Student has lessons to share from Cambodia

Thu, Aug. 23, 2007
KIRSTEN VALLE
The Charlotte Observer (North Carolina, USA)

"We're worried about gas prices, and people have no idea what's going on in Cambodia. We're worrying about the wrong things" - Tremone Jackson

Steele Creek --For a week in Cambodia, Tremone Jackson bathed with baby wipes because his tub was full of rainwater, mosquitoes and lizards.

He saw homes made of corn husks, families crowded into tiny shelters. He taught English to children who only knew how to ask American tourists for money.

And after nearly a month in the country, Jackson, a 17-year-old senior at Olympic High's School of International Studies & Global Economics, is back in Steele Creek with some lessons to share.

"It was a breathtaking experience for me," he said. "I was shocked, and I still am shocked."

The trip was organized by the East-West Center, an education and research organization established by Congress in 1960 to strengthen relations between the United States and Asia.

Jackson has always been interested in community service, leading an AIDS relief fundraiser last school year, for instance, but he'd never been involved in such efforts abroad.

He applied for the trip earlier this year after his principal, Matthew Hayes, suggested it. Olympic had worked with the East-West Center before, and Hayes thought the experience would be good for Jackson.

"I knew he'd be a good figure for us to send as a representation of what young American men should be," Hayes said.

Olympic paid $2,500 for the trip, using grant money. And Jackson and 20 other high schoolers from across the country set off July 1.

The group spent a week in Hawaii learning the basics of the language and culture.

And then it was off to the Third World country, where students visited villages, taught English to local kids and collected footage for a documentary, which is in the editing process.

Jackson said his weeklong stay with a Cambodian family was the most memorable part of the trip.

When he arrived at the family's home, he found that no one knew English. His bath was full of rainwater and bugs, and he awoke to chickens at 4 a.m.

"That night, I was just laying in my bed hoping that this week would be over with," Jackson said.

Eventually, a family friend who knew English came to help, and Jackson bonded with his hosts.

"The family was so nice," he said. "Once they got to know me, they were very nice."

Jackson formed similar friendships with the children he taught and people he met, he said.

"It was a simple life," he said. "The conditions were really poor. But I felt so bad the day I left. I just wanted to be there."

In early October, Jackson will make a presentation about the trip to his classmates and teachers. He also hopes to launch a fundraiser for the villages he visited.

When the documentary is finished, Jackson and other East-West Center students will show it to their communities.

And someday, Jackson will go back to Cambodia, he said.

For now, he just wants his classmates to know there's more to life than what many of them see.

"Why are we complaining about simple stuff here in America?" Jackson said. "We're worried about gas prices, and people have no idea what's going on in Cambodia. We're worrying about the wrong things."

Reach Kirsten Valle at 704-358-6043.