Hawaii International Hope Foundation

History - 2011

2001	2002	2003
2004	2005	2006
2007	2008	2009
2010	2011	2012

Theng Primary School Completed!

Working with Child's Dream Association, Hawaii International Hope Foundation helped finance the construction of Tbeng Primary School. Thank you, Child's Dream!

The school provides basic education at the primary level to 226 students (98 girls and 128 boys) from the Tbeng Thmei village, which is located in the Banteay Ampil district of Oddar Meanchey province in Cambodia. The students are cared for by 5 teachers (1 female and 4 male). Child's Dream constructed a new school building with five classrooms and provided new furniture for all the rooms. Parents will be more assured to send their children to school more regularly. The school construction was successfully completed end of March 2011.

A WILD DAY IN CAMBODIA

June 28, 2011 was the opening ceremony day for the school HIHF built in Tbeng, northwestern Cambodia. We arrived a couple of days early and spent the time recovering from tons of bus riding from China, through Laos and Thailand and on to Siem Reap, home of Angkor Watt.

Our foundation had been saving for ten years to make a major contribution to the lives of unfortunate children in this part of the world. We worked through a small NGO headquartered in Chiang Mai and their office in Siem Reap in identifying the location of the future school and in providing logistical support for the school's construction.

On the morning of the 27th, David, Kana, Jenna, one Swiss representative from Child's Dream and two Cambodian staff members, took a three hour dusty road ride up to the
Thailand – Cambodian border. We knew there was fighting along the border, about where the borderline should be between the two countries, but we didn't know how intense or how close the fighting might be. When asked, the Cambodian staff shrugged.

We spent the night in a guest house about an hour from the school site then early the next morning made the trek to the school site. The villagers, abut 300, the primary school children, about 200, the provincial governor, some Ministry of Education officials, and teachers were there waiting for us to start the ceremony.

First the Child's Dream representative gave a short speech, then I did, then the governor. The first two speeches were translated into Cambodian for the villagers and students, then the governor gave a speech. He thanked our organization for building the school for them, how they couldn't have done it without us, then talked at length about how the villagers shouldn't worry too much about the bombing/shelling, that it would end soon enough but that the villagers should continue to dig fox holes just in case. While he was speaking we could hear explosions. At first we thought it was some kind of strange thunder, but I was told by the translator that it was cluster-bombs, not to worry they were about three kilometers away. He said Cambodians should be grateful to the Thais for making swimming pools for them.

After the speeches we were entertained by half a dozen dancing girls, fancy costumes and heavy makeup, very graceful movement. Nice. The translator told me it was their way of saying thank you for our help. Then we had a tour of the new school, lots of photos, handing out school supplies and sports equipment for the students and a tree planting ceremony. Then they gave me a big gold medal from Hun Sen, the Prime Minister, which I accepted on behalf of all the folks who have contributed to HIHF over the years, and which I wore proudly for the next several days. After that the officials, Child's Dream people and our gang hopped vehicles to get, they said, closer to the fighting to have lunch.

It was a lunch to remember. It was a semi-open restaurant with a very large foxhole next to it. Everybody started drinking beer and local whiskey quickly. Then the sixty something electric guitar player showed up and lady singer. Food was served. The main attraction was the giant plate of giant roasted scorpions. Jenna got into them big time, even without the beer or whiskey the rest of us needed.

Cambodians have a custom of the women asking the men to dance. We were told it was rude to decline. It seemed all the village women showed up to join in the celebration. All in all, it was quite bizarre. The guitar player didn't do Pink Floyd, but it would have fit in, more or less.

After “lunch” my memory is kind of fuzzy, but I do remember that we made offerings to half a dozen saffron robed Buddhist monks, bowing after giving them fruit and stuff in return for their blessings to the school. I remember David couldn't get back up from his bow.