Seven futbols to Cambodia!

The Wilson campaign has finally reached a long-sought objective: One World Futbols to Cambodia.

I have a personal interest in Cambodia. A childhood friend, Jay Hastings, has created a novel program,  not just of low-interest micro loans--but of interest free micro loans--to 10 fishing villages associated with  Tonle Sap, the largest freshwater lake in Southeast Asia. Jay flies to Cambodia twice a year to help these villages manage these loans to built their own capital by re-loaning the money to their villagers. His effort, supported by the national government's fisheries department, has drawn the attention and participation of a major Japanese university. It got my attention, too. I sponsored the loan for one of the villages, Kanleng Phe, and had wanted to return to distribute One World Futbols. That trip wasn't in the cards this year, but things changed, when I met the newest member of Team Wilson during a visit to Chacala, Mexico, in February.

Biviano

David Biviano, Team Wilson's newest member, is a philosophy professor who once operated an orphanage in Siem Reap, where he now teaches Western philosophy at Paññasastra University of Cambodia (PUC). Siem Reap is the city where the World Heritage Site, Angkor Wat, is situated. PUC is the first higher learning institution in Cambodia that provides English based education in all subjects, and is officially accredited by the Royal Government of Cambodia's Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport.

World heritage site, Angkor Wat

I met David while visiting a friend in Chacala, Mexico, a tiny fishing village 90 kilometers by car north of Puerto Vallarta. Years earlier, David had  decided he was tired of Seattle weather and opted for warmer climates. He spends time each winter in Chacala. He began spending part of his year in Cambodia as a result of a Buddhism pilgrimage to Southeast Asia. The low cost of living there on Social Security, and the sale of his condominium, made it possible for him to start the Cambodian Child House of Peace, with 30 orphaned children, in 2008.  Schools like it were later closed at the recommendation of Unicef, which felt that the children were better back in their villages. David disagrees; he sees the villages as impoverished and isolating.

The "joy of his life"

The policy of closing orphanages still grates with him. For a three-year period he had overseen operation of the home and conducted fund raising. "It was the joy of my life," he said. He takes pride that, on his limited income, he was able to put two of the kids through college; one is a real estate salesman and the other, who is blind, specializes in business management. The blind student is also an English conversation teacher who speaks with an American accent, and who started the Cambodian Blind Students Association.

The cover of True Moon, David's morality tale for children at his Cambodian orphanage.

A child's morality tale

In Chacala, David shared his story about his book True Moon. It's a children's tale about the moon coming to terms with the reality that it is not the only light in the sky. The cover illustration, shown here, is based on a night photo of The Cambodian Children's House of Peace with a bicycle in the foreground and  a tiny crescent moon, with two tiny planets for eyes, seeming to smile down from the heavens. Proceeds from sales of the book, which is available through Amazon, supported the Children's House.

David with futbols & kazoos

A story like that begs for another, so I shared with David my adventures that began four years ago when I was training to climb Mount Adams and learned about this marvelous creation -- a soccer ball that never goes flat. It didn't take him long to realize he wanted to take some to Cambodia. In late July, after returning home from Malawi, I caught up with David in Centralia, Washington, while he was enroute from Mexico back to Cambodia. At that time I handed over 7 balls to take back with him, along with a whole bunch of kazoos.

I am the man who introduced Kazoos to Vietnam (or at least, Hanoi) and Malawi (or at least, its capital city, Lilongwe!), and now maybe I'm responsible for them reaching Cambodia. It's been fun watching people blow into them fruitlessly, until I showed them how to get sound out of a kazoo!

Our meeting in July was an opportunity for me to learn a little bit more about this impressive retiree. David attended Fordham, a private research university in New York City, and the oldest Catholic university in the Northeast. His career took him along a circuitous path that included being a juvenile justice consultant and an instructor in sexual harassment and diversity  for the U.S. Energy Department and Hanford Environmental Health employees at Hanford Nuclear Reservation. He also taught diversity and sexual harassment avoidance for Washington State University employees. At age 62, he served in the Peace Corps on the Caribbean island of St. Kitts.

David will remain in Cambodia until the holidays. He has promised to send photos and anecdotes as he distributes the balls. I look forward to sharing the news from the newest member of team Wilson.

Futbol supply nearly exhausted

Oh, by the way, this transfer virtually exhausts my supply of One World Futbols. As many of you know, I never ask for donations. But if you have a hankerin' to donate, the process is explained  in the upper right corner of this page, and I just had my 73rd birthday.

Next blog: Another profile of someone I've met along the way.

Love,
Robert

and Shu