native Cambodian and immigrant to the U.S. who has returned to give back to his country, I’m sure he’d be interested in meeting with you and hearing about your sustainable education efforts in Chrauk Tiek. Perhaps there are things you could collaborate on, or at least learn from each other. I’ll send along his email address and phone number if you’d like.
Take care, and keep up all the good work.