Dear friends and partners, Yesterday was a rather special day. Yesterday I was given an award by the Prime Minister of Cambodia: Samdech Hun Sen. It was also my 65th birthday and I received an award that was created in the year I was born.
Dear all, On April 17 we commemorate the end of the indiscriminate bombing of Cambodia during the Vietnam War and the beginning of a horrific era of unimaginable genocide and isolation committed by the infamous Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge. The suffering and total destruction of Cambodia was a 30 year long life span which did not end until 1998. Today – this April in 2013 we are celebrating a new beginning - and we are celebrating worldwide. We are celebrating the beginning of the construction of Nokor Tep Women’s Hospital – 400 pilings have been completed – another 800 to go. It is a celebration of all the women in Cambodia –for whom 85% do not have even the basic access to health care – women whom by the time they are 14 are suffering discharges and pain that bring shame and fear into their lives – who die too young and spend their adult lives wondering why. It is time to stop that horrible suffering.
Dear friends and partners, With this newsletter, I would like to share a few thoughts with you. This Easter time has provided me with a few spare moments to reflect on who I am, what I am doing and why I am doing it.