Water Charity is a non-profit that funds water projects all over the world. In 2009 they started an initiative called Appropriate Projects — you can read all about it in this message from Averill Strasser, COO of Water Charity, but the gist is that they partner with Peace Corps volunteers in their communities for projects under $500, finished under 30 days. They even funded a project near me!*
So maybe you want to 
?
*(thanks to Six Senses Resorts & Spas!)
The secret to being really, really (comparatively) good at soccer
Is to compete against those (less than) half your size and (way) below your own
(fairly low) skill level
(which is to say, ideally, children).
Bob, “chocolate love,” what does it mean?
I woke up this morning to the sounds of the mouse who lives in my ceiling and I got to thinking about what this mouse’s morning routine must be like. I imagined him making very small cups of coffee, reading a very small newspaper, and standing over a very small stove frying a very small egg. Of course this lead me to thinking about the very small chickens he must have cooped up there, and the thought of this mouse breeding his own animals suddenly became very disturbing to me. The sheer amount of time and effort it would take to breed chickens that small is mind-boggling in itself, especially given the life expectancy of mice, even ones who live soft lives in the ceiling, drinking their morning coffee and reading the paper. And the smallness of the eggs — the mouse must’ve been frying at least 4 or 5 of them just to make a single, reasonably mouse-sized omelet. I could probably eat over 100 of them.
And then you consider how smart this mouse is — after all, he’s bred a new type of chicken and subscribes to at least one print media publication (that we know about) — and you realize that perhaps a certain Warner Brothers cartoon was not much of an exaggeration, and perhaps it’s only a matter of time.
jf, npfw
johnfontaine [at] bobsoldout.com
In celebration of the recent Chinese New Year (which is celebrated by many a Cambodian), Bobsoldout.com presents to you, Dear Reader, one of our favorite Chinese proverbs:
There is many a good man to be found under a shabby hat.
Happy Year of the Tiger!
That’s right, Loyal Reader, you have now read 200 posts courtesy of Bobsoldout.com, and in keeping with that theme of 2, we present to you 2 Cambodians you should know:
Somaly Mam, human rights advocate
Born to a tribal minority family in the Mondulkiri province of Cambodia, Somaly Mam began life in extreme poverty. With limited options as a severely marginalized ethnic group, and living in unimaginable despair, her family often resorted to desperate means to survive. This confluence of dire circumstances led to the unspeakable horrors that would mark Somaly’s early years. Somaly was sold into sexual slavery by a man who posed as her grandfather. To this day, due to the passing of time and the unreliability of a wounded memory, Somaly still does not know who this man was to her. Yet his actions set her on an unimaginable path fraught with danger, desperation, and ultimately…triumph.
Forced to work in a brothel along with other children, Somaly was brutally tortured and raped on a daily basis. One night, she was made to watch as her best friend was viciously murdered. Fearing she would meet that same fate, Somaly heroically escaped her captors and set about building a new life for herself. She vowed never to forget those left behind and has since dedicated her life to saving victims and empowering survivors.
Mu Sochua, human rights advocate
In 2005, Sochua was one of 1,000 women nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for her work against sex trafficking of women in Cambodia and Thailand. Also in 2005, Sochua was honoured with the Vital Voices Human Rights Global Leadership Award for her efforts to stem the tide of human trafficking. The award was presented by Senator Hilary Rodham Clinton, Honorary Chair of Vital Voices, for leadership in mobilizing global actions to combat trafficking of women and children in Asia/Pacific region. Sochua was also profiled in Seven, a documentary play written by seven famous women playwrights that tells the stories of seven Vital Voices Global Leadership Network Members. (from wikipedia)
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