Inspiration
You Are Brilliant and the Earth is Hiring!
Lacking some inspiration in your life? Read this amazing speech delivered by Paul Hawken during his commencement address at the University of Portland.
"When I was invited to give this speech, I was asked if I could give a simple short talk
that was “direct, naked, taut, honest, passionate, lean, shivering, startling, and
graceful.” Boy, no pressure there.
But let’s begin with the startling part. Hey, Class of 2009: you are going to have to
figure out what it means to be a human being on earth at a time when every living system
is declining, and the rate of decline is accelerating. Kind of a mind-boggling situation...
but not one peer-reviewed paper published in the last thirty years can refute that
statement. Basically, the earth needs a new operating system, you are the programmers,
and we need it within a few decades.
This planet came with a set of operating instructions, but we seem to have misplaced them. Important rules like don’t poison the water, soil, or air, and don’t let the earth get overcrowded, and don’t touch the thermostat have been broken. Buckminster Fuller said that spaceship earth was so ingeniously designed that no one has a clue that we are on one, flying through the universe at a million miles per hour, with no need for seatbelts, lots of room in coach, and really good food, but all that is changing.
There is invisible writing on the back of the diploma you will receive, and in case you didn’t bring lemon juice to decode it, I can tell you what it says: YOU ARE BRILLIANT, AND THE EARTH IS HIRING. The earth couldn’t afford to send any recruiters or limos to your school. It sent you rain, sunsets, ripe cherries, night blooming jasmine, and that unbelievably cute person you are dating. Take the hint. And here’s the deal: Forget that this task of planet-saving is not possible in the time required. Don’t be put off by people who know what is not possible. Do what needs to be done, and check to see if it was impossible only after you are done.
7th Graders Visit Angkor National Museum
by Daniela Papi
Yesterday the 7th grade students from Chanleas Dai came to Siem Reap for their first junior high school field trip. Currently, the junior high school is being housed in open classrooms with a thatched roof, awaiting the completion of Chanleas Dai's first junior high school building. The students are studying Khmer history, and without school walls to put posters and visuals up, they have little bring the history to life other than their text-heavy government text books.
One year ago, when PEPY brought intern and IT student Thavry Thul to Siem Reap, she visited the new Angkor National Museum and commented that we needed to bring the students to there to learn. Now, less than one year later, 100 seventh grade students have had the chance to visit the museum and learn more about their countries vast and colorful history.
Heroes, by AUW scholarship recipient Res Phasy
Below, Asian University for Women scholarship recipient Res Phasy describes the strong will of her parents, the hardships they faced, and their dream for her to have an education.
Heroes:
My parents did not only give me a life, but they nurtured me with their kindness. They like to help old poor villagers even though we are poor. My mother came from the rural area. She has nine siblings and she is the oldest. She had to work almost of the housework because her two sisters and two brothers went to school and other sisters, brothers were so small. She went fishing with my grandfather at three o’clock am. When she came back she went to collect the water and climbed up the hill of river bank with a couple heavy pails on her shoulders. In addition she fed animals and cooked the food. Her clothes always were wet and dirty. All of the days, she did not have time to take a nap.
Breaking Ground
PEPY is currently constructing 3 government primary schools and a secondary school building in Chanleas Dai Commune. All have begun construction already. Last week, Managing Director Maryann Bylander attended a groundbreaking ceremony organized by Ruun village. Her account of the ceremony follows.
Breaking Ground:
Alongside villagers, workers, and the school support committee, I stand beside a makeshift altar, a broken school desk covered with blue cloth. Atop it sits a hastily made symbolic school, a square offering made of banana leaves and bark by a team of villagers. The achaa, or spiritual leader, has adeptly crafted the altar, barely speaking as he makes quick cuts in the tree. With the help of some translation and gesture, he explains the symbolism for me. The “ground” of the school, is sprinkled with rice for the Gods, and a piece of bread that has been cut, to symbolize the ground we break today at Ruun primary school. Incense sparks from all four corners, an invitation for the Gods from all sides of the earth. Next to the school, a pig’s head, rice, noodles, fruit, and flowers made from local plants adorn the altar.
Thavry's Art
Thavry Thun has been working at PEPY for over 6 months and has been an inspiration to all. She studies IT in a class of 54 people, 53 of them are boys. She is from a small island outside of Phnom Penh where was one of very few people to go on to high school (accessible by a bike bike, boat, bike journey each way), and one of even fewer women to graduate and go on to university. She moved with us to Siem Reap and, even though she is a full-time student, she finds the time to write PEPY's Khmer Early Literacy Books, learn computer programing, and make her own website.
Visit her site at www.thavry.com and, for extra doses of inspiration, view the "My Art" pages (Life 1 and Life 2) for her drawings and stories about life in Cambodia or visit the pages called "My Island Homeland" where she has put up photos of her home including descriptions which shed light on Cambodian culture.
Thank you for being a PEPY Person, Thavry!
Page 1 of 2
<< Start < Prev 1 2 Next > End >>
Team Journal Categories
| Life’s most urgent question is: What are you doing for others? |
