Thursday, July 3, 2014

Raining mangoes



Sitting outside the Villa Langka Hotel in Phnom Penh, Kitty and I met with Srey, who graduated in 2010. We wanted to catch up with her news. The conversation quickly became a time machine, speeding back to remembrances of Srey’s early quest for schooling. Coming from a poor family, she recalled walking through the countryside to stand finally outside an open classroom window. “I had to drop out of school, and this daily visit became a ritual,” Srey explained. “I didn’t have the money for extra classes, a school uniform or even books and a pen, so this was the closest I came to being inside a classroom.”
For a long time, she thought her visits were going unnoticed. Then one day, the teacher slipped out of the class and asked her, “What in the world are you doing?”
“I just want to learn,” the outdoor student replied.
When her lack of money was weighed against her passion to learn, the teacher, remembering the mission of CASF, asked Srey to be patient. After a full year, an interview with CASF staff was planned in her village, where new students were being recruited.
As Srey retold this story, her voice was tentative and fragile. Kitty and I knew the delicate nature of what was being described, and we took a deep breath. “My father took me to the CASF interview and was the only father present with his daughter. He let me speak of my dreams for schooling, and added that he gave his full support.”
In that exact moment, as the tale was told outside our hotel, we heard a resounding thud, like a stone hitting the ground. As if suddenly being awakened from a trance, Srey said, “A mango just dropped…” Sure enough, we sat twenty feet from a mango tree. Only a girl who grew up in the countryside would identify such things, I thought.
This “thud” was just an introduction to Srey’s outpouring about how CASF and the pursuit of education had changed her life. What began with two years of high school and then four years of university, with CASF’S funding, eventually merged with her own passion to give back to others. Srey works as support staff for an organization that provides micro financing to those in need, so that they may start their own business. To support her family, she drives a Moto one hundred kilometers each way to get to work.
“The mango dropped!”
 In our quest for what is essential, we all have such expressions and associations that freeze important moments in our minds.
 I’ll forever hear the sound of that ripe mango hitting the ground, as I experience the countless tales of our CASF students about their growth through education, and their desire to help others in Cambodia, as they give back what they received.

Fred Lipp, President/Founder CASF


Wednesday, June 25, 2014

June 23: Kandal

When you are happy, you must be careful.

Kandal was the last of the three village visits. We had had a full and fun-packed day the day before, and because Kandal is so close to Phnom Penh, we were able to leave a bit later. We left Villa Langka around 7:30 AM, and the van ride took about an hour. Four of the university girls accompanied Fred, Shawna, Kimna, Lanie, and myself.

After a quick introduction and welcome from Fred, we sat down and interviewed each of the four  CASF girls. They are all in the 9th grade and in the top percentile of their class. The girls explained that their days started in the early hours of 5 AM, with about an hour of housework, before they biked to school.

The girls had varying dreams. One wanted to be a doctor, one a banker, one a math teacher and one a tourist guide. After the interviews were over, Fred taught them the saying "A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step." To Fred's encouragement that their dreams can come true, they all sported shy but big smiles.

To wrap things up, Kimna suggested that Fred share the story of how CASF was started: With a dream, and then a single step. His dream was to help and educate young girls in Cambodia. He explained the difficulties of pursuing this dream, and told the girls how sometimes he was so sad and discouraged, he cried. He paid a visit to the bird lady at Wat Phnom, who has a cage of small birds that people buy to set them free, with a wish or a dream.

Fred set his dream free with a caged bird, and slowly his dream grew into a reality. His dream to educate young girls in Cambodia has made many other dreams come true. Fred started to jump up and down under the mango tree to show the girls that he is no longer sad, but happy. The girls all pointed to the branch just inches from his head and said "Be careful, grandfather." He replied quickly, "Oh, that's okay, thank you. When you are happy, you must be careful."
Elise

Friday, June 20, 2014