John Lombard, Senior Minister of the Trinitarian Congregational Church in Concord, MA, has long been a supporter of The Sharing Foundation. Four years ago he came to Cambodia during a sabbatical , and since then he has vowed to return. TSF saw a great opportunity for him to teach critical thinking for our college kids. We are grateful to the Tricon Church for their continued sponsorship of orphans and their ongoing volunteer support. —NWH

As we sat on the floor in the foyer of the college students’ dormitory in Phnom Penh and I looked into the faces of these eager young men and women, I wondered what their lives might have been like if it were not for the Sharing Foundation. When you grow up in a poor village in the Cambodian countryside the options are fairly limited. First, your family is undoubtedly counting on you to stay in the village and to contribute to the economic well being of the family. Second, of the available work options, helping grow and harvest the food on your family’s small patch of land or, if you are a girl, perhaps working in a garment factory, are the two primary modes of helping your family survive.

For most youngsters growing up in rural villages, this has to be the path, but in Roteang Village, if you work hard in school, go to the Sharing Foundation English School, and earn a scholarship for "private classes" (small group) at the High School, there is the dream of going to University, living in a TSF "dorm", and pursuing a college degree, in the city, 45 minutes away, but a lifetime removed from the village.

To go on this path one must study many hours a day in High School, and then go to TSF English school 5 evenings a week back in the village. One must pass the National High School Graduation exams, and in addition score intermediate level or better on the English exams required by the Sharing Foundation, and administered at the Australia Center, in Phnom Penh. Each year about 10 students go forward to University and to live in TSF dorms- often with the first indoor bathrooms, and simple kitchens the students have ever seen, thanks to the monetary support of generous sponsors back in the USA. For this armful of high school students each year, dreams can come true and lives be changed, and farm kids in the 9th poorest country in the world can propel forward to a new place of hope and promise.

Currently, 43 TSF scholars are in Universities in Phnom Penh, and 43 sponsors in the U.S. thus remarkably changing lives. It is a daunting challenge for these rural young people away from the closeness of family and simplicity of village life to life in the city, being on their own, cooking for and with their dorm-mates, maintaining the dormitory, speaking only a foreign language (English) in the dormitory, bicycling to the university, and spending the bulk of their waking hours studying and learning. But deep in their beings is a radiance of discovering inspiring potential and channeling their hopes, dreams, and aspirations through the immediate opportunity of a college education. They understand well that education is the key to their future. And, more than many Americans on a parallel journey of higher education, these Cambodians of such impoverished backgrounds and meager circumstances exude a joy, and commitment, not just to their immediate education, but to what it may well mean in the future: the prospect of a good job, the means to support themselves and provide for their family in the village, and to "pay it forward" helping other students behind them.

Teaching critical thinking skills on behalf of TSF to two groups of college students was one of my assignments during my month-long stint in January 2011. While I came to Cambodia with some possible ideas, a few resources from the U.S., and a hefty dose of excitement, there was no master plan. However, from the time I stepped on the plane in Boston to the conclusion of my time in Phnom Penh, everything came together beautifully. The key ingredients were the students, with their openness and eagerness for learning. With a foreigner, especially a native English speaker, willing to spend the time and simply enjoy the students the formula for success was already in place. The process simply evolved.

Most learning in schools in Cambodia is by rote, so the idea of critical thinking presents a challenging way of learning. Each day we did a number of activities involving brainstorming, "thinking outside the box," and having the students discuss in pairs, and among themselves solutions to various situations and scenarios I presented. Each week I would find a major story in the "Cambodia Daily" or in a magazine, and that would focus a discussion where various sides and perspectives to an issue would be defined, and debated, and then the group as a whole would try to come to some sort of consensus. One issue came from “Delta Sky“ magazine I picked up in flight; it was an issue on happiness, what made for it, where to find it, how to nurture it, etc. Another issue was a recurring headline story in the "Cambodia Daily" about a proposed new law dealing with regulating NGOs and which was receiving pushback from NGOs and human rights groups. Yet another typical exercise was taking an article from some recent publication and looking at different levels and ways of reading the same article.

The energy generated around these discussions suggested to me a real enthusiasm for thinking critically and reflecting upon meaningful concerns and issues with which the young people could connect.