Why ? (Choosing the heat, the dust, the mud…and beyond, a desire to do good…)
In the beginning, like always, these stubborn questions pester us : after a 20 professional years both ordinary and intense, do I want to do the same thing for the next 20 years? Have I already done something exceptional with my life? Some thing that means enough to me that I want to share it with my wife and children?
I’m neither an activist nor an idealist, merely someone who has opened his eyes to the world around him. After that, there is that bit of luck that finds each of us. For me, it was among other things the meeting with Passerelles Numériques, the discovery of the particular chemistry between those who share a common vision, and the confident feeling of being in harmony with them.
That day, I felt a profound respect for the work accomplished here. All the founders and all those who have contributed in the past should be thanked.
They are there with their dark skin, often emaciated, a little wary, always naïve, with such young faces they are mistaken for children.
They bring with them a heavy sack of rice. It is the only material support from their family. This precious rice will not only be the stable of their diet, but also their survival insurance, a companion for the entire duration of their studies.
Then, they carry their rice sack to their new lodging and put it in the corner of the room where, at nightfall, they’ll lie down on a straw mat 5 or 10 to a room. Protected only by mosquito netting, they’ll develop a closeness and unity even into their sleep.
However, classes begin very quickly, this incredible daily sum of efforts, both of individuals and the group, of new demands and self-control which unify the team and develop talents.
And so the CIST becomes what you already know from photos: these packs of students, all keyed up, who’ve set off on the path to destiny.
First impressions (arrival, Monday, February 23rd)
The CIST is a vast and airy building, clean and luminous (quite removed from the reality of the streets of Phnom-Penh) a place where hundreds of smiles reveal thousands of white teeth whose mouths welcome you in song; where discretion and kindness make a crowd seem quiet; a place where one works a great deal, but seemingly without effort, as if spurred on by the simple happiness of being there, of being together.That day, I felt a profound respect for the work accomplished here. All the founders and all those who have contributed in the past should be thanked.
The CIST is a path (difficult)
At the outset, there are these students who leave their province, propelled to Phnom-Penh by a strange series of tests of which they are the happy finalists.They are there with their dark skin, often emaciated, a little wary, always naïve, with such young faces they are mistaken for children.
They bring with them a heavy sack of rice. It is the only material support from their family. This precious rice will not only be the stable of their diet, but also their survival insurance, a companion for the entire duration of their studies.
Then, they carry their rice sack to their new lodging and put it in the corner of the room where, at nightfall, they’ll lie down on a straw mat 5 or 10 to a room. Protected only by mosquito netting, they’ll develop a closeness and unity even into their sleep.
However, classes begin very quickly, this incredible daily sum of efforts, both of individuals and the group, of new demands and self-control which unify the team and develop talents.
And so the CIST becomes what you already know from photos: these packs of students, all keyed up, who’ve set off on the path to destiny.