Milton students to attend dedication of Cambodia school they 'built"

Pupils to attend dedication of foreign school they "built"

Thursday, December 04, 2008
By Wayne Laepple
The Daily Item (Pennsylvania, USA)

MILTON -- At 2:45 this morning, eight students, six teachers and chaperones were climbing aboard a bus to begin an epic journey, the culmination of their yearlong quest to build a school in Cambodia.

By airplane, boat and bus, their trip will take them to a tiny village called Mean in Kampong Cham Province to see the dedication of the Milton School, believed to be the first school in Cambodia built with funds raised by American public school students.

They will see first-hand what their work has meant to the children of the poverty-stricken Southeast Asian country. It was their efforts to raise money that built the school.

Larissa Luu, a Milton senior who is the spark plug of what came to be known as Educate Cambodia, is among the group taking the trip. She became the face of the effort, speaking before church and civic groups, urging her fellow students on, and her work brought her the 2008 Young Heroes Award from the National Liberty Museum in Philadelphia.

"I'm really excited that it's built," she said. "But I'm nervous about the trip."

The trip is costing each of the participants about $3,300, a price that includes a deep discount by American Council for International Studies, of Boston, which made all the travel arrangements.

Michael Conn, who teaches history and world cultures at Milton, visited Cambodia during the summer of 2007. He saw the desperate poverty and hunger for knowledge and made the initial pitch to help build the school.

Luu and her fellow students took it from there.

Conn and two other teachers, high school Principal Bryan Noaker, a teacher's sister and a parent, will accompany the students.

Conn said there hasn't been much contact with the people in Mean.

"We got an e-mail last Friday telling us the school was open and kids were attending," Conn said. "That's when it really hit us that we had done it."

The Milton School in Mean has 145 students and 11 teachers, and more pupils are expected as word spreads through the region about the school.

A week from today, Luu and her fellow students plan to wear the "Educate Cambodia" T-shirts they sold as fundraisers to the dedication.

Community response 'phenomenal'

William Clark, Milton's superintendent, said those going on the trip are "ambassadors of educational goodwill."

Clearing the killing fields

By Lois Goldrich
New Jersey Jewish Standard (New Jersey, USA)

Barnert contingent visits Cambodia, raises funds to build school there

Rabbi Joel Soffin has led outreach projects all over the world — in El Salvador, Argentina, Ukraine, and Ethiopia. But last year, after reading an article by New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof on human trafficking in Cambodia, he knew that country would be his next destination.

In January, Soffin, social action rabbinical scholar-in-residence at Barnert Temple in Franklin Lakes, went on a fact-finding mission to Cambodia. With him were Sara Losch, Barnert’s director of lifelong learning, and temple member Suzanne Levy. Also on the tour were congregants from Soffin’s previous congregation, Temple Shalom of Succasunna.

Describing his job at Barnert as "coordinating and inspiring social action," Soffin — who served the congregation as sabbatical rabbi from October 2006 to April 2007 — spoke to The Jewish Standard from Maine, where he is serving as sabbatical rabbi at Bet Ha’am synagogue in South Portland.

In "Fighting Brothels with Books," published in December 2006, Kristof states that while "building schools doesn’t solve the immediate problem of girls currently enslaved inside brothels … [l]iterate girls not only are in less danger of being trafficked, but later they have fewer children, care for their children better, and are much better able to earn a living."

Inspired by the article, Soffin — then sitting shiva for his brother, a teacher in Buffalo — realized that not only would building a school in Cambodia help the trafficking problem, but it would also be a fitting memorial for his brother, who worked with Buffalo City Honors, established for "kids who would otherwise be left behind," said Soffin. "I was thinking of him and his legacy."

Still, he noted, "While my initial motivation came from the Kristof article, once we were there, we went to the killing fields and the genocide museum. There was a building with 20 floors of human skulls. Does that sound familiar? Their souls were calling out ‘never again,’ but it happened again."

He said he also learned during the trip that "the people there want to learn how to take care of themselves, they don’t want handouts. They want to create their own future.

"Someone told me that they want their children ‘to use pens, not guns,’ a very Jewish vision. That solidified it for us."

Calling the trip both "exhausting and life-changing," Losch said that "the current reality is that children who do not go to school frequently wind up being trafficked into prostitution. We needed to understand why. Though I knew all about Pol Pot and the killing fields … the horrors of Cambodia were something I learned, watched on TV, but didn’t connect with. So, not to be tourists but to help us understand why we should build a school there, we needed to really understand what had happened."

Soffin, who created the Adult Mitzvah Corps of the Reform movement, said that the first step he took in planning the venture in Cambodia was to meet with former journalist Bernie Krisher, now head of the aid group American Assistance for Cambodia. According to Soffin, Krisher’s group facilitates the creation of schools in Cambodia with the assistance of private donors, the Cambodian government, and the Asian Development Bank. The organization has overseen construction of some 403 schools since it was created in the late 1990s, he said.

"They’re trying to offset some of the losses that resulted from Pol Pot’s policy of genocide in the 1970s," said Soffin. Pol Pot killed some 2 million Khmer people between 1975 and 1979. He noted that Cambodia is trying rebuild without the aid of the educators, artists, and entertainers who were killed during those blood-soaked years. Last year, only one out of every two Cambodian children completed primary school.

"One hundred percent of the schools were closed," said Losch, "relegating the country’s children to work in rice paddies and fields. The brutality was inconceivable. As Jews, we certainly are no strangers to such evil, yet even for us, the [sight] of skulls stacked shelves high, or walking on human bones, was devastating. We said Kaddish while standing with our tour guide, for a brother he never saw again."

Before embarking on the school project, Soffin’s group set out to learn whether building a school would, in fact, be the best way to help. The six participants — including his son Aaron — visited schools and spoke with experts on the issue of human trafficking.

"We wanted to find out if education is the way, or if there is something else that would be more effective," said Soffin. "It was uniformly agreed that education is the answer," he said, noting that what they learned only reinforced the feelings aroused by Kristof’s articles.

From Krisher, Soffin learned that if a certain amount of money could be raised, the Cambodian government would add additional monies, as would the Asian Development Bank. The rabbi is now appealing for funds from within and outside the Barnert community.

His goal is to raise $60,000, which will pay for the education of 500 children. Soffin noted that the money would fund five classes, each serving 50 children, in two shifts. It would also allow for "extras." He explained that while a school can be built for $13,000, with the government ready to step in and provide teachers and a curriculum, private donors can also select things off a "wish list."

Items on that list include some of the features he saw while visiting several schools during his January trip.

"In the schools we visited, the kids were thriving, happy, and learning. There was a well, water filter, vegetable garden, nurse, solar panel, library, and English teacher," he said. His plan is to provide some of those features, funding a generator rather than a solar panel so that a school will be able to support the use of 12 computers. In addition, he said, without ongoing funding, a school cannot continue to operate.

Soffin hopes to finish his fund-raising efforts in June. Besides reaching out to the community, he will make a contribution to this effort from his own foundation, Helping Hands. As part of this effort, he said, his son is uploading a movie of their Cambodia experience on his Website, soffinfilms.com.

For further information, email RabbiSoffin@gmail.com

Students Work to Build School in Cambodia

Feb 7, 2008
By Norm Jones
WNEP TV station (Pennsylvania, USA)

Some students in Northumberland County are on a mission to build a brand new school all the way across the globe. The Milton High School students are asking for your help for Team Cambodia.

They are a group of motivated students trying to make a difference for underprivileged children.

"Just the little children that have gone through so much, and yet they're still pushing through every day. To see how easy we have it here, it's nice to help kids across the world," said Larissa Luu of Team Cambodia. She is president of the fundraiser.

For the past two months, she and her fellow classmates have been raising money to build a new school for Cambodian children, complete with books, desks, computers, even solar panels for electricity.

It was an idea sparked by their teacher, who recently visited the war-torn country.

"Improper diet, some of them suffer from malnutrition, poverty, unsafe water to drink, land mines. What chances do they have? If we can make their lives a little better it seems to me that it's the right thing to do," said teacher Mike Conn.

Out of the $30,000 needed the student have raised $10,000 by selling everything from lollypops and tee-shirts to holding bake sales and spaghetti dinners.

"Well we've been going around to all the clubs, Lions Club is donating $500, Kiwanis Club. We've just been giving presentations and we've been getting a lot of positive responses by going out and doing that," said Amy Brown of Team Cambodia.

The students are driven to succeed by the end of this school year. With only a few months left to go they hope people who see the faces of the needy children will open up their hearts and their wallets and give to a good cause.

"Everyone always wants to help out with something and make a contribution to something. This felt like a really good way to do something good for the world," said Sarah Sheaffer of Team Cambodia.

Donations can be made payable to Team Cambodia, Team Cambodia, Milton High School, 700 Mahoning Street, Milton PA, 17847.

How Rachel Rosenfled raise more than $52 K to build a school in Cambodia

Rachel Rosenfeld of Harrison raised about $53,000 to build a school in Cambodia, while out sick a year from the Hackley School. The World Bank matched her contributions. Rachel and her family were to be honored Christmas Day for her contributions. (Photo: Eric Rosenfeld)

Cambodian school named in honor of Harrison teen

December 28, 2007
By STACY A. ANDERSON
THE JOURNAL NEWS (Lower Hudson, New York, USA)

HARRISON - A town teenager was honored Wednesday after overcoming her own failing health to help less-advantaged children in Cambodia.

Rachel Rosenfeld, 17, attended the opening ceremony of the R.S. Rosenfeld School, named in her honor, after she raised more than $52,000 to build the school in a small village of the Siem Reap province.

Last year, Rosenfeld was stricken with post-viral gastroparesis, a digestive disorder in which food is not properly processed by the stomach and causes severe stomach pains.

"She missed a year of school, and since she couldn't attend school, she decided to raise money to build a school in Cambodia," said Rosenfeld's father, Eric, before traveling to the Southeast Asian country during the weekend.

Rosenfeld was inspired to raise money after reading an article about young Cambodian girls who lived in villages without schools and were forced into prostitution by their parents, Rosenfeld's father said.

Rosenfeld raised the money by sending fundraising letters and selling t-shirts with smiley face designs that read "Put a Roof Over Their Heads."

Rosenfeld also offered naming rights to items in the school, such as a chair for $25 and a bookcase for $150.

Rosenfeld's contributions were matched by financial institutions including The World Bank.

In addition to her father, Rosenfeld was accompanied by her mother, Lisa; sister Amanda, 19; brother, Jason, 15; and grandparents at the ribbon cutting ceremony for the school, which will serve more than 300 children.

Marcie Klein of Harrison, a friend of the Rosenfeld family, commended the teen for her contribution to the village.

"It's really admirable and special," Klein said. "To make up for lost time, she turned a negative situation - or being out of school for so long - into something positive."

Rosenfeld, an avid squash player, has since returned to the Hackley School as a junior.

Reach Stacy A. Anderson at sanderso1@lohud.com or 914-694-5080.

Milton teacher, students seek support for Cambodia project

GO, TEAM, GO! — From left, high school juniors Nicole Smith, Larissa Luu, history teacher Mike Conn and junior Amy Brown model their ‘Team Cambodia’ T-shirts from the sale the group held to raise funds for a humanitarian project. Conn said $6 of the $10 from each sale will support an effort to build a school in Cambodia. (Photo by Jeff Shaffer)

Wed Dec 26, 2007
By Jeff Shaffer
The Standard-Journal (Milton, Pennsylvania, USA)

MILTON — By now, most in the Milton Area School District know something of history teacher Mike Conn and his students’ efforts to aid Cambodia.

Junior Larissa Luu, student president of Team Cambodia, put it this way to her peers Friday during a special assembly before the winter break.

If the earth’s population could be shrunk to 100 people, keeping all existing human ratios remaining the same, there would be 57 Asians, 21 Europeans, 14 North Americans, 14 South Americans and eight Africans.

In addition, 70 would be non-white, the same amount would also be non-Christian. Fifty percent of the world’s wealth would be in the hands of six people, all from the United States. A staggering 70 would not be able to read, 50 would suffer from malnutrition and 80 would live in sub-standard housing.

In all, only one would have a college education.

“When one considers our world from such an incredibly compressed perspective, the need for tolerance, understanding and education becomes glaringly apparent,” Luu said.

Pulling on the heart strings of many, she and Conn shared the sad story of Cambodia as it is today. For decades, civil war and a ruthless regime have left the nation among the poorest in the world.

In the mid to late 1970s, the government murdered or starved more than 2 million of its 6 million citizens, including teachers, artists, political opponents and even children.

Through his own experiences, Conn feels called to help the country’s people, specifically the children. Most Cambodian children don’t go to school and struggle to survive in villages without electricity. They are frequently forced to drink and bath in filthy water. In addition, unexploded mines from past conflicts continue to wreak havoc on rural villages. Some officials estimate several million buried mines remain in Cambodia.

In November, Conn proposed to the school board that he lead the efforts, along with his advanced placement U.S. history class, to raise $30,000 to build a secondary school in the Southeast Asia country through the organization American Assistance for Cambodia, which has already built 300-some schools there.

The school, which would be named after Milton, would come with furnishings, textbooks, teachers, solar panels for electricity, a computer lab, Internet access and a well to provide fresh water.

The board was happy to give their blessings.

Since then, the fund-raising efforts have begun through many different avenues, including “Team Cambodia” T-shirt and bracelet sales, spaghetti dinner, dress down day for teachers and others. A faculty versus seniors basketball game is being planned for 2008. The other schools in the district are planning to get involved, such as the middle school holding a dance.

Before Friday, the student body at the high school was not directly told of the plan to raise the money by the end of the school year. Now everybody knows they have a chance to be a part of something special.

“It’s opened eyes to what it’s like out there,” Luu said.

Junior Nicole Smith of Milton, another member of Team Cambodia, noted while a private school in Washington has sponsored a school in Cambodia, Milton could be the first public school to follow suit.

“If every student in the high school raised $32 each, it would be enough,” Conn said of the 800-some students. “I can help motivate but it will be up to these folks (the student members).”

Conn believes they may have banked about $2,000 thus far.

Soon the students will plan to make presentations to the community, such as to the Rotary and Kiwanis clubs.

Donations to the project, which are tax deductible, should be made to: Team Cambodia, c/o Mike Conn, Milton High School, 700 Mahoning St., Milton, Pa. 17847.

For students, cash donations are being accepted in Conn’s classroom (209).

Community Concert Scheduled to Benefit Cambodian School Project

Hamilton College Employees Organize Dec. 16 Event

Contact: Vige Barrie
Phone: (315) 859-4623
December 10, 2007
Hamilton College News (New York, USA)

A community holiday concert and bake sale to raise contributions to build a school in Cambodia will be held on Sunday, Dec. 16, from 4:30 to 6 p.m. at the Kirkland Art Center. Organized primarily by Hamilton employees, the concert will include a sing-a-long and is free and open to the public.

The Cambodian school building project began in a sophomore seminar a year ago. Last December, adjunct professor Chris Willemsen, who was teaching Democracy, Ethics, and Globalization with philosophy professor Rick Werner, read a New York Times opinion column titled "Fighting Brothels with Books." Twelve months later, Willemsen and a small group of Hamilton employees and other local community members are on the verge of funding the proposed school for Cambodian children.

Although the opinion piece caught their attention, it was their students' presentations on human trafficking and the ensuing class discussions that inspired Willemsen and Werner to undertake the building fund project.

"Like many in the class, the topic of human trafficking left me with a feeling of helplessness and horror," said Willemsen. "It's very difficult for governments to stop human trafficking (even if they have the will to do so), because these networks, like so many organized crime groups, are nimble, difficult to track and adept at co-opting local officials. And unfortunately, it's hard to pull people out of prostitution and slavery once they are trafficked. Following the logic of the Times' column, the school project seemed like a small way we might be able to make a difference."

A core group of volunteers that included Willemsen and Werner as well as Associate Dean of Students Carol Drogus, government professor Steve Orvis, Director of the Career Center Kino Ruth and Helen Werner began the work of raising the necessary $13,000 to fund a school. They have raised more than $10,000, enough to allow ground-breaking to begin. Projects have included many community endeavors including bake sales, bike rides and a garage sale.

Since many of the group's members are musically inclined, a holiday concert seemed to offer another fundraising opportunity. Although admission will be free, the group has high hopes that attendees will make generous end-of-year contributions to the project. A bake sale will also be held at 4 p.m. before the event.

Concert performers include Amy James from the Dean of Students office, her husband Bob Ford, David and Leslie Bell from career services, Assistant Dean of Campus Life and Student Activities Director Lisa Magnarelli, Chaplain Jeff McArn and Dean of Students Nancy Thompson and her husband Mark. The Clinton High School Select Choir and a local string ensemble will also perform. There will be several opportunities for the audience to join in the singing of well known holiday songs.

Ten thousand dollars of the $13,000 will go to building the school. These funds are matched by the Asian Development Bank. The rest of the money will be used for operating costs. Once built and funded, the school will be donated to the village and recognized as a state school. The group has the option of raising an additional $30,000 for Internet connections, a victory vegetable garden, a school nurse and other services. A non-profit organization called American Assistance for Cambodia facilitates the process.

Construction is scheduled to begin in January, and it should take three to four months to build the school. The donor is invited to the ribbon cutting ceremony, and a few of the Hamilton volunteers hope to go to Cambodia, attend the ceremony and meet the children and the teachers.

More information may be found at www.cambodiaschools.com

Milton teacher spurs Cambodia project

Wednesday, November 14, 2007
By Jeff Shaffer Staff writer
Standard Journal (Milton, Pennsylvania, USA)

“The need for understanding, tolerance and education is glaringly important” - Mike Conn, Milton high school teacher

MILTON — Soon enough there may be another school with Milton’s name on it; this one will be nearly 9,000 miles away.

The Milton Area School Board gave its blessing to Mike Conn, a high school social studies teacher, to start a club and raise $30,000 to build a school in poverty-stricken Cambodia Tuesday night.

As some readers may remember, Conn, his daughter from New York and other educators visited southeast Asia — Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia — this past summer. The trip was featured in Standard Journal.

The poor children of Cambodia weighed particularly heavy on Conn’s heart.

“I thought I knew what I was in store for,” Conn, a seasoned world traveler, told the board. “But, I didn’t.

“It was the most amazing travel experience of my life. I won’t forget those children.”

The teacher went on to show a short video of the day-to-day of life for many Cambodians. The average monthly salary is $20; they dig through trash for food and recyclable materials to sell. The country is full of landmines and leads the world in amputations because of the destructive devices.

A former French colony, Cambodia has yet to recover from a ruthless regime that assumed power about 30 years ago. Conservative estimates suggest that 2 million people were killed by Pol Pot and his followers.

Conn believes educating the next generation is the first step in turning the country around.

“The need for understanding, tolerance and education is glaringly important,” he said.

Conn, who has high hopes of reaching the goal by the end of this school year, will be working with American Assistance for Cambodia (AAfC), which has already built hundreds of schools in Cambodia. But still, many more are needed.

If all goes according to plan, Milton may be the first public school in the country to construct a learning facility in Cambodia, Conn said. The school will be named after Milton.

The money will pay for a five- to seven-room school, large enough to hold 500 children. A well will also be dug to provide fresh water. Students will receive text books and other supplies, and even a satellite dish for Internet capabilities on new computers. The school will also be provided with teachers through AAfC.

“We could be their window to the world,” Conn said.

He added Milton students are very excited about taking on this project, and raising the money should be “very doable.”

In addition to the board, superintendent Dr. William Clark said he’ll be looking forward to the project.

“It struck a chord with me, as a parent of a child from a Third World country,” he said.

Clark also mentioned Milton has taken on some other great projects, such as building homes for Habitat for Humanity.

Jeff Shaffer: 570-742-9671
jeff@standard-journal.com