Andrew McCormick ‘06 was the Head Program Director for Hoos Against Hunger and Homelessness for two years. He and his wife have continued their volunteer service after graduating. We covered some of their efforts in a recent e-newsletter.
My wife, Amanda, and I (Boosters and HAHAH alums!), had a priceless opportunity to spend two months in Cambodia last summer. I had previously spent a lot of time backpacking around Southeast Asia and so I was infinitely excited to revisit such a marvelously unique part of our world. However, rather than just visiting ancient temples and eating deliciously spicy street food, we’d actually be spending most of our time volunteering. So what takes a lawyer and teacher to Cambodia for two months?
An eleven-year old girl.
During a solo backpacking trip to Vietnam, I was solicited by dozens of men offering me little boys and girls. On one of my last nights in Ho Chi Minh City, I was approached by a tiny little girl, who donned an overdose of makeup and a shortage of clothes, who seemed to be the same age as my younger sister.
She asked if I wanted to buy her.
After a failed conversation in broken English, I could only ask her how old she was.
Eleven.
Although I had heard these types of stories before, this little girl was standing right in front of me and this was her reality.
And that can’t happen.
My wife and I were both blessed with the work flexibility to take off for a few months and try to do something about this dark world of sex slavery. Sure, we weren’t going to be changing the world in two months, but helping give a single boy or girl a second chance at life is always worth fighting for. After doing some research about various NGOs, we decided that we’d be spending our summer in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
I wrote the below blog post after only two days in Phnom Penh. Even now, as we’ve resumed our lives as a securities litigator and special education teacher, our lives will never be the same. And whether it is in Charlottesville or Phnom Penh, that’s often one of the unexpected benefits of volunteer work: you set off to help others, but YOU emerge as a bright, wiser, and kinder person, full of invaluable experiences.
“We’ve now been in Phnom Penh for two days, and along with the endless dust and heat, there has been plenty of heartache.
But more importantly, hope.
We’ve already had the chance to meet the girls we’ll be working with and supporting this summer. Just like any girls, they love giggling, fixing up their hair and nails, and, of course, crushing on boys. However, these girls also carry some very heavy and traumatic burdens from their dark and painful pasts. It is absolutely stunning to see their young smiling faces and to then hear the horrific things they have had to endure during their young lives. Some of these girls are only five or six years old, but have already experienced more trauma and abuse than any person should ever bear.
Fortunately, the organization we’re working with, the She Rescue Home, is doing tremendous things to help give these girls a second chance. There are a number of awesome organizations in Cambodia, including the She Rescue Home, that help rescue and rehabilitate girls who have been trafficked. However, the She Home is also doing incredible things to help girls who are extremely at-risk of ending up in that horrible world. There are so many horror stories out there about young girls who have been stolen and put into brothels and have endured so many terrible hardships. Thus, it is SO important that the She Home is also doing some amazing things to help girls before they have to experience that sort of torment.
One such at-risk population in Cambodia is rape victims. Obviously, rape is a horrendous thing and probably the worst thing a person can endure. Unfortunately, a rape victim in Cambodia isn’t met with sympathy or support, but rather, with scorn, hate, and abandonment. Since the girl is now seen as dirty and worthless to the family (even if the dad was the perpetrator), she is often sold to traffickers or kicked out of the family home. Thus, it is so crucial to intervene during these early stages, rather than after years of torture and abuse.
Despite all that gloom, there are also many tales of victory. The She Home has been able to pull a lot of these girls off the streets and have given them the support and attention they desperately need. Just as it is difficult to hear so many tales of grief, it is absolutely thrilling to hear beautiful stories of redemption and rebirth. So many of the girls are dominating school and emerging as leaders in their communities. We’ve also had the chance to visit a few local businesses, including a delightful cupcake café, that employee some of these girls. I can’t even begin to describe the joy you feel when you see a stunningly gorgeous wedding cake that has been made by a young lady who has escaped from such a dark world and is now striving to build a new life for herself. It is truly humbling to be part of something so beautiful, so transformative, and so full of hope.
And so there are certainly some evil people out there doing some absolutely horrendous things, but hope, freedom, and restoration are winning.”
I didn’t know Friday (April 22, 2011) was Earth Day. If it weren’t for this week’s kindergarten class, I probably wouldn’t have known until I saw Google’s earthy logo that day. When I was in school, I remember briefly talking about Earth Day, and I think my class planted a tree in celebration. But the kindergarteners are celebrating all week long, and began by learning about “going green.”
That being said, they already knew a fair amount about the eco-friendly way of life. A few students pretty clearly articulated the purpose of “going green” was to reduce, reuse, and recycle. Anne Marie explained how a compost pile worked. Mynique described the recycling process (“you give them your old paper and they turn it into new paper again”). Everyone could point to the recycling bin at the front of the classroom. All in all, I was really impressed with how environmentally conscious all of the kids were.
Together we learned about other ways to protect the environment by reading Miss Fox’s Class Goes Green by Eileen Spinelli. One idea that Miss Fox had that I thought was particularly clever was a “toy swap:” each of her students brought an old toy or game that he or she was tired of and switched it with a classmate so each student ended up with a new toy without actually buying a new toy. When I was in kindergarten I think I would have loved that idea (my friends always seemed to have more exciting toys than I did). Indeed, the kids let out a collective “ooooh” when we read the few pages about the toy swap. Future class project, anyone? I think it would be a huge hit.
Whether it’s because of their parents, their teachers, or just a general change in culture, I’m pretty glad these little kids are aware of simple things to help the environment. I certainly wasn’t aware of all this stuff when I was 6. From writing on both sides of paper to bringing re-usable bags to the grocery store, everyone seemed to know the basics of living green.
I hadn’t seen Trudy for a while, but she was excited when I walked in. I am always amazed by her memory–the first thing she asked was about my trip to Roanoke. I had gone home late last week and she remembered! Earlier last week I had gone to visit the Chancellorsville battlefield with my civil war class. I sent her a post card and she told me how she had gotten it and was glad to receive it. The postcard had Stonewall Jackson on the front and we talked a while how I had seen where he was shot and killed. She shared what she had learned in school about the Civil War and it was neat to see how much she actually remembered. After catching up for a while, we went to play Scrabble in the game room. We came to a couple standpoints throughout the game but she always came up with a big word to help solve the problem. We ended up finishing the game with a few letters left we weren’t able to use but nonetheless had a fun time. We went to her room after to talk a little more, and she showed me a sheet she had gotten from a friend that told a story of an old Indian legend and how those in the tribe were taught to respect their elders. She told me how respect is what a lot of people today lack, and if her mother was still around, she wouldn’t have any part of it. I had to leave after that to get back to classes, but I’m looking forward to going next week!