Cambodian Children’s Fund – Summary Observations
I have come to the end of the 13 blogs I will write on my experiences with the Cambodian Children’s Fund. I am exhilarated, not exhausted. In the previous 12 blogs, I have described some of my impressions, experiences, and lessons. But now I am home, having departed early because of my health emergency. I have not run out of things to report, but I feel that I would need to return to Phnom Penh for another stint as an assistant teacher before I could feel confident in going deeper into what I was reporting. It is a complex environment, and although I learned many new things every day I was there I still have much to learn. The purpose of this final blog is to summarize my personal lessons and impressions of my first volunteer experience with the CCF. First, the easy conclusions: The need for the Cambodian Children’s Fund is immediate, pressing, and at least so far, endless. The remedy involves much more than providing a school, although education is what will eventually solve the problems. The CCF has, over its 19 year history, made enormous strides in solving systemic community problems and in bringing about positive change in the lives of hundreds, soon to be thousands, of young women and men. Now, the seemingly obvious but exceedingly complex conclusion: more than anything, the Cambodian Children’s Fund is the creation and continuing miracle of Scott Neeson. It is not that he is a genius, which he may well be, but that he is as compassionate as any human being I have ever encountered. I draw
Why I Plan to Spend Three Months
in Phnom Penh
Next Tuesday I will journey 8,872 miles (this is by the Great Circle route; it will be farther in airmiles) from my home in Philadelphia
Who Will Join Me?
The process of natural selection had no particular interest in us after we reproduced ourselves, so body parts such as eyes and ears did not come with extended warranties.
Charles Bonnet and Illusions of Knowledge
In the 1970s a retired Swiss civil servant named Henri Bonnet started having hallucinations. This troubled him, a scientist by training who did not believe
Charles Darwin and Podcasts
Today was cold, raining, and windy. But it was a “walk day,” so I bundled up and headed into the blustery precipitation. As I entered my third mile, the path led away from the highway and the noise level lessened abruptly.
The Latitudes of Time
One of the pleasures of researching and writing a book is the discovery of topics that (1) are new and pertinent to one’s work-in-progress and
The Origins of the Book and Its Title
I cannot remember a time in my life when I was not motivated by a love of adventure. Don’t get me wrong: my home town
The Story Behind the Dedication
Probably not many books are dedicated to dogs. Nevertheless, I dedicated this book to my dog Truffle, a Goldendoodle. To explain why I did this,