Well I'm here at Logan airport. It's 4:42 am and despite being excited about this trip to Cambodia, I'm quite tired already! It's roughly 30 hours from now that I will finally reach my hotel in the city of Phnom Pehn so I think I might need to grab a couple of red bulls.

For anyone who doesn't quite know exactly why I am going to Cambodia, I'll give a quick run-down. To preface this blog, I'd also like to say a couple things. In no way do the opinions, thoughts, ideas or comments in this blog represent any of the companies I work for or consult with. The point of this blog is to document my travels for myself, but to also bring my experiences to my friends and family who wish to learn more about my adventures. Also(as I'm sure many of you reading this can identify with) I feel that when I write things down it helps me work out the various episodes that I've lived; I get to develop a greater appreciation of my life and those around me by following through with this practice. Thank you for understanding.

In June or July, I applied for a fellowship that my school was granting. I was lucky enough to be one of the two students chosen for this opportunity - to go to Cambodia and participate in the Habitat for Humanity project in which we will build houses for the homeless. I will be learning about the local building codes, materials and construction techniques, and once learned, I will be working with a small team of six to build a complete house in 5 days. The interesting and exciting part about the construction is that each house that is built (30 or so in all), they will all have a toilet and a solar panel! The solar panel is something that really makes me happy as I'm a big supporter of education in developing countries. When kids don't have light (which these solar panels can provide power to lightbulbs) they can't read or study. They are limited to the amount of daylight they have, so this single lightbulb will completely change these kids' lives. These houses are for families that have been living in a dump; imagine how this is going to change their life forever! I dont quite know how to compare it to something I can relate to here at home. Actually, I don't really know if I can do it. These families have been living and surviving without their basic needs met. It's almost remarkable how determined they are to survive, because frankly, I don't know if I would have the same passion given the same circumstance. The reason I say it's hard to even find a way to compare it to something I can relate to is because I've always had my basic needs met. Even if I was completely homeless I would have the luxury of being able to eat and use a toilet.

Ok, my flight is about to board, so I'll continue this when I get to NYC for my 5 hour layover! If you have Facebook, you can check out the Khmer Harvest Build page to get some specific information -

http://www.facebook.com/KhmerHarvestBuild?sk=wall



-Jared