Tomorrow I leave Phnom Penh for Thailand. I ask myself what have I gained? And what have I given?

I haven't given half of what was given to me. I will always strive to give more to the Khmer people. They have given me so much, their kindness, their joy, and their friendship. I cannot thank them enough.

People like Kong Nop, a tuk-tuk driver that my friend from the US, Reese introduced me to. Kong made time in his busy schedule to accomodate me. He made time even though he himself couldn't take my friends Tashi and Mathias Nadaluti to the temples at Ankor. He arranged for an equally sweet and competent driver to take us. For this I will always be grateful and look forward to seeing him again in May or June.


I will take with me memories of the many children, the future of this great land, that I met or saw. Some like this pair were working even at their very tender age. Others begged on the streets of Phnom Penh. And still others I met in schools. I pray that the Divine will be a living presence in their lives and that everything I do can be a contribution in their lives.











The faces at Bayon (in the Ankor Wat complex) too represent the wonderful people who have lived here in Srok Khmer.
They represent the majestic and the potential in the Khmer people. They also represent the wisdom of those like the widow below who bring the wisdom of the ages with them.













It is the old who survived the civil war of the 1970's who have the greatest potential of passing on the values that made this land great. I will miss all of them. I Look forward to seeing them again in May.