1. The Conference – This morning, after 2 1/2 days of stimulating classes on teaching English in Cambodia, the Takeo Province Teacher Training Conference officially came to a close. Big props to Julie Kiersky and Aaron Merchen for putting the whole thing together.
2. The Freshy Boys – Of course the one night that I didn’t bring my camera out ends up being the same night that me and four of my friends end up on stage singing Khmer music in front of a couple hundred very confused Cambodians. While I’m still trying to figure out how we managed to bluff our way past the stage crew, I know that once we got in front of the crowd we named ourselves the “Freshy Boys” and sang a song that translates to: “I Want a Khmer Wife”.
The Peace Corps. Changing lives…
3. Another One Bites the Dust – With two months left in Cambodia, the K3 Peace Corps group is starting to shed its numbers. Last week we lost one volunteer, today we lost another, and next week we’re probably going to lose two more. At this rate, we’re going to be down to ten by the end of the month…
4. The Mormons – “You know who the Peace Corps biggest competition is? The Mormons.”
It’s really true. The only people who live in the places we do and speak Khmer as well as (or better than) us, are the Mormon Missionaries.
5. Marathon Training – “A journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step.” (Lao Tzu) Or in my case a three-mile run on a 95 degree day. Let the fun begin…
6. Surprise Surprise – The annual survey by the Cambodian Independent Teachers Association, which questioned 726 teachers across 17 provinces, found a majority who believed the education system has “no quality.”… Fifteen percent said education suffered from a lack of transparency in its administration and that inactive school directors need to be removed. Other reasons cited were corruption and a lack of teaching materials and training. About 85 percent of respondents said they felt they were not involved enough in decision making. Only 56 percent said they knew what the country’s education strategy was. (Survey Finds Little Optimism Among Teachers)
7. Bad Press for the Peace Corps - Today, the House Foreign Affairs Committee will hold a hearing to examine what its chairwoman called “serious crimes” committed against Peace Corps volunteers, including murder and sexual assault. And according to the NY Times, a group of the women testifying are trying to encourage Congress to pass a new law that they believe will make the Peace Corps safer…
They want Congress to pass legislation requiring, among other things, that the Peace Corps develop “sexual assault response teams” to collect forensic evidence and provide emergency health care and advocacy for victims after attacks… But whether such a bill would pass Congress is unclear. Representative Niki Tsongas, Democrat of Massachusetts, is co-sponsoring Mr. Poe’s bill, but other Democrats are skittish about it. They worry that the legislation, and Wednesday’s hearing, might be used to undermine the Peace Corps — the legacy of a Democratic president — and cut its funding. (Peace Corps Volunteers Speak Out On Rape)
In this political environment, it wouldn’t be hard to imagine the Republicans using this issue to score some easy points. While the rape issue definitely needs to be addressed, it would be real shame if this controversy put the Peace Corps’s funding in jeopardy.
8. Musical Chairs – There’s nobody better than Barry Blitt. This comic is genius.
9. Freedom of Speech – Christopher Hitchens, who is fighting a tough battle with cancer, writes a very moving piece about what it means to lose your voice…
To my writing classes I used later to open by saying that anybody who could talk could also write. Having cheered them up with this easy-to-grasp ladder, I then replaced it with a huge and loathsome snake: “How many people in this class, would you say, can talk? I mean really talk?” That had its duly woeful effect. I told them to read every composition aloud, preferably to a trusted friend. The rules are much the same: Avoid stock expressions (like the plague, as William Safire used to say) and repetitions. Don’t say that as a boy your grandmother used to read to you, unless at that stage of her life she really was a boy, in which case you have probably thrown away a better intro. If something is worth hearing or listening to, it’s very probably worth reading. So, this above all: Find your own voice.
You can read the rest of the article here: Unspoken Truths
10. Michael Bolton - If you haven’t seen this Michael Bolton video yet, take a minute and watch it now. So funny…
And on that note… have a great day!
What are the Mormons doing in your village? Do they teach or are they there mainly to convert Buddhists to Christianity? Do the villagers welcome them?
the missionaries are there to convert people to the” church of jesus christ of later day saints”. they are all over the world. there is a mission training center in utah fro those missionaries called on foreign missions. once you receive your calling you enter the training center for a designated amount of time and you are submerged in the language of the country you are going to. once there, you and your companion of the moment, go door to door to prosthelytize their faith. if someone agrees to listen they teach a series of lessons and if agreeable to the” student” they are then baptized.
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Southeast_Asia/LL07Ae01.html
Well all I can say after reading the on line Asia Times (thanks Lolly) is whew. Way easier to be a PCV than a Mormon. Here’s a list of a few things Mormons in Cambodia (or anywhere I guess) cannot do.
Drink tea, coffee or alcohol
Attend weddings, movies or concerts
Watch DVD’s not approved by the church
Listen to music
Wear flip flops or ride motorcycles
CALL HOME MORE THAN TWICE A YEAR
Last year the Mormons converted 432 Cambodians and expect the numbers to double this year and PRIME MINISTER HUN SEN recently honored the Church of Jesus Christ Latter- Day Saints for their humanitarian work. Go figure.
On a happier note, it is raining cats and dogs in Denver! And everyone is celebrating and pulling out their snazzy rain boots and umbrellas. For a place that boasts 300 plus days of sunshine a year, it feels like Christmas.
(And speaking of RAIN, off to the last DA Parents’ Weekend tomorrow. We’ve yet to see sunshine at Deerfield in May. Fingers crossed for graduation!)
xo
PS/Here is the winning poem from The East Harlem School Poetry Slam. I should mention that it was written by one of Court’s 5th graders and that Dad and I wept our way through the entire event!
Because She Walked
Cynthia Minchala
My mother left Ecuador walking.
She started in El Campo,
And she walked and walked and walked.
She left behind the dolls that sat on her bed.
She left behind her farm,
And the pigs and guinea pigs who lived there.
She left behind her mother,
Her father,
Her three sisters,
Her three brothers.
She did not look back.
In Azoques, she boarded a bus.
Then a plane to Panama.
In Guatemala she walked again.
She crossed fresh, blue rivers,
And magical mountains like nothing she had seen before.
Through cities and countries she walked.
It was beautiful, she says.
The desert in Mexico was like boiling water.
And she was fearless.
It was an adventure, she says.
For days and nights she walked.
She walked and walked and walked.
In Texas she rested.
She ate.
She gained strength again.
Today my mother walks and walks and walks.
And she works and works and works.
She cleans houses for those who do not know
How she walked.
For those who do not know how brave she was.
And is.
Now I walk and walk and walk to school.
And I work and work and work to learn.
I will be a doctor.
I will walk the hospital halls, helping children.
All because she walked.