Your Stories
Pennies Building Peace
Close your eyes. Imagine, for a moment, that you are watching lots of kids of all ages sitting on a ledge scratching their lessons in the dirt with a stick. Sometimes, they don’t even have a teacher! Well, it’s happening.
Many kids had to learn this way in Pakistan and Afghanistan until one man named Greg Mortenson raised money to build schools for those poor children, so they could have that precious education they all dream about. And yet, some kids are still without schools.
My friends and I were inspired by Greg’s work in Pakistan and Afghanistan. We want to join together with other Cambridge families to build a school in Cambodia, a school named for our city, for our efforts: The Cambridge School for Cambodia!
Cambridge kids like me are trying to get the word out. If you have friends or family that you know would like to help, please email them the name of our website (www.cambcamb.org) and immediately they can have access to all the info they need.
All you need to do is spread the word and in no time we will be able to make our dreams come true.
Concerned kid,
EFH
Cambridge, MA
Age 10
Having lost my older brother, a Vietnam Veteran, 3 years ago to cancer, I miss him everyday. He was only 58 years old. He had just retired; he was honing his golf game and looking forward to winters playing daily with his wife in Florida. He had two grand children and his son was to marry that fall. He never got to enjoy his retirement, nor his grandchildren, nor see his only son marry. He had spent years watching his fellow Vietnam Veterams come down with a multitude of strange cancers. Many died before him, while others have survived their battles and are in remission. They watched him die.
He was only 19 years old when he went to Viet Nam. It was in 1966 and the fighting was intense. All our friends were being drafted; a few good folks came home to be laid to rest. My brother sent home many pictures of himself and friends in a terrain unfamiliar to me. He was always in pictures with small children. He wrote of falling in love with the children there and how he would share the packages we sent from home with them.
As the years passed my brother would bring up the fact that it always bothered him that he never saw the children again. I don’t think he knew what to do. I think lots of the men and women who served our country feel that way. It’s hardest of all to witness the pain of war on small children. It is something that will live in their thoughts forever.
When I found out about the Cambodia School project, I knew what I had to do. My brother recently had a new grandchild named after him: John. I love that I can say his name again. But being able to give to this project and help the children in Cambodia to have a school that will give them the opportunities they deserve, I feel I am answering my brother’s prayers. This is a gift to me as well. This project has helped me feel I can still do something for my brother. It gives me peace. My contribution is in my brother’s name and I know he feels it. Thank you for helping us; this is a gift for us as well as the Cambodian children who will learn in this amazing school.
M.G.
Age: 61
Weston, MA
Last week local newscaster Liz Walker came to our Cambridge School to meet with several different groups of students. Each time she told the children that she was building a school in Sudan, our children raised their hands and proudly told her, “We’re building a school in Cambodia!”
CPS Teacher
Cambridge, MA
It was exciting to get your email about the school in Cambodia! I’m making plans to move to Cambodia myself, probably by late summer/early fall. I just got back from a short trip there in February. I can’t think of a better cause than helping Cambodia with their education! I was blown away by the issues I saw there when I visited. I wish I could come to the benefit dinner, but I’m still in Texas until I leave. I would, however, love to keep hearing about this project, particularly the location of the school when decided. I’ll be moving to Phnom Penh, but it’s not a big country. I’ll be going to work with a transitional living center for girls who have been trafficked, and one of our main obstacles is getting them the education they need. Most of the girls in the program only have a 3rd or 4th grade education. Factors like that play a huge role in the issues of re-trafficking and re-victimization. So, keep up the hard work and let me know how things go, or if there’s anything I can do to help. And tell your daughter I say hello…I miss her and all the rest of the Cambridge Twisters!
S.T.
Age 27
Former Coach of Cambridge City Girls Soccer Team
I come from a small village high in the Moroccan Atlas mountains. As a child I had to walk for an hour to get to my school. Everyday I would leave early in the morning and didn’t come back until after dark. All the other children would go to their houses to have lunch while I took my cold sandwich from my backpack and sat under the wall to have my meal. I know what it means not to have a school close to home. I can relate to these children in Cambodia. Perhaps it is the same story but in different places. So I am sure your project will have a great effect. You will help to make lot of children happy. I hope I can help, too.
Jamal Ait Hammou,
President of the Ighrem Agdim Association.
www.berberadventure.com/ighremaqdim
Age 35
Milton, MA
My mother-in-law sent us a card for the holidays that had three coupons in it. These coupons were our Christmas gift: she had donated money to three charitable causes in different countries across the globe. The note in her card said, “I know that this gift will mean more to you than anything I could buy and send.” It was true. Living here in Cambridge, we are well aware that we have everything we really need, while there are so many families in the world that have to go without certain basic necessities year after year.
The decision to donate to the Cambridge School for Cambodia through JustGive.org was a no-brainer one for us. That was our Christmas gift to my mother-in-law. We plan on taking a photo of our kids wearing Cambridge School for Cambodia t-shirts and sending that to her, as well. It means even more to us knowing that our children have spent time collecting spare change for the Cambridge School for Cambodia, too, so they feel really proud and know that they have had a direct hand in helping other children live a better life.
E.W.
Age 38
Cambridge, MA
I want to go to Cambodia! Only 50 cents for a Harry Potter book? Yes!
THF
Age: 10
Cambridge, MA
I’m collecting donations from folks who are cleaning out their houses and selling these things at flea markets in Western Mass where I live. I’m a Vietnam Era Veteran who was stationed in Berlin; many of my friends were involved in the war in Cambodia, Vietnam, and Laos. I’d like to do something that gives back to these countries still suffering from our war. I can’t imagine a better way to help Cambodians than to build schools. Having fought cancer successfully for 21 years, I feel blessed and truly grateful every day to be able to dedicate myself to helping others.
B.W.
Age: 56
If you have a story that you want to share, please email it to camb4camb@gmail.com. We welcome your input!
