By Brooke Loving-Bagwell, PLF Intern

The classroom desks were filled with students, eager to recite the alphabet and practice their English. Outside, inquisitive little ones lined the windowsills to get a glimpse of the class lessons. I remember their immense smiles, bowing heads and folded hands. Their gratitude—for an afternoon snack, bright red Frisbees and fresh jump ropes—touched me. Together, we played games in the dusty school yard, laughing and howling as the students attempted to jump rope for the first time. Looking around at the students, many the same age as me, I began to recognize the great privilege I had.

Brooke and mother Vikki at Knar School in 2007.

It was at Knar Primary School in 2007 that things began to click for me. In my privileged, pre-teen terms, I remember equating the price of a pedicure to the cost for two students to attend one year of school. I was blown away by this vast disparity, but optimistically concluded that the solution was just a few less pedicures away.

Nine years later, and I am still pretty optimistic. Returning to Cambodia for a six-week internship with Ponheary Ly Foundation, my intentions were as ideal as my twelve-year-old conclusions. I travelled to Siem Reap with an end-goal of greater understanding. While I have learned a lot about the history and politics of Cambodia in a short amount of time—thank you Lori and Ponheary—there are some things that can never be understood.

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Brooke at Koh Ker School in 2015

During my stay in Cambodia, I was confronted by the harsh realities that many students face daily. It was easy to feel discouraged, disillusioned, even paralyzed, by the weight of the issues at hand, yet, I soon realized the disservice I was doing myself and others by lingering in these sentiments. Some PLF words of wisdom—shared over a bowl of noodles—helped me to shift my guilt into something more constructive: gratitude. With a steadfast focus on what is working comes gratitude, and hope. In watching the kids learn, create, and engage in school, I found hope, their hope. I realized that my role was not necessarily to fix the things that I had perceived broken, but instead to create the space for the kids to deliver their own change. I learned that transformation does not always come from a “do-good” mentality, but a deeper self-inquiry of how to be in that space.

 I have a lot of gratitude for the PLF staff and the lessons that they have imparted on me over the past six weeks. Seeing their passion, expertise, and dedication daily for their students has inspired to continue to contribute to the PLF from afar. I have seen the power of $20 and how much it is appreciated. Maybe, the answer truly is just a few less pedicures away.

Screen Shot 2015-07-10 at 3.44.50 PMEditor’s Note: Brooke’s experience at Knar School in 2007 with her mother Vikki (who at that time sat on the PLF Board of Directors) was a self described “life-altering experience”. She is about to graduate from American University with a degree in International Development and hopes to work at a grass-roots organization in South America upon graduation.

She is not the first young person who has visited PLF to have this awakening.

So, parents take note: if you don’t want your children having a major shift in their world-view, we recommend you not bring them here with you. —–Lori