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In the Cambodian village of Phlong, a toddler clutches a big beautiful One World Futbol. |
Hello, friends.
This is gonna be quick. In a few hours I'm boarding a plane for the long flight home. But I'm not leaving Cambodia without proselytizing for the One World futbol. Many of you readers paid for these over the past few years, and, from time to time, you get to see where they are going.
Today's report starts with the photo below. The reclining gentleman is a tuk tuk (yes, that's what it's called) driver outside the Ratanak Phnom Penh Hotel, one of the places I stayed. On warm dry nights he might sleep in his machine, and that's what he was doing in the wee hours when Jay Hastings and I rose to attend a meeting of 10 Cambodian fishing villages.
The villages are involved in Jay's loan program to help them build capital. They came together early this past week for a regular progress report.
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Lieng Sopha, representing the Cambodian fisheries department, addressed representatives of the 10 villages. |
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After the general address, Jay (right) met with representatives of each village. |
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And then there was the photo op, when cash loans were symbolically passed to the villages. |
I provide modest support for this program which my childhood friend created, but my real reason for attending the meeting was to deliver the goods -- 20 virtually indestructible One World Futbols. Although I had a friend bring futbols to Cambodia earlier this year, this is the first time I have brought them.
It is also the first time I've had a speaking role at one of these meetings. And here's the gist what I told the audience on behalf of the One World Futbol donors:
Although you have been told I don't profit from this program, that is not true. This experience enriches me because I feel the joy of watching Jay's program succeed, and of watching you benefit from this program. I am proud to be a part of this and I am proud of what you are doing. The soccer balls I have brought for this occasion are very unusual. They do not go flat, and you do not need a needle and a pump to keep them inflated. They remember their shape and they can be punctured 1,000 times and still bounce.
They will last as long as this program -- and probably longer! <The villagers laughed.> They were invented by someone who wanted to benefit communities such as yours, and they were paid for by Americans who wanted to support people like you and who feel joy in doing so. And I should point out that these futbols are not just for boys. Girls can play, too! After all, many of these futbols were sponsored by women.
And with that, I singled out a lady in the audience and presented her with the first One World Futbol, to drive the point home. That's me, sitting next to her with two cartons of futbols in the background. Those cartons actually qualified as luggage and flew free with me on my overseas flight to Phnom Penh.
So for those of you who have asked: Yes, you can take them with you overseas, and a carton of 10 is one linear inch shorter than the maximum length allowed for luggage. The boxes held up fine, and if you found 9 additional doners to join you, the cost of $250 for 10 balls would make this pretty affordable. Imagine taking them to an orphanage in India or to a village in Morocco. You would be a hero!
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Me, she, and a couple One World Futbols |
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The obligatory group shot . That's me in the foreground, emulating a reclining Buddah. |
The next day we were on our way to visit the same villages, and here's what I watched after we arrived by boat at the village of Phlong:
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The One World Flutbols were the only balls I saw at the village. |
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The next closest thing to a ball in plain sight were marbles. |
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A toddler demonstrates the versatility of the One World Futbol. |
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What is the sound of one child smiling? |
Love,
Robert
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