Macgyvers All Around Us
Macgyvers All Around Us
Did you ever watch the television series MacGyver? It ran for five seasons and was about the exploits of Angus ‘Mac’ MacGyver, a young war veteran (and hero) with a flair for analyzing problems and inventing workable solutions, seemingly out of thin air. He improvised a lot and was extraordinarily nimble mentally.
Well, we think the show’s creator must have spent time in Cambodia because we often say that MacGyvers surround us. If Cambodians don’t have something they need (or what they need doesn’t yet exist), they invent it.
Case in point: We have a 12-year-old student (we’ll call him Dara) who has been coming to our Community Centre for a few years. He has severe hearing loss, which sometimes inhibits his participation in certain activities. A teacher in his school was aware of this, and “Macgyvered” a solution: he invented a speaker-type device for Dara’s hearing aids that enabled him to hear things more clearly.
This was a gift to Dara but also to our community because now we get to see Dara dance! When we started our Inclusion Elective on dance, we thought Dara might not join because he could not hear the music, but his teacher’s invention changed everything! He has been in the class for 8 weeks and will perform for all of the families during Open House Day!
Open Day is special here at Heartprint because it pulls us all together in one place at the same time to showcase the talents, growth, and general brilliance of our Community Centre kids and youth. Truth be told, everything we do at Heartprint, whether building homes and toilets, teaching swimming, computers, design, math, or English - all of the things - leads back to our Community Centre, the warm center of all of our hearts.
This short video captures what we mean by that: how a new Heartprint home a few years back led to this young girl immersing herself in our Community Centre programs.
We finished our 93rd home in June! This one was a bit unusual as it was out of our normal community. However, since we had a break in our building schedule, we were able to pitch in on a new home for a family that had been relocated from their home inside the Angkor Archaeological Park to RunTa Ek Village near Banteay Srei in Siem Reap Province.
That’s too far for our build team to go back and forth and still be able to put in a full day’s work, so they moved there for the duration of 8 days.
It’s always good to be able to collaborate with others. It’s important to us on many fronts. We were glad, on this occasion, to actually have the time to be able to lend a hand in this new home. (Note: Heartprint did not pay for this house; we provided the building expertise and labor.)
The ingenuity and generosity of our supporters from all over the world always lift us up. In June, we had a group of students from Singapore work with our Tiny Tots on computer skills in the Community Centre. And, back on the Gold Coast of Australia, Greg and Heidi Dunn hosted a fundraiser for us at their restaurant, Vapiano. They sold tickets and had raffles and prizes - all to provide support for our work. And we should note their commitment is a family affair: Mya, their daughter, will be arriving soon to intern with us. Then, they themselves will join us later in the year to build a home. We can’t wait!
July should see the heavy rains begin in earnest. We do need the water in our rivers and lakes - and are grateful that this financial year, 29 more of our young people have learned to swim for fun and to protect themselves around the higher waters.
As ever, thank you for what you do in your community and for ours. We’ll be back next month, and don’t forget to follow our daily activities on Facebook.
Ps. Check your inbox for your 2023 tax receipt. They have been sent!
