Generational Dreams
Ten years ago this month we built our first house in Cambodia. A decade ago! That was in 2014, more than a year before we made the decision to officially move to Siem Reap and register Heartprint as an Australian charity and later a Cambodian NGO.
We don’t feel ten years older (most days!) but as we look back to that February in 2014 and now to the same month in 2024, we can see from the growth of the community you helped us build that we are, most definitely, older. And much wiser. How far we have all come in that decade!
We were reminiscing about those years the other day and naturally started looking forward to what another decade might bring to this Heartprint corner of Cambodia. We realized that another decade will have us here for, essentially, a generation.
Think of it! A Heartprint Generation. What will that look like? For sure, we don’t know - any more than we knew ten years ago what this loving, noisy, ever-shifting and expanding community would look like today. But we had dreams then and we have dreams today and, honestly, they have not changed all that much.
We have the Big Umbrella Dreams that all of the lives we are fortunate to share in will benefit, grow and go into the world to find a future better than they would expect before Heartprint. That we will watch those among us who never had the tools to actually dream of anything suddenly realize they have gained the knowledge not just to dream - but the skills and confidence to achieve a dream? That’s one come true, right there.
And then there are the daily Big Individual Dreams we have for all the Heartprint kids and their families. We dream that Leakena, who has increased her skills and confidence to overcome her initial reticences due to Downs Syndrome, will continue to create and sell her own line of gifts. She now understands her own worth and she lifts up those around her. We dream that Viriya* will ride her new bike to school every day and never stop learning so she can become whatever she works to be with no educational limits. We dream that Lai* who is training at a local restaurant will go on to be the Hotel Chef he personally dreams about becoming. We dream that Peach*, who is only five and learning skills from the kids who have been with us much longer, will keep learning with us and then share her knowledge and skills with those who come after her. We dream the parents who get new houses will use the springboard of a safe and sanitary home to support their children in education and more.
We dream they will all have enough knowledge to dream Big and that, in our small way, we can help them achieve the Big.
We aren’t naive. Far from it after ten years. But we have learned to never stop working toward a Dream simply because it is heavily salted with reality. The hard realities cannot be overcome without the Dream. You just deal with them one by one until they are conquered or tamed.
That’s the Philosophy part of our newsletter! How about some other updates?
First, we are in the middle of a very unusual Build in House #105 right now. A little background: Traditional Khmer houses are on stilts and have open air living space underneath. There are times when additional families end up living in that open air space. This was the case with #105. There were two families living in unprotected, open space beneath the main house. The kids told us the rats had begun to eat their homework and nibble on their toes. So we have started to enclose their space into rooms for two families. Solid brick walls, with windows for light and doors for access will now provide a more safe and stable home for both families.
And our Individual Dreams for the kids in these new, brick homes is that they continue to study, come to our Community Centre and never give up on their futures.
Oh, and we had a huge field trip this month to the Angkor Wildlife and Aquarium. Just look at these faces!
Did you ever really stop to think about board games? We now have them as a feature in our Inclusion Electives. Not just because they are fun, but they also teach communication skills, and help kids learn to follow instructions. They teach strategy and tactics and improve critical thinking. And, they help with literacy, math skills, and even teamwork. They are especially good for children with special needs because of the clear rules and lack of nuance. Everyone is included in the games and their benefits.
And, if you are on the Gold Coast in Australia, please don’t forget to reserve your space at the annual Heartprint Fundraising lunch at Vapiano. It will be a real Italian Feast and provide critical resources for our work at Heartprint.
As always, thanks for what you do. We will be back next month with more updates (and less philosophy!).
Love, your Heartprint Family
*Names have been changed for safety and privacy reasons