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Under a “better late than never” banner, here are some happenings from Cambodia …
Thanks to a heads up from mom to a Cam-born kid and author of “Bones That Float, A Story of Adopting Cambodia, Kari Grady Grossman, there is something to share on the good works of another adoptive parent.
Ken McBain, a lovely man I had the pleasure of meeting in a restaurant in Phnom Penh while we were in the country for Cj and he was bringing home his daughter, is running a school in an inner city neighborhood of Philadelphia where most of the kids are Cambodian.
Logan Hope is a Christian-based program serving some of the poorest of Cambodian refugees in America, helping them to cope with, “the inner-city environment of high drug and crime activity, alcohol abuse, and the general lack of education, health, and social resources for their families.”
Here’s Kari’s description of Logan Hope:
It is a “street school”, an urban one room schoolhouse of sorts – actually 5 rooms in a creaky two story painted baby blue on a neighborhood street. They are serving about 48 kids grades K-8, 41 are Cambodian. These are students who because of their unique community history would be lost in the mainstream school system to gangs, drugs and drop out. Ken and his staff are truly giving them hope.
If they are giving history lessons at Logan Hope, I doubt they’ll be using Khieu Samphan’s new book, “Reflection on Cambodian History Up to the Era of Democratic Kampuchea”.
In the typical revisionist fashion of former Khmer Rouge biggies, he insists that: There was no policy of starving people. Nor was there any direction set out for carrying out mass killings.There was always close consideration of the people’s well-being.
Yeah. Right. And the Easter Bunny poops jelly beans.
And as for the sick monster, Pol Pot, Khieu says he was a leader who “sacrificed his entire life … to defend national sovereignty.”
Think this guy is preparing his defense?
While we’re talking Cam politics, a couple of Prime Minister Hun Sen’s kids are in the news. First, with a denial that his son, Hun Manet, has anything to do with Cambodian politics, then this report about issues he has with his daughter, adopted in 1988, being a lesbian.
“I have my own problem – my adopted daughter has a wife,” he said. “Now I will ask the court to disown her from my family.”
Time Mag has an interesting article on the sisters that married the KR leadership, Pol Pot and Ieng Sary. One is dead, but one may face some music if the tribunal can ever manage to actually do anything.
If anyone is planning a birth country trip any time soon with their kids, the NYT has a travel story on Sihanoukville and other beach destinations in Cambodia and the big changes happening there. The whole world is going touristy. Yikes!
And, of course, along with a huge representation of Cambodians, there will be a lot of tourists in Phnom Penh this week for the Water Festival, and a lot of police, too.
All in all, over 3 million people are expected to attend, and 3,400 police will be on hand to keep an eye open, hopefully.
One of these years I hope to be there, too, so Sam and Cj can be part of the celebration, watch the boat races and mark the change in weather and tides.
