TRANSITION TO SPRING

BLOG FEB.

Title Transition to spring

February is the month for transition to spring. Mother Nature however does not make the change sedately. She rustles her skits and stomps her heels. We had a long spell of cold and snow, but now we are having some spring like days with warmer temperatures and the snow has melted. We were very fortunate however in that we did not get the brunt of storms like they did in the north-east part of the country. Here, we have seen a few robins and the early bulbs are poking some green shoots out of the ground.

The political climate is also heating up. It would be nice if Washington politicos could concentrate on some important issues rather that re-election. It will be a long nearly two years. In a way it will be interesting, but the people will get tired of it before it is over.

The Iraq situation does not seem to get any better. The report from inside by the author of the “BAGHDAD BURNING” blog (see link in the side-bar) is totally discouraged. Many of the people who could be the backbone for rebuilding are fleeing (and they can not be blamed). The current government does not prosecute rapists, women are second class citizens. And then, there is Iran, Israel/Palestine, Sudan, Somalia etc. The last ATLANTIC magazine had an article giving the details of the trials of the Burnhams who were kidnapped and held for over a year in the Philippines. It almost makes one

feel guilty to complain about the weather—but we will!

We are enjoying the Symphony season and it is the highlight of each month. In March the Youth symphony will perform and that is always very interesting. In Feb we had the Classical 3B’s—Beethoven, Bach and Brahms. The guest soloist was a virtuoso violinist from Dallas.

February is the month of love and valentines and Mary and I were honored to be chosen Valentine king and queen at the valentine party here at Drury Place. It was fun. The main card game that they play here is Pitch, which we have never played. So, we have taken our first lesson and will learn how and perhaps enter into the game on card night. They seem to have a lot of fun and pitch is not very taxing mentally, which may or not be good. Relaxing fun however is good. That is like reading “fluff” books which we do part of the time. I have read a couple of Danielle Steel’s books this month. I have the book “BLINK” checked out but have not progressed very far. The concept of “adaptive unconscious” is interesting.

The mainstream media publishes a lot about the gangs and the problems of the youth of this country but the good things that they do get little attention. The project of the Overlake school in Redmond Wash. deserves publishing.

PAILIN, Cambodia, Feb. 1, 2007 — In an extremely poor town in Cambodia, children are being robbed of their childhood by poverty, illiteracy, sex trafficking and AIDS.

Yet, down one dirt road, lines of neatly dressed children are now marching into a school with new chalk boards, books, computers and a connection to the Internet.

The Overlake School students raised $15,000 through bake sales, talent shows and raffles to build the Cambodian school. Once the school was built, they kept raising funds for teachers, books and the computers.

Kun Sokkea, 13, said she's in school for the first time and can finally dream of a better future.

She lives in a one-room shack and her mother is dying of AIDS, but she is now e-mailing her American friends to update them on her studies and progress as she learns English.

"What I want to take away is the knowledge that one person, a high school student, can make this huge difference in someone's life," said 11th grader Nathan Cocanour.

And in a remote corner of Cambodia, the students of the Overlake School have certainly done just that.

_____________________

This school was built through "American assistance for Cambodia", which is the organization that we established the "Pearl and Mary Flanders " school in Cambodia.

www.camnet.com.kh/cambodiaschools/schools_map/school_139.

I will close with best wishes for a happy Spring.

HAF AKA HAPPYDOC