TOMS Books for Bloggers

I came home from work yesterday to find a mysterious UPS note on my door with “Toms” scribbled in the sender line.  I haven’t ordered any shoes recently and I definitely don’t have any friends named Tom sending me care packages, so it took a second to sink in what it may be.  But I had never received any sort of email response about the Books for Bloggers contest I entered a few weeks ago, so still wasn’t certain. After some digging in my junk mail folder, I found the answer I was looking, and it looked a little something like this:

We’re stoked to have been selected to be a part of this program. The TOMS vision has been an inspiration ever since I bought my first pair of their shoes at the Austin City Limits Music Festival back when TOMS first started. Heck, I may have even bought them from Blake Mycoskie himself for all I know.

I’m eager to read this book, as I know I will find some good motivation on how to turn my little-big ideas into bigger-big realities.  I hope that each of our volunteers will also read this book and write reviews on here of what they take from it.  If any of you Austin2Angkor followers out there want to pick up a copy  of Start Something That Matters and join in on this informal book club, I’d love to publish your thoughts on here, as well.

As for the book giveaway–it only seems right that our team read the book first before coming up with an apt contest. Rest assured, we will be getting the Austin community involved in a creative way to help us further spread the word on our something that matters.

Shoot us an email if you want to take part in reading this!

Roni

Fun Fun Fun Fest Recap

Thanks to everyone who stopped by our tent this weekend to learn about what Austin2Angkor is all about!  We left each day with throats, eyes, nails, clothes, skin and hair full of dust, but we still managed to enjoy meeting so many new people. Several Cambodians actually spotted our flag and stopped by our tent over the course of the festival, as did folks who have traveled to Cambodia. It was so nice to share what we were doing with people who have had first hand experience there.

Not to mention the people watching from our tent–directly across from the entrance, near the comedy stage and right by an amateur wrestling ring–made the long hours quite entertaining!  Here are some of the views from our tent:

 

On Sunday night our new friend and neighbor, Ivory from Invisible Children, did us the honors of drawing the two winners of our South Congress prize packages. Big congratulations and thank you to our winners Erica Almaraz of San Antonio, TX & Marissa Davila of Edinburg, TX. Erica won our grand prize with a night at the Hotel San Jose, dinner at Botticelli’s, breakfast at Magnolia Cafe and shopping at Stag. Marissa will receive a $20 gift card to Snack Bar and a necklace from The Impeccable Pig. Giant shout out to all our fabulous South Congress donors!

We even managed to scarf a few stars of the Fest! We were literally this close |_______________________________| to scarfing Ryan Gosling!

Headlining Comedian/Actor Brian Posehn

and Lizardman!

Thank you Fun Fun Fun Fest for allowing us to be a part of the, well, fun–we hope to do it again next year!

A Book Recommendation by Caitlyn Collins

I felt inspired to join Austin2Angkor as a volunteer for several reasons. One was seeing the success of Austin2Africa, which many of the Austin2Angkor volunteers were a part of, including Roni, my friend who started Austin2Angkor. The second reason I wanted to join was reading about Roni’s travels throughout Southeast Asia, especially her connection to Cambodia. I thought it was amazing that she chose to spend extra time in a country she knew almost nothing about volunteering with the Build Your Future Today Center (BFT) in Siem Reap. Lastly, as someone that strives to volunteer whenever possible as well as a person that loves to travel, volunteering for Austin2Angkor seemed like a natural choice.

If I needed any additional motivation, I found it in Loung Ung’s memoir, First They Killed My Father. I admit, Cambodia is not a country I knew much about before signing onto this project. And after reading this story, it’s amazing to me that I don’t know more about Cambodia. How has U.S history, which played a role in the horrific period known as the Khmer Rouge, not acknowledge this country?

Loung Ung’s tale begins when she is five years old without a care in the world. The Ung family is better off financially than many Cambodian families, something Loung is aware at her young age. She has two parents she loves, her father especially, and six brothers and sisters. She has pretty clothes and gets to eat delicious foods, all of which she describes in rich detail. Her happy, secure world is ripped apart on April 17, 1975 when soldiers of the Khmer Rouge march in and order the evacuation of the town. As a government official, her father must be especially careful as they are the first to be ruthlessly executed.

Ung’s story is astounding. She is marched for days with her family from one village to the next. They begin to live off of very little food, rice soup and small bits of fish. They are considered suspicious in the new villages they go to because they are from the city and her mother is of Chinese decent. Ung sees her family torn apart as her older siblings are forced to live in a teenage work camp. Soon, death becomes a routine reality, but it hits her hard when death inevitably takes members of her own family.

In order to save her children, Ung’s mother sends them away. Loung and her sister Chou live together in an orphanage camp where Loung’s rage and hostility develop, making her an ideal soldier for the Khmer Rouge. At such a young age she must fight for her life, for her family, in order to eat, defend herself again rape and suffer through explosions and the death of loved ones. How does one do that at the age of eight?

I urge everyone interested in Cambodia, including all of the Austin2Angkor volunteers, to read this story.  Now more than ever I feel strongly about doing what I can for today’s children of Cambodia. While the Khmer Rouge is no longer if control, they are still very much affected by what happened to their country not so long ago.

Meeting Recap #7

April has been a huge success for Austin2Angkor as we  close in on $2,000! Thanks to everyone who has shown us love and support, we are excited for what the summer has in store.

Quick update on what we discussed at today’s meeting:

• We had a great time at the Crawfish Boil yesterday–thanks again to the Adams and Zittrer’s for allowing us to hold a special raffle at the event.

• Summer Raffle- Tickets are here and ready to be sold! At just $1 each, you can have a chance to win great prizes from Moonshine, Birds Barbershop, MYO Massage,  TacoDeli and many more as our list continues to grow. See a volunteer to sign up to win!  The drawing will be held at a special event on July 4.

• We’re working on our May Happy Hour with one of our favorite spots. This time we’ll have a specialty cocktail with proceeds going to our project! Details to be announced soon.

Supporter Shout Out & Meeting Recap #6

Special shout out to all those who came out to our happy hour at The Local on Friday and to Anne & Hart Nelsen of Georgetown, TX.  Thanks to all of your generous donations, we have passed another big milestone: $1,000!

Quick update on what we discussed at today’s meeting:

• This Friday, April 15 from 1:30-3:30pm, cheesecake extraordinaire Shannon is hosting an office bake sale at Alliance Abroad Group.
• This Sunday, April 17 at 1:00pm is our special benefit screening of Enemies of the People. Get your tickets now by clicking here.
• On Saturday, April 30, we will be at Tracy’s annual legendary A to Z Crawfish Boil. We will be holding a special raffle for that event, so come out and join us for some grub, ritas and volleyball.
• Our raffle list is growing fast! Let us know if your company is interested in making a donation. It is an ongoing Summer Raffle event, and the big drawing will take place on July 4. Look out for tickets at our summer events.

Finally, we received this lovely greeting card from BFT Center over the weekend and thought we’d share. Look out for a special Khmer New Year post in a few days.

Advice from the Founder of Austin2Africa

Vanessa Noel, founder of 2009’s successful Austin2Africa project, recently offered this advice to the Austin2Angkor team in an interview with our friend Anais Langston.

Why do you think Austin2Africa was such a success?

I think it was a success because everyone involved was really passionate about the project. Even though we were faced with the beginning of the economic crisis at that time, they never gave up in collecting the donations, they had a mission they believed in and thus made others believed in too. The project also created a wonderful energy within the team members which empowered them to implement some great and innovative initiatives in Austin in order to promote the project. It was also successful above all because everyone had fun, from the fundraising process to the project realization in South Africa. Finally, what really made a difference was our transparency. Donors knew that their donations would go 100% into the project and only be spent in South Africa to benefit the community; we had a very detailed budget and only invested locally. They trusted us.

Do you have any advice for the Austin2Angkor volunteers?

I would tell the Austin2Angkor volunteers to stay focused, always, on their goal. They will encounter some bumps on the road, and maybe some reasons why it seems too crazy to do it. Their success will depend on focusing only on the reasons why it is worth hanging on. FInally, they always should remember that their project will not end once it is completed. It will actually just be a beginning of a real change. For instance, in South Africa, once the ophanage was built, it inspired others. Today, we have a local volunteer group willing to build a second building in front of the orphanage, a community in San Francisco who collected books for a nearby school, and Austinites who now know the challenges South African children are suffering from.  It is all about Education and Action.

 

Scarfing Campaign Finalists

Head to our Facebook page to vote for your favorite photos from this week’s SXSW Scarfing campaign!  We met some great new folks, attendees and musicians alike, and had great opportunities to share what we here at Austin2Angkor are doing.

“Like” your favorites and the winner will be notified on Wednesday, March 23.

 

The Antlers

 

 

Meeting Recap #4

Here’s a quick update on what we discussed at today’s meeting:

• Project details are now available on our website (see below) and Goal section of this blog.  We will be funding 3 community centers in 3 different communities, each of which will make a significant impact in the areas of illiteracy, malnutrition and poverty.  Downloadable detailed plans are also available for your viewing pleasure.

• www.Austin2Angkor.com is officially launched!

• “Like” us on Facebook to stay up to date on our upcoming events.

• Our “scarfing” campaign is now launched as we take to the streets during SXSW.  Pose for a photo in one of our scarves, get the most votes on Facebook, and you will win a krama of your own…there are only a handful left!

• Our beautiful postcards have arrived! They will be making their debut at SXSW so be on the lookout.  Here’s a sneak peek:

• Upcoming Events:
  • Friday, April 1– Our first Happy Hour at Red House. Details TBA
  • Sunday, April 17– Austin premiere screening of Enemies of the People at the Alamo Drafthouse. Tickets will go on sale in early April.
  • Saturday, April 30– We’ll be at the 8th Annual A to Z Crawfish Boil hosting a special raffle.  If your business would like to make a raffle donation, please drop us a line for details!

Meeting Recap #2

Here’s a quick update on what we discussed at our last meeting:

• Update from BFT- Contractors are drawing up building plans for 3 proposed projects and they will send estimates and project development plans to us soon.  Once received, we will make a decision on which project we will fund.

• Update from ABOUTAsia Schools (formerly IAMCambodia)- In exchange for their backing of our project, ABOUTAsia Schools will receive 5% of the funds we raised that will go directly into their school programs in Cambodia. They’ve got some wonderful initiatives, please take time to read about what they do!  Also, anyone who donates $50 or more will receive a donation letter of receipt for tax purposes. Please note that all checks should be made out to ABOUTAsia Schools, and “Austin2Angkor” should be written in the memo line.  Online donations will be possible very soon!

• Events- We’ve got some great ideas in the works. Look out for news on a dance party, award-winning documentary screening, happy hour and big raffle in the coming months!

Be on the lookout for our fancy website launch and a new Facebook page coming very soon. Things are rolling, people. This should be an action-packed year.

Message from BFT Center

Dear Friends / Supporters,

Allow me to introduce myself. I am Sedtha,  founder & director of Build Your Future Today Center (BFT) in Cambodia. Roni has told me about your kind commitment and willingness to join providing help for our projects. My team and I are so happy and proud of all of you to join building hope, peace and better future for Cambodian children.

I believe that Roni has presented you about BFT projects; However I would like to brief you a bit more about it. BFT Center is a local non-governmental organization recognized by the Ministry of Interior and Ministry of Education and Youth, unaffiliated with any religious or political party.  Since 2006 we have been working very enthusiastically to improve the lives of Cambodian poor people especially the children living with hardship and crisis. Our four active projects (Community Education Development, Community Health & Nutrition Development, Community Peace Building and Child Support Center) have been effectively operated in Siem Reap province (town and rural areas). Up to the present BFT has been achieving as follows:

– 100 orphans and indigent children have been saved, given support and education at BFT center

– 750 community school children have improved their health through nutrition programs each year

– 150 community children aged under 5 years have improved their health through nutrition programs

– 1500 community poor children have accessed primary and high schools each year

– 1000 children and youths have a chance to acquire skills in English, Computer & Internet literacy each year

– 2000 community children and adults have access to clean water every year

– 200 illiterate adults have participated in the adult literacy and life skills training

– 50 extremely poor families living with crisis have their life improved through income generation activities each year

– 45 non government teachers have been trained at BFT center

– 300 participants from NGOs, local business, and individuals received leadership and management skills training

– 5000 primary and high school children have received moral education

– 850 community people have been participating in the domestic violence reduction training

– Over 500 fruit trees were planted among the villages under BFT target areas.

Again on behalf of the staff and children at BFT center I would like to extend my sincere admiration and appreciation for your loving care about Cambodian poor people. Please do not hesitate to contact with me for any further information or help to ease your plans or actions for the future events. My team and I are looking forward to working together with you in the future.

Best Regards,

Prof. Sedtha Long, Mr

Founder &  Director

Build Your Future Today Center (BFT)