Innovation in Education
Meet Tammy DurandTammy runs an innovative school called ABCs and Rice educating street kids in Siem Reap, Cambodia.Nine years ago Tammy visited Cambodia. Saw the challenges village kids faced. Vowed to do something about it.Nine years later she is still there, living in Cambodia, doing something about it.One of our favorite placesto support. Here’s the Story […]
Helping People Help Themselves
This is a story about how we enhance the sustainability of the organizations we serve. He needed $20,000 CCDO is a fine organization. We’ve worked with them successfully on several of their other projects.But this time, our initial response was “No, not yet.” Keeping in mind our long-held value of “helping people help themselves”, my […]
We Can See The Difference
There are so many heartwarming stories I could tell you about the work we are doing in Southeast Asia. With your help we are now providing education and housing for thousands of needy young women and girls in Cambodia, Thailand and Myanmar each year, as these regions claw their way back from poverty and troubled […]
Sustainability: A Story of a Monk and His Machine
Here’s a story I love sharing – especially given our Foundation’s commitment to creating sustainability in those organizations we select for support. Meet U Vimala. (Oo-wee-mala) He’s the head monk at the Guiding Star Monastery located a short distance outside Hpa-an, Myanmar, the capital city of the Karen State. Now 42 years of age, having […]
Searching for Sustainability
Philanthropy Is Never Enough. Every single day I spend working in SE Asia helping organizations do a more effective job of educating girls and providing job training for women, that undeniable truth just becomes more and more evident. Philanthropy is simply never enough. That’s the issue we spent a day and a half wrestling with […]
A Success Story — Thanks to You
Back in 2015 I visited a small Karin village about thirty minutes outside of Hpa-an, the capital of the Karin State in Myanmar. The 800 families living there had only a primary school for their kids. That’s it. No secondary school. No high school. Given the difficulties of transportation to reach the nearest secondary school […]
A Recent Trip to Myanmar, Cambodia, and Thailand
I’ve just returned from nearly five weeks in Myanmar, Thailand, and Cambodia. In this report I’ll give you a quick look at some (but not all) of the projects I visited, all of which are benefitting from improvements made possible by YOUR GENEROUS DONATIONS to our Foundation. MYANMAR At the Koenawin Monastery I got to […]
Lunch for 500
Shortly after we arrived at the Koenawin Monastery for our visit a couple of days ago, the Monk suddenly said: “The kids are coming. Let’s go for their lunch”. So, off we went to the lunch area. Turns out that 418 kids live here and all return from the local government schools for lunch. Plus, […]
The New Building at Koenawin
The highlight of my recent visit to the Koenawin Monastery was being there to celebrate the beginning of construction for their new dormitory for girls. You may recall from a previous report a few months back that we were seeking a donor to fund this building so the Monks at Koenawin could provide safe housing […]
A Visit to the New Generation School
On a recent trip to Myanmar I visited an interesting school called Myo Set Thit. In Burmese that means “New Generation”. At this school, led by the impressive and inspirational, Kyaw Naing, 35 students from remote villages come here to Hpa-An, the capital city of the Karin State, to study in a Grade 11 “college […]
People Joining Together to Help Each Other
Recently, our Myanmar Country Director, Treasure Shine, and I visited the Marga Society in Hpa-an, the capital city of the Kayin (Karen) State. In the Burmese language Marga means “blessing” or “heaven”. After my visit I left convinced that this place was well named. Marga is an inspiring story of local community leaders banding together […]
Mae Ab Education Center
Sometimes It Is Really Difficult To Say “No” Recently Carol, George, and I visited the village of Mae Ab where a dedicated group of volunteers is working to provide the community with an Adult Education Center. (Carol and George are my Rotary colleagues here in Northern Thailand.) So far the villagers have raised 250,000 Thai […]
