Travelfish #409: Don’t be shy. Make a difference
Hi everyone,
In case you missed it in all the madness of the US election last week, we published our latest long read. The story is by a Malaysia–based author on the UNESCO Heritage site in Lenggong, Perak State. You can read the full piece here. Our long reads are entirely funded by Travelfish supporters—thank you!
On pay to read Couchfish, I hit a sunset beach on Koh Rong Samloem, then had a travel day to Hà Tiên. Then, thanks to the above–mentioned election, I missed a day. Afterwards I kicked around there for a day. For the last day of the week, I headed to Pirate Island.
On free to read Couchfish, I wrote about Six Degrees of Separation, which kind of ties in with an earlier piece asking Why do we travel?
Over on Thai Island Times, David has a cracking piece on how to find the right spot to stay on Thailand’s Ko Lipe. If you are a breach bum, check it out.
Good travels!
Stuart
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Don’t be shy. Make a difference
Years ago, a Khmer guy, who I now know, but didn’t then, was working in a restaurant slash bar in Siem Reap. It was the late 1990s and, like many locals working in the service industry, he’d grown up with enormous loss. He wanted to get ahead.
A couple from the western United States were regulars and the three of them got to know each other. It started with serving drinks, then slowing down for a chat if business was slow. Then, when business was slow, they’d ask him to sit, and chat.
The next year, when they returned, they headed back to the same bar come restaurant—it had pivoted over the year. Siem Reap was changing from an Angkor leaping off point to a semi–party destination in its own right. He still worked there.
He was a smart guy. He’d left school early, as his family needed the income, but his self–taught English was a solid step above many.
On a quiet afternoon, they pulled him aside. “Sit down with us,” they asked. Then made him a proposal they’d long planned.
Would he be willing to quit his job, go back and finish school, then further his education in tourism?, they asked. If he did so, they’d pay for it all. They’d not only pay for his tuition, but also a stipend to assist his family along the way.
He said yes—and also, I imagine, thank you.
The American’s were far from uber–wealthy people. I’ve asked over the years, once I got to know they guy, how much was involved. The best answer I got was “less than a new car for them.”
Fast forward a decade or so. The Khmer guy, now educated and qualified, is a country manager for an inbound tour company. He’s married, with kids, and suffice to say, his kids will have opportunities he never dreamed of.
To my mind, knowing you facilitated that, beats a new car.
Also years ago, when I was studying Thai in Bangkok, I met an American woman who was studying there as well. We became very close friends.
To cut a long and circuitous story short, she ended up running her own organisation on the Thai Burma border. Her focus was education, teaching young kids. When she started to starve for funds, we stepped in and funded it.
In the scheme of things, as with the Khmer guy above, the amounts of money required were far from monumental. I remember her expense reports: 300 baht for books, 200 baht for paper, 100 baht for pencils. Every single satang was accounted for.
At the time I was working at an embassy in Bangkok. A friend, who facilitated far, far, far, FAR, larger groups, with enormous budgets, pulled me aside one day.
“I get she has the right heart, but in the scheme of things, what she is doing will never scale. She’s on a beating to nothing,” he said.
I asked why did it matter? If she helped a few dozen kids over a few years, why did it need to scale?
Both my friend and the American couple reached out and made a real difference.
Don’t let the naysayers hold you back.
Good travels
Stuart
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Huge agreement with you re making a difference - we did almost the exact same thing for a guy we met in Luang Prabang. We ended up putting him through Uni - for the grand cost of a couple of hundred dollars a semester. It was less than what I was already doing as a regular donation to a big charity, but so much more satisfying! Have been back many times, met his family in a village in the north, and helped him with his wedding expenses as well so he started married life ahead. Maybe it was only one person - but it ended up affecting his entire family