By Wm. Shawn
The Kennett Paper
Weigel
sweigel@kennettpaper.com
Staff
photo by Wm. Shawn Weigel
Unionville High School senior Jackie Viens holds a copy of the book she
wrote, “Susie and Penny,” to benefit the Caring For Cambodia
organization.
When 17-year-old Jackie Viens visited Cambodia in 2010 as part of the
nonprofit “Caring for Cambodia” program, she knew she wanted to do more
to help.
The blonde, brown-eyed senior at Unionville High School had already
spent months collecting toothbrushes that all had to be opened and
repackaged before they could be shipped overseas, and was prepared for
the trip to the Kong Much School in Cambodia to help distribute them.
But once she got there, she saw there was much more to be done.
“When we pulled into the school with suitcases full of
toothbrushes, all the kids had screamed, ‘Books? Books?’” Jackie said.
“I said, dang it! We should have brought books!”
The books they do have, Jackie added, are usually of a very dry and
informative nature about things like hygiene and safe sex practices and
family planning.
“It was all basic cultural concepts and less stories,” she said.
nonprofit “Caring for Cambodia” program, she knew she wanted to do more to help.
The blonde, brown-eyed senior at Unionville High School had already
spent months collecting toothbrushes that all had to be opened and
repackaged before they could be shipped overseas, and was prepared for
the trip to the Kong Much School in Cambodia to help distribute them.
But once she got there, she saw there was much more to be done.
“When we pulled into the school with suitcases full of
toothbrushes, all the kids had screamed, ‘Books? Books?’” Jackie said.
“I said, dang it! We should have brought books!”
The books they do have, Jackie added, are usually of a very dry and
informative nature about things like hygiene and safe sex practices and
family planning.
“It was all basic cultural concepts and less stories,” she said.
Working in those libraries during her service trip, Jackie said she
was captured by the idea of having her own book on those same shelves
that shared a piece of her experience with the kids there.
When she got back home, Jackie set about that task, inspired by both a
young Cambodian girl she met and by the numerous stray dogs she
encountered on her trip.
Called “Suzie and Penny,” the story is about a young girl who
befriends a stray dog in her neighborhood and the relationship that
develops between them.
Illustrated by former UHS student Jordan Mizrahi, Jackie said the
drawings are designed to resemble a coloring book to inspire kids to
interact with the story.
It is also written in both English and Khmer, the native Cambodian
language, which Jackie said was the hardest part about the whole
experience.
“We had to send it off to a bunch of different people,” she said.
Coming up with the right way to tell the story was also challenging,
she said, since there were so many cultural gaps; that eventually lead
her to change the setting from Cambodia to America.
Jackie said she also included numerous photographs of her trip,
hoping that one of the students she met would pick up the book and
remember the experience.
In some instances, she added, a photograph taken and shown on a
digital camera was often the first time some of the kids had ever seen
their own faces since mirrors were scarce.
“I’m hoping some of them will still be in the schools – they have high dropout rates,” she said.
Jackie said she’s hoping to return to Cambodia next summer; in the
meantime, she’s sent 50 copies of the book back to stock the school’s
libraries with.
“I really like the idea that there could be a kid in the Unionville
Elementary School library, and a kid sitting in the Kong Much school in
Cambodia opening the same book and learning the same story,” Jackie
said. “I think any little kid can relate to the relational aspect
between the girl and her dog.”
The book is available on both Amazon.com and on publisher’s site
lulu.com. All proceeds from the book go towards Caring for Cambodia.
No comments:
Post a Comment