Cambodian Election Day - Polling Stations in Siem Reap

November 2007

Javier Mere Prado: International Studies student to help Cambodian students by raising funds for scholarships

 

—These days, $125 will buy some bags of groceries or a few tanks of gasoline in the United States. It will also pay for a year of college in Cambodia, as a Texas State student recently discovered when he was on exchange in the Southeast Asian country. As a result of the exchange, Javier Mere Prado is raising the money to fund four years of college for 10 Cambodian students.

Javier, a graduate student in Texas State’s International Studies program, taught English and Western Culture at the Royal University of Phnom Penh as a participant in Texas State’s Wilson Asian Faculty/Student Exchange Program. The program sends Texas State students and faculty to Cambodia to provide expertise in areas of need. Cambodia is in the process of rebuilding its social and economic infrastructure after years of devastating war.

“One of my students asked me to correct his English in a letter to his grandparents, in which he asked for $125 to be able to continue for another year at the University,” Javier said. “Since his grandparents probably don’t read English, I think the student must have wanted to tell me his life story. In the letter, he said that his parents had died in the war and that the teachers in his home town had raised the money for his first year of college. He wanted his grandparents to ask the teachers for help again so that he could continue another year at college.”
Under the Wilson Exchange Program, students at the Royal University can apply for scholarships of $125, but the year’s scholarships had already been distributed when Javier looked into obtaining one for his student.

“It seemed like such a small amount of money—it’s what we spend going out to dinner in the U.S.,” Javier said. “I thought about giving the student the money out of my pocket, but decided it wouldn’t be appropriate.”

Javier knew, however, that he had to do something to help Cambodian students. “In class, we talked about new communication technologies such as text messaging and internet chatting. Few of the students had access to computers and some had never heard of internet chatting. The students were very limited in their resources. Every day, some new information about their poverty would astonish me,” he said.

As he was flying back to the U.S. at the end of the exchange, Javier decided to fund 10 additional college scholarships to be offered through the Wilson Exchange Program, beginning in Summer 2008. He plans to raise the money from friends and family. “Think of it,” he said. “Ten Cambodian students can attend a year of college for only $1,250.”

Javier, who will graduate in December 2007, plans to return to his native Queretaro in Mexico, to teach English at the university level and perhaps to pursue a diplomatic career. “I’m proud of being Mexican, and I want to do something for Mexico, as I’m doing for Cambodia,” he said.

February 14th 2007 Wednesday
Cambodian diplomat to speak at Texas State

Cambodia’s Deputy Chief of Mission to the United States Meng Eang Nay will participate in a panel discussion on Cambodia, Wednesday, Feb. 14, at 3 p.m. on the 7th floor of Alkek Library. The panel discussion, whose participants will also include Texas State’s Distinguished International Studies Professors, is sponsored by the Center for International Studies. It is free and open to the public.

The panel discussion is part of a year-long focus at Texas State on the Kingdom of Cambodia, a country in need of high-quality modern services in areas ranging from education and healthcare to urban planning and clean water. In 2006, Texas State alumnus Kenneth Wilson and his wife Verena, who wanted to do something to help the people of Cambodia and Southeast Asia, established the Wilson Asian Faculty/Student Exchange program in Texas State’s Center for International Studies, in the College of Liberal Arts. Last fall, Texas State faculty traveled to Cambodia to determine the ways in which Texas State faculty and students can be of most assistance in meeting the country’s needs. For example, faculty in the College of Liberal Arts may apply their expertise to modernizing educational systems, urban planning, public administration, and health psychology, while faculty from other colleges can assist in improving public health through the improvement of healthcare delivery and water quality. Deputy Chief Nay’s visit to the Texas State campus is under the auspices of the Wilson Exchange Program.

Mr. Nay’s position as Deputy Chief of Mission to the U.S. is similar to that of a deputy ambassador. Mr. Nay assumed his position in 2005, having served previously as the director of the International Organizations Department at the Cambodian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and as counselor in the Cambodian Permanent Mission to the United Nations. Mr. Nay holds a master's degree in international law from Moscow University in the Russian Federation. Last year, he helped to launch the Peace Corps’ first program in Cambodia, a rapidly-growing country interested in volunteers who can teach English and support local instructors.

"English is essential," said Nay. "It's important for people to find jobs, particularly in the private sector." He hopes that the Peace Corps volunteers will also increase awareness of HIV/AIDS and provide help in other areas of need, such as agricultural infrastructure development, he said.

Cambodia was listed as one of 12 "hunger hot spots" where the situation was "extremely alarming" in the 2006 Global Hunger Index of the International Food Policy Research Institute. The United Nations' World Food Program appealed for $10 million last year to distribute food to about 1.1 million Cambodians in need.