On Tuesday, April 1^st, our class had a speaker come and discuss her volunteer work in Cambodia. Her volunteer work included her starting a school for the impoverished children in Cambodia. She discussed her story of how she came about this position and it was very inspiring. Her story encouraged me in knowing that anyone who is passionate about their work can accomplish something truly amazing.

During her presentation a student asked about how these children and families, who are living in poverty, view poverty. This question is important because here in America everyone talks about poverty and their thoughts on it. And we wanted to get an understanding about what these people in Cambodia think about poverty, especially because so many of them are living in it.

The speaker said that although, the people in Cambodia know that they are living in poverty, they do not fixate on it as much as we do in America. The families in Cambodia are basically in survival mode because of the situation they are in. They are more focused on making it through the day rather than looking towards the future. In contrast to that, Americans are typically focusing our thoughts on the next day and on the future. The speaker talked about how happy the people in Cambodia are regardless of their impoverished situations. She thinks this is due to the fact that they are just happy to get through one day. From what I have seen in America, Americans are always focused on the future rather than one day at a time and it makes us unhappy because we constantly want more. Although it is good to look forward, if the people in Cambodia looked to the future more they might get depressed at their situation too.

This week in class we had a speaker named Tammy who founded the organization “ABC’s and Rice” located in Cambodia.  People like her make an amazing contribution to change the lives of the people living in poverty without giving up the hope to break the cycle of misery.  She is an inspirational person that motivates people like myself to get involved in helping the people of need with support and guidance.  Just exactly this week I meet a couple in my local shelter at the career center seeking ESL classes.  The man kindly needed assistance in reading and filing medical insurance for his wife who recently had a stroke.  The man has not been working since his wife became sick, and he decided to take over the full time job to care for her.  The man barely makes it, living by check after check.  I was amazed to see this man bring in his wife to learn English as a speech therapy, and at the same time observe this man’s great capacity to see days brighter with positive and energetic actions.  This man story motivated me to see life with great opportunities and appreciate what life grant us with little prosperity.  We may think we have everything in this world, in reality there is no greater fortune, but to have little and be happy owning it.  People like Tammy feel great to give back to those in need the support, care, and affection poor children lack in their homes.  She promote children the possibilities that there are aspirations in life to become someone else other than what they know.  We need people like her to help us see and transform us to become better civilians in our communities.

We are rarely afforded the opportunity to meet and listen to individuals who have made a huge impact on communities around the world. Thankfully, we were afforded the opportunity in class this past Tuesday when Tammy Durand, the founder of ABCs and Rice, came and spoke to us about the founding and expansion of her organization. It was inspiring to see someone as invested and zealous about activating awareness about poverty and establishing avenues for children to obtain the opportunity to learn English. ABCs and Rice is a nonprofit charity in Cambodia that serves children in extreme poverty by offering them an education and food to eat. Since its inception in January of 2010, the organization has grown to serve approximately 180 students and their families.

In a place like Cambodia where more than seventy percent of the population lives in extreme poverty, children are often exploited to panhandle or recycle in order to contribute back to the family. Due to this, children in Cambodia are often not afforded the opportunity to attend school or gain an education. Recognizing the need for children to contribute to the family and the importance of an education for future employment, Tammy established reverse tuition. In other words, students at ABCs and Rice are given rations of rice at the end of every month based on how many days they attended school. Reverse tuition allows them to obtain an education, learn English, and gain food security.

The organization focuses its attention on three areas: education, food and special projects. An example of their special projects is the Full Belly Farm which houses chickens, fish farms, and vegetable and fruit farms. The food produced from the farm is used in food drops and the Breakfast Club, the part of the organization that helps feed the community a balanced breakfast. Excess food is sold and any food left after that is funneled back into the organization. ABCs and Rice also provides families with water purifying tablets that allow them a safe, healthy, and less expensive alternative to boiling water (which often doesn’t extricate all impurities).

One of the most surprising facets of the organization is the extensive and detailed child protection policy. The protection policy is indicative that the organization is invested in the children and that the physical and psychological well-being of each individual is of utmost importance. Volunteers and full time workers are screened heavily in order to eliminate any possibility of harm or danger being inflicted onto Cambodian families. Though the policy is lengthy and extremely in depth, it is clear that Durand and her organization strives to offer unbounded love and opportunities to a community that has experienced too much hate and injustice.

http://abcsandrice.webs.com/

This past Tuesday, we were lucky to have Tammy, the founder of “ABCs and Rice,” (a nonprofit organization based in Cambodia) come speak to our class. Her passion for the cause began after a vacation to Cambodia led her to a local orphanage. The great need that she witnessed there motivated her to return to home in Canada, quit her job, and sell all of her belongings. With the money she made, she built a hut in Siam Reap and began a school. Out of this one hut has evolved an entire school that offers educational opportunities to over 150 students. ABCs and Rice also provides a “Breakfast Club” that ensures that each student receives at least one filling and nourishing meal a day. Tammy’s organization tackles each issue affecting the wellbeing and success of their students one at a time.

ABCs and Rice has three main areas of focus: education, food, and special projects that promote community building. One of the most recently launched food projects is the “Full Belly Farm.” The farm grows fruits, vegetables, and houses livestock animals that support the Breakfast club as well as creates extra food that can be given to the student’s families. Any surplus food is sold to help support the numerous programs implemented by ABCs and Rice.

I was incredibly inspired by Tammy and her commitment to making a difference. Just because a child is born into poverty does not mean that they are any less deserving of an education or a chance at being successful in life. These children are just as capable, they are just lacking the resources necessary to equip themselves to be successful Tammy’s organization enables these children to learn, eat, and expand their horizons. By doing so, the children are less likely to become malnourished, die young from disease, get married at a young age, and bring children into the world who will also live below the poverty line. Tammy is truly creating hope for people who would otherwise not have any.

Check out her website!
http://abcsandrice.webs.com/apps/videos/videos/show/16631090-abcs-rice-be-the-change-you-want-to-see-in-the-world

Link to video interview with Tirado, and blog post about early life and the process of poverty:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/linda-tirado/meet-the-woman-who-accide_b_4334428.html

Early on this semester we read an article by Linda Tirado titled, “This Is Why Poor People’s Bad Decisions Make Perfect Sense”. This video provided by the Huffington Post, was an interview with Linda about her life after her blog post went viral and the comments, thoughts, and gestures that people had in response to what she had to say. I was first off extremely happy with the background that Linda provided to go with the video. She provided as story of her life to give the readers a better insight into the ways in which her life had specifically been effected and characterized by poverty. She described growing up and not necessarily identifying as “poor”, she addressed the structural issues, issues of mental illness, of stress, of family issues, and of issues of compromise that a life in poverty prescribes. She talks about her life in way that I personally felt did a fantastic job of describing how people find themselves in poverty today. You don’t have to be born poor, you don’t have to be an addict, you don’t have to mentally ill, or abused. These are all factors that being unable to properly provide for yourself or your family can provoke in ones own personal lived experience. She describes how she knowns that she made mistakes, but how the mistakes she made didn’t put her in the places that she inevitably found her self in. While her blog post about her life leading up to the article provided the insight that I felt I needed to better understand her as a writer and as someone who identifies with living under the poverty line, the interview in the video did even more.

Linda starts of her interview being concise, smart, thoughtful, honest, and empathetic and maintains a sense of self assuredness throughout the whole video. I was overwhelmed with how wonderful she was. She proved that poor people are more than just people who are poor. She explained the realities of poverty and addressed some of the issues that readers had with her piece such as her cigarette smoking, having more then one child while accepting government aid, etc. She described these things in w ay that I think really allowed the viewer to understand the reality of life under the poverty line. Every decision that she made was scrutinized, yet her thoughts and her story remained ignored by all of the people who chose to judge her. Or society looks for the deviance, shame, and failure of poor and homeless people, yet I feel as is Linda is finally creating a platform for people to start to feel like they will be listened to. I think she addresses a lot of the issues that we have covered in class while using her own experiences as a means of starting a discourse about poverty that looks to understand poverty as a lived experience, instead of blame those who’s lives have been characterized by it.

It is clear that the current capitalist model is failing, creating radical income inequality.  What will our new strategy be? “Only a real social movement can bring about the social, cultural, market and political shifts needed to create an equitable and inclusive economy.” (Heise 186). It is imperative that we develop a sustainable model that is embraces changing demographics and future generation needs.  People of color who are unjustly discriminated against, are continuously oppressed and disadvantaged despite the fact they make up the majority of our world. The only way to solve world problems is through people collaborating with  diverse perspectives, creativity and innovation.  Everyone must be provided with equal opportunity to education that is empowering, culturally relevant and promotes secular ethics regardless of race, religion gender, class or orientation.  We must be an open-minded multi-cultural society that strengthens local community development.  We need sustained advocacy and diverse leadership that fosters  awareness and education of social and environmental justice. Lets leave our comfort zones, of planned obsolescence, a take-make-waste society that puts profit over people, generating oppression and environmental degradation.  “We must act -now-to prepare for the future. It is the path to prosperity-for all.”  ( Heise 187).  These traditions are a lie and are creating  animal conditioning,  a  complacent social purgatory, which is killing our freedom.  We must just get out of this social bodage.  Knowing our condition; WE MUST CHANGE.

Heise, Kenan. The Book of the Poor Who They Are, What They Say, and How To End Their Poverty.. Chicago: Marion Street Press, LLC, 2012. Print.