A Global View

“The world is round!” exclaimed the small Cambodian man with a big smile. It was the holiday season, 1980, in Bangkok, Thailand. My parents and I were visiting my brother in Bangkok when we met Savoeun Nuon, a refugee who had fled his homeland with his wife and two young children, fleeing the “killing fields” of the Khmer Rouge. Nuon had recently settled in Richmond. “The world is round,” he said upon learning of our mutual Richmond connections.

We learned from Savoeun Nuon of just a few of the horrors he had escaped in and after Cambodia. “Life in the camp was difficult,” a Baptist Press report later explained, telling Nuon’s story, “and the thousands of refugees often lacked enough to eat. When local governmental authorities failed to give an adequate ration of food, a lethal riot broke out among the refugees. Thai authorities, hoping to end the riot, sprayed gunfire into the crowd where Nuon had stood moments before. He and his family fell to the ground in their hut as bullets passed through the fragile walls. They watched as at least 40 Cambodians were killed. He and his family were spared.”

 

When my family and I met Nuon in Thailand in 1980, he had been acting as translator for the Foreign Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention, as they carried food and medicine into the refugee camps. While there, Nuon was hoping to locate his sister and mother, who had been left behind when the rest of the family escaped. Three weeks passed as he worked in the camps, and he had not found them. “We prayed desperately in the car,” Nuon recounted, describing their arrival at the huge camp. “Just after we prayed we got out of the car and there was my mother and sister.”

(You can read more of Savoeun Nuon’s story at http://media.sbhla.org.s3.amazonaws.com/7933,28-Feb-1995.PDF.)

“The world is round!” Or as Americans say, “It’s a small world.”

I had another small, round world lesson during that trip to Thailand, one more amusing than profound. After many enjoyable days of Thai food, my family went to a Chinese restaurant. The restaurant was closed, but seeing a waiter who was preparing tables for guests, we asked him when they would open. He did not speak English – no big surprise. My brother spoke to him in Thai – no, he did not speak Thai either. On a whim, I spoke to him in German – the only time after studying five years of German that I truly had to use it – a native English speaker communicating in German with a Chinese waiter in Thailand. It’s a small, round world!

Savoeun Nuon’s story had a lasting impact on me. It opened my eyes to the cruelty that exists in parts of the world, to the emotional turmoil and the joy of losing and then finding loved ones, and to the benevolence of those who reach out to help. The experience also opened my heart to help to assuage such suffering when I could.

The women in this month’s issue of V Magazine for Women make such benevolence their work, each in her own way, each addressing a different need. Their work extends into the world, but draws resources and plants benefits right here in our own backyard. The work of Liz Sweeney at Children, Incorporated, of Kathy Cooper at Newcomer Services, and Lupe Ramirez at AlterNatives touches lives here and across the globe. They know, ours is a small, round world!

Also in this month's issue of V, you'll learn about the Network of Enterprising Women's Woman2Woman networking event and you'll have a chance to solve the Postive Puzzle. You'll also learn of a very personal struggle with arthritis - two young men who will be battling the disease for the rest of their lives. Perhaps more importantly, you'll see something that you can do to help combat the debilitating disease!

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