Hawk Teflon
Veteran
Growing up in a large (enough) city in NC, going to public school, then to a major University, I figured I'd seen a lot, or experienced quite a bit. Especially considering I was a part of the punk, skateboarding subculture followed by the life of a professional (sucks to graduate, huh?). On top of that, I've spent thousands upon thousands of hours watching videos on youtube, reading articles on msn, and learning more basics on wikipedia and the likes (yes, I know the flaw in that).
On October 2nd I flew out of OKC to Phnom Penh, Cambodia to video a group on a medical missions trip. Other than the cruise I took to Mexico when I got married, I had never left the country. I had no idea what I was getting into. The humidity was awful, but my time in Memphis, Raleigh and times in OKC prepared me for that. One of the things that blew me away was the level of poverty there. Most people survived on a trade that would bring in less than $100 a month. A month! It's now making more sense to me how groups like Feed The Children or (the group I was with) People to People can take care of a child for that $20 a month. That $20 goes way WAY farther there than it does here. Sadly, most Cambodian families don't have the money to send their children to school, because they struggle to feed them. My eyes were completely opened to something I usually scoffed at on TV when I'd say, "I bet they don't even send most of that money over," or "What can $20 really do?" I actually saw what it could do, and I heard family after family (via a translator) telling how much it's made a difference in their children's lives. I'm not writing this as a plea of any kind, other than to really be aware of what's out there. I'm not a drinker, but if I was, I would lift a glass to PK for all he's done/doing! :beer:
Also, I learned about, and visited a place I'd never heard of. It was a tragic place called The Killing Fields. Somehow, in my 20ish years of education, I had never heard of this. It was an impossibly evil event that reminded me of nothing but the Holocaust. I won't go into the details of it, but if you're unaware of it, please google it and read about it. The more we're aware of history, the less likely it will be repeated. How have I never heard of this, you may ask. Leave it to NC, who was #48 in education when I was in school.
On October 2nd I flew out of OKC to Phnom Penh, Cambodia to video a group on a medical missions trip. Other than the cruise I took to Mexico when I got married, I had never left the country. I had no idea what I was getting into. The humidity was awful, but my time in Memphis, Raleigh and times in OKC prepared me for that. One of the things that blew me away was the level of poverty there. Most people survived on a trade that would bring in less than $100 a month. A month! It's now making more sense to me how groups like Feed The Children or (the group I was with) People to People can take care of a child for that $20 a month. That $20 goes way WAY farther there than it does here. Sadly, most Cambodian families don't have the money to send their children to school, because they struggle to feed them. My eyes were completely opened to something I usually scoffed at on TV when I'd say, "I bet they don't even send most of that money over," or "What can $20 really do?" I actually saw what it could do, and I heard family after family (via a translator) telling how much it's made a difference in their children's lives. I'm not writing this as a plea of any kind, other than to really be aware of what's out there. I'm not a drinker, but if I was, I would lift a glass to PK for all he's done/doing! :beer:
Also, I learned about, and visited a place I'd never heard of. It was a tragic place called The Killing Fields. Somehow, in my 20ish years of education, I had never heard of this. It was an impossibly evil event that reminded me of nothing but the Holocaust. I won't go into the details of it, but if you're unaware of it, please google it and read about it. The more we're aware of history, the less likely it will be repeated. How have I never heard of this, you may ask. Leave it to NC, who was #48 in education when I was in school.