Saturday:
Even though the U.S. Ambassabor (Carol Rodley) was scheduled to give one of the public talks as part of the Women's Empowerment Lecture Series, she decided to arrange the talk as a private event just for the girls form the dorm instead. As a political figure, she felt that this would allow her to be more open and candid about her experiences and more useful to the girls. We went to her house (how crazy is that???) and listened to a talk from her from about 2-3pm, followed by some questions. The girls asked great questions, like what has been your largest difficulty and how did you overcome it, what do you think has been your greatest success, what is the biggest thing that you think Cambodia needs to change to move forward, how do you deal with criticism and interact with people at all different levels of the government, etc.
A group picture of the girls, some of the women who attended, and the ambassador:
Following the talk, the ambassador held a tea for the girls and invited a number of Cambodian women leaders - people from finance, tourism, tv/media, and much more. It was a really wonderful afternoon, and I was so proud of all the girls. We managed to get there on time; everyone looked so nice; and they all networked like pros! I talked to some of the younger women who worked at the embassy, which was very interesting. And, I also spoke with a few of the Cambodian women. Right before we left I actually met the woman in charge of the girl scouts (called girl guides) here in Cambodia. I had no idea they even had that organization here! We talked a little bit since I have been active in girl scouts for as long as I can remember, and afterwards I looked up some information on their website. I was going to include a link to the website but am having a hard time finding it online (and don't have the time for a more in-depth search). Here is a link to a wikipedia page that provides a little more info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Girl_Guides_Association_of_Cambodia
In front of the house was this neat pool of water filled with flowers. They are lotus flowers with the edges of the petals folded together to look fancy. Some of the girls in the dorm said they know how to do this.
Not too much happened at the dorm after we returned from our afternoon extravaganza. That evening was movie night, and we watched Night at the Museum (the first one), and everyone seemed to like it but not nearly as much as the Fantastic Four movies.
Sunday:
I am sure other things happened on this day, but since it has been a week I can't exactly remember. THe main focus of the day was the women's empowerment lecture series at Monument Bookstore in the afternoon. The speaker this week was Lim Solinn who works at Oxfam America. She actually stopped by the dorm at 11am before the talk so that she could learn a little more about the girls. It was a nice visit, and I actually learned a few things about the dorm. Apparently in the first year more than 1,000 girls applied to be in the dorm and only 28 were selected. All 1,000 were top students in their high schools. That really just reinforces not only how smart and special these girls are but also how lucky they are to be here. So many of them wouldn't be able to attend college if it weren't for this placement, just as I am sure than of the rest of that 1,000 has not been able to attend college because they were not selected for a place at the dorm. It is good to know that the second dorm will be opening this next year and will provides spots and opportunities for 40 more girls.
Lim Solinn giving her talk to the girls (so, Solinn is her first name and Lim is her last name - just so you know!)
It morning here, but I need to take a nap before I add any other entries to the blog and before I start working on my papers again for the day. I was up until midnight, and then this morning one of my roommates started a furious cleaning of the room at 5 am!!!!!
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