Host Christian Pearson asks research fellows Seth Allred and Kyli Fox-Soug to talk about their experiences living and working in Cambodia for two weeks. Seth and Kyli share their initial reactions to the country, discuss various challenges related to international research, and reflect on their biggest takeaways from their time in Southeast Asia.
Inside the Cambodia Project Episode 17: Reflections from Cambodia
with Kyli Fox-Soug and Seth Allred
[00:00:00.310] – Christian
Hello, I’m Christian, and you’re listening to Inside the Cambodia Project, an educational podcast where we discuss cutting-edge research on sustainable business in an emerging market. Last episode, I talked with Mr. Somme Chhanmoni, the Director of the Peace Bridges NGO in Cambodia. He talked about how the Kamai Rue’s genocide has lasting effects on the people in Cambodia, including generational violence and PTSD. Then, he shared how his organization makes a difference by teaching tools and techniques for reconciliation and conflict resolution. In this episode, I’ll be talking with Beth Alred and Kylie Fox-Soug, two BIO research fellows who work with me on the Cambodia project. At this point, we’ve all been in Cambodia for at least a week. We’ve had some incredible experiences and seen some amazing things. I’ve eaten more rice in the last few days than probably my entire life. While it’s still fresh on our minds, though, I thought it would be useful to talk to my fellow researchers about some of their more notable insights and first impressions. Thank you so much for joining us today, Seth and Kylie. It’s unusual to be interviewing not one, but two people, but I can’t think of two people I’d rather pilot this episode with.
[00:01:24.260] – Kyli
Thanks for having us.
[00:01:25.420] – Seth
Yeah, excited to be here.
[00:01:27.230] – Christian
Me too. Instead of bringing a quote kick things off like I normally do, I thought we could turn the podcast on its head today. I wonder if each of you could share a quote with me from our time here. What’s one of the most interesting things that you’ve heard in the last week?
[00:01:45.530] – Kyli
Yeah, I was talking to someone from the UN Development Program this morning. Her name is Mao Mays, and she works as a program analyst for UNDP, and she was talking about gender and development and how they go hand in hand here in Cambodia, which is something that we’re working closely with. And she talked about how gender on a large scale is growing exponentially. There’s a lot of gender development here, but on a smaller level, on a family level, it’s still very traditional in a lot of ways, which is something that really validated our research and is something that we’re trying to combat through our research I guess that’s not great to hear, but also for the scope of our research, we’re glad that there is definitely room for improvement, right? Yeah, definitely validated through our research.
[00:02:43.680] – Seth
Cool. Yeah, for me, it was interesting. We were training some people in CM Reep this last week, and shout out to all those guys. They are incredible and love them all. I was talking to one one of the trainers about his dream to open up a pigs in a blanket shop, which I think is so awesome. And I’m super excited for him to open that up. It was interesting, though, because as I was talking to him, he said, If I open it up, if my dream is realized. And Ben Beck said, No, no, no, it’s when you open it And it was interesting in that moment, a flash, a little lipo came on in his head, and it was almost as if he was like, Oh, I guess I’m in control of whether my dream happens or not. And I think that was super interesting because it takes him from that fixed mindset to a growth mindset to saying, Hey, I am in control of my dreams and my goals, and if I want to accomplish them, I can. So I’m really excited for this trainer to accomplish goal of opening up a Pigs in a Blanket shop.
[00:04:03.480] – Seth
It’ll be awesome.
[00:04:04.510] – Christian
Me too, man. I hope next time we come, we’re going to be eating like kings, dying on a pig in a blanket.
[00:04:09.720] – Seth
Absolutely, we will.
[00:04:10.550] – Christian
I want to talk a little bit more about that just for a sec. I feel like there’s definitely some different rhetoric that goes on in any foreign country, especially in an emerging market like Cambodia. How are these ideas or these phrases that you’ve heard different from what you might hear in the United States, just for reference, at BIO in Utah.
[00:04:36.340] – Seth
Yeah, I think growing up, I was always taught to dream big. My parents always taught me that I can accomplish anything I want to as long as I work hard for it. It’s interesting here in Cambodia, from what I’ve seen, is the K’amai people aren’t taught that as much. There are a few cases where parents do teach their children that. However, generalizing this, I see that a lot of people think that they are stuck in where they’re at, which is super unlike the United States. In the United States, we’re taught to grow, we’re taught to change, and there’s the American dream. We can become anything we want to be as long as we work hard for it.
[00:05:23.540] – Christian
Right. They tell us the sky’s the limit, basically, from the time we were really young.
[00:05:27.880] – Seth
Exactly. And then we went to the moon, right? So really, the sky is not the limit the moon is, and then it’s even further. So we’re taught that there is no glass ceiling, that we can accomplish anything. However, here in Cambodia, what I’ve seen is that the glass ceiling is lower for them, not because they don’t think they can, or not because they don’t think that… It’s not that they’re not capable, it’s just that they’re never taught to dream big. And so that’s something that’s different between what I’ve seen here and in the United States.
[00:06:05.980] – Kyli
Yeah. And I think that’s definitely true in what we’ve seen here and working with our trainers and just talking to people. And that’s definitely true for everyone here, but especially amongst women, and just the barriers that they face are a lot. And they face exponential barriers against men. I was talking with a couple of professionals that work in the development space and with gender, and they’re talking about that even when women work or have high paying jobs or when men work, women are given the money in the family, but they still have to ask to use money or to go out. So it is that gender bias within the family. And they are taught not to go to school. They are still taught through their family and through society to not have that growth mindset. So, yeah, they still face those barriers.
[00:07:10.950] – Christian
Yeah, for sure. And thank you so much for sharing your insights on this. I think it’s important that we take a step back and realize there are some really big underlying cultural biases going on here on a much grander scale than we can to shift with some research. But it’s important to understand that so we know what we’re working with. I want to take, rewind for a sec and go back to when you first stepped off that plane about a week and a half ago. Cambodia is so far removed from anything I’ve ever experienced before. I’d love if you guys could talk about what makes it so different. What was the biggest thing that surprised you when you stepped off that airplane?
[00:08:00.070] – Kyli
It was just so hot at first. It was so crazy hot. I think that’s an understanding. Yeah. I was not expecting it to be that hot. But beyond that, I had been to Asia before. I lived in Mongolia before, but I have never been to Southeast Asia. I’ve studied Southeast Asia a lot, but actually being here, I feel like, is a bit different. There’s just a different air about people. You can see a lively economy on the streets, which I feel like is a bit different from a lot of the other places I’ve been. It’s just like you can just feel it. It’s just alive around you, especially in Phnom Penh. And just interacting with people is really different in every interaction I’ve had with people, especially in sit down meetings, they’re really willing to share their life history, especially with a lot of the really traumatic history that’s gone on with With the genocide and things like that. They’ve been really open in sharing their history with me, which you don’t see that in a lot of other countries. I was in Rwanda last year, and even there, they We’re less open to share about that, and that was a little bit more recent, so that might have something to do with it.
[00:09:21.130] – Kyli
But yeah, they’re just really open about sharing who they are and what they’re doing. And that makes me want to share more about what I’m doing, which I don’t really do. So that’s fun that I’ve been able to have that back and forth here.
[00:09:37.390] – Christian
Yeah, that’s awesome. I agree 100 %. People are super open here, super happy to talk. They’re always so excited when you give them some attention and make them feel wanted and seen and loved.
[00:09:52.450] – Seth
Yeah, it’s been interesting. Like Kyrie, I’ve never been a Southeast Asia. I’ve actually never been Asia. So this is my first time on this continent, which is really cool. Before, I tried to come in with pretty much zero expectations just because I didn’t want to be biased in any way. However, I think my initial reaction of coming off the plane, besides it being hot, was how dry it was. I mean, it took me about 30 minutes once we started talking to our driver that it’s the dry season and that the rainy season is about a month away. So Yeah, I remember that drive to Bottumbong with you, Christian, and just looking around and being like, Where is all the green? And then obviously, once we got into the mountains and we were able to see that, and it was super beautiful. But like Kylie, I saw the people and how warm and kind they are. There definitely is a special air about the K’Mai people that I had never really seen before in all of my travels. This is a special place for sure, and love it here. Definitely want to come back.
[00:11:11.170] – Christian
Yeah, me too, man. And I’d love if we could dig a little deeper, what were some of the most memorable experiences or moments you’ve had on this trip? I would love if you could share something to help illustrate what you’ve been talking about with how open the people are or how different everything is from the rest of the world. Just share one or two experiences you really want to remember.
[00:11:39.700] – Kyli
Well, I’ll share another experience that I had with Mao. She was telling me about how she came to work at the UN. And she talked about how when she was younger, she experienced displacement because of the genocide living on the Thai border. And she talked about how the UN came in and they gave her food and shelter. And she grew up seeing the UN symbol. And she equated that with survivors and being saved and bringing hope and light. And she always knew that she wanted to work for whatever that symbol stood for. And then she went to college and found that that was the UN organization. And so then she’s worked there for 15 years. And so she just told about her experience growing up in a refugee camp, and I just thought that experience is really cool. And now she is living her dream working for the UN and doing really good work for Cambodia, for women. She also works for the Disability and Inclusion Center, and so for those people as well.
[00:12:52.300] – Christian
That’s way cool. Thanks so much for sharing. What about you, Seth?
[00:12:57.670] – Seth
So many good experiences. I think one of the best, I guess, and like, funniest memories that I have is we went to the cool in Waterfalls, and that was beautiful just because You get up there and it is so hot outside. I mean, it’s 102 degrees. It feels like 110. So you’re just sweating buckets. And we are walking. We see some really cool… We saw this really cool Buddha statue and this beautiful temple that the Buddhist and monks have created there. It was cool. We went up and took some pictures up there. And then we came down and we’re going to the place where we were going to have lunch and swim. I don’t know if you remember this, Christian, but you and I see the water and we immediately look at each other and we’re like, Yeah, we’re going We’re going in there.
[00:14:00.930] – Christian
We were like, Look, we don’t care.
[00:14:05.550] – Seth
It was lunchtime. We’re like, We’ll wait a few minutes. And I remember getting in the water, and it felt so good. Just cool water. And We go and have lunch with all the trainers and then go out down to the waterfall and enjoy that with all the trainers as well. However, the experience that I will remember forever is on the way back. We were all pretty tired. It had been a long day. Lots of driving, lots of just playing in the water, just having fun with each other. And one of the trainers pulls out this boom box. And passes it up to the front. And a shout out to Sokrim for getting the mic and just singing her hard out. It was so fun because we knew these people. We had met them maybe once before, the day before, and that was it. But it was in a more professional setting. So we really didn’t get to know these people as well as we did that day. But we were driving back and Sokrin was just singing this beautiful traditional Kamai song, and it was awesome. I feel like that moment, I really understood these people and where they come from, Just their generosity.
[00:15:31.640] – Seth
They’re so genuine. And it was really cool to see everyone in the bus just blossom and open up. Sokrim opened up, or some other trainers opened up. And it was so cool to see just the genuine interaction that we had with them. And that was super fun because we were just bouncing along the road. You some bumps, and then we just keep on going, chugging along. And Sokrim is just singing this beautiful Kamai song. So that was a great memory.
[00:16:09.670] – Christian
Yeah, for sure. Karaoke in the van. I’ll never forget that. It was super awesome. I think for me, I’m trying to think of experiences, and honestly, all that comes to mind right now are just a few moments, like snapshots that I don’t want to forget. One of them was while we were driving to the first day, and I I looked out the window and saw a kid that was probably no older than 12 years old, and he had a little stick in his hand, and he was walking along what it looked like an empty field leading some cattle. And I was like, I’m not in Utah anymore. This is crazy. Crazy to think that it doesn’t matter how young or old you are. People are always working here. They work so hard for their livelihood. Another example of that is yesterday here in Phnom Penh, it’s the capital city of Cambodia. We were just walking on the street and I saw an old lady. She turned and smiled at me So cute. But she had a handcart. She was pushing full of cardboard boxes and had a bunch of bags on it. And she stopped at a couple trash cans and was fishing plastic bottles out of the top of the trash cans, presumably to take them to be recycled and probably get a small sum of money in return.
[00:17:36.340] – Christian
But the fact that she’s working so hard and could still look up and smile just warned my heart. One more thing I want to remember is when Seth and I, earlier last week, we were interviewing some small businesses in Bahtumbong, and we were at one business, and we were talking with the business owner. And while we were talking, he was selling things to everyone. We were literally in an interview, and he was taking money from all these little kids that were buying drinks because, again, it’s 105 degrees out, super hot. But then this guy walks up, and he’s in crutch because he’s missing his entire right leg. And I was just like, wow. I had heard about people that were missing limbs here in Cambodia, mostly because of war, because of landmines, things like that. But I hadn’t seen it until that moment. And I was like, wow, this is real. He’s been living with that for years. And the fact that he could still smile and walk up and buy a drink and say hello. It’s been really great for me just to get some perspective on life in general and how good we have things.
[00:18:59.090] – Christian
But I wanted We’re going to move and get a little more specific as we move into our research, talking about that for a brief moment. Our audience has heard a lot of general overviews of our research project. We’ve given them a lot of different ideas, things that we’re interested in. But due to the complexity and the amount of moving parts, we haven’t really gone into many specifics. So I wanted to take this opportunity to ask you some fairly specific questions about the research here so we can help illustrate what is really going on as far as the Cambodia project goes. So first, what was the big goal of this trip for each of you as far as the research goes? What were we trying to accomplish?
[00:19:44.850] – Kyli
Yeah, I think for me, I came a little bit later, but we’re trying to localize the GALs training that’s used by OxFam. So we’re trying to train our trainers in CM Reep. So that was my main goal here and to integrate the marketing training as well. And maybe Seth can add on to that also.
[00:20:10.190] – Seth
Yeah. I think the biggest thing is just connecting with these trainers. This is a project that we’ve been talking about and doing a lot of research for a while. And it was really cool to finally come to Cambodia, to CM Reep, and actually implement what we had been studying for so long. So I think my main goal was making sure that the trainers felt a connection to us and really bought in. Obviously, we’re from the United States, and so that’s where we live. We’re not doing the day-to-day work here in Cambodia, however these trainers are. And it was interesting over the course of the week, I really saw them buy in. First, with the revenue tracking in Bottom Balm. We had two trainers there, and they loved the revenue tracking. The business has communicated to them that the revenue tracking was opening their eyes and allowing them to really see just business in a different way, more as like they can actually grow instead of just being stuck in the same old routine over and over again. It was really cool to implement the revenue tracking, the marketing training, and then the gals training to the trainers and seeing them buy in to what we are doing.
[00:21:45.340] – Seth
And I’m excited to see the project forward.
[00:21:47.710] – Christian
Yeah. Just for reference, the gals training is like a goal setting vision oriented training, which is super great for people here. Like Seth was saying earlier, a lot of the times they’ve never heard of goals before, or they’ve never had a vision for their life beyond getting to that next meal. So this is some really ground-breaking stuff that we’re rolling out here. However, it’s not always sunshine and daisies all the time. I want you to talk about some of the challenges that you’ve encountered as we were training, working with the trainers, doing these research activities here in Cambodia. What were some of the challenges that you encountered and How did you overcome them?
[00:22:33.340] – Kyli
I think for me, one of the challenges was just working through some of the material, either physically working through it and also mentally working through it. We talked about previously, that mind shift from fix to growth was challenging at first. Working through that with them and trying to get them on that same page quickly was challenging. To get them to a place that we could move on to the next thing was challenging. For example, for my training, I did the gender balance tree. So I was working on studying gender within the household. And so trying to get them to understand different gender aspects of their household and how that might pertain to a growth mindset was a big leap for them at first, and how that might translate to small businesses was a big leap. But then once we started to do it over and over again and break up the different parts, they started to understand more. So I think once we broke it up and we brought it back to their vision of what they wanted to do, like Seth was talking about the pigs in the blanket, bringing it back to that vision, it was really easy to understand how gender plays into It’s like, oh, gender plays into all of my goals.
[00:24:03.370] – Kyli
It affects everything in my life, not just my relationships. It affects my goals and everything I want to do. I think that’s when it started to happen and click for them.
[00:24:15.820] – Christian
For sure. Thanks for sharing that, Kylie. Super interesting how, I think as we get more specific with the training, it becomes more real for them. They’re able to see like, okay, see things falling into place. This is why the gender balance tree would be useful. What about you, Seth?
[00:24:35.560] – Seth
Yeah. As with any great project, there are a lot of moving parts. Like Kylie said, working with the gender balance tree, a lot of moving parts, a lot of things to explain. I think the hardest thing for me was probably translation and communication between English to Kamai. Our trainers speak English, but there are always words that we use that They’re lost in translation. I mean, with any language, as you translate one to another, things are lost in translation. You use words that make sense in English, but in Kamai, may go right over their head. And it was interesting. I remember as I was teaching about the Empowerment Leadership Map, which is part of the GALS training, I really had to slow down, use basic words, get them to understand, make sure they understood, and then move on. This drew out the process of teaching a little bit. However, it was really interesting that as I broke down the leadership map into different sections, explained it thoroughly, and then moved on, I was able to see, like Kylie said, that light go off in their head. Where it clicked for them. And it was really interesting because with the Empowerment Leadership Map, they realized, wow, there are a lot of organizations and people that are in my sphere of influence that I can change.
[00:26:13.900] – Seth
So And I should change, instead of leaving them to whatever they want to do. Implementing the training that we’ve been giving them so that they can go out and effect change in their own community and share with others so that as they share it grows and grows and grows. Yeah, the translation is probably the hardest part. I mean, then along with that, there was the survey and just Translation as well. As we were doing the survey, we actually went out and demoed it with a couple of businesses, and that was really cool talking to a bunch of businesses, interviewing them about their thoughts on change and fixed mindset, growth mindset. Do they track revenue? Do they sell their products differently from other competitors? Do they even know about their competitors? These are basic things that we learn about in school and in business, but here it’s not. But we saw places where we could make the survey better, and I’m excited to implement those and change that and then roll it out with our trainers.
[00:27:30.580] – Christian
Yeah, it’s so nice that we’re here in person to see firsthand some of the challenges so that we can resolve them before we roll out this research and they go and interview 500 businesses and select 240 from that. It’s so important that we get this done here and now so there’s less challenges later on.
[00:27:51.790] – Seth
Yeah. And I think that’s one of the biggest benefits of coming here to Cambodia is, like I said, there are a lot of moving parts to this project. And And being able to actually implement them and then change them here, it’s been huge. There’s no 13-hour time difference like there is when we’re doing a research from Provo, Utah. I’m not doing video at 11:00 PM. Yes, exactly. Christian gets to enjoy his night. Yeah. So it’s been super beneficial talking to these people because just our culture is different than theirs. And as we They changed the project according to culture. It brings a lot of things to light. So it’s been a huge benefit to be here in Cambodia.
[00:28:40.460] – Christian
Yeah. So glad you brought that up, Seth. I think as you guys were talking, I was thinking about You mentioned that they’re buying in, the trainers themselves are buying in more as we’re getting more specific and as we’re really simplifying some things and trying to communicate on their level things that they’ll understand in Kamai. They’re buying in. And I think, similarly, I am more bought in now that I’ve been here in person. I’m so thankful that I was able to come on this trip because now that I’ve been here and worked with these people and seen the potential that this research has for good, I am so bought in. And I’m going to work as hard as I can to make sure that this goes somewhere, that something happens. I’m sure you feel the same way. I want to ask you if there is one thing you wish you would have known before you came to Cambodia, what do you wish you had known? What would it be?
[00:29:44.140] – Kyli
They only take cash. That has been dramatic.
[00:29:50.820] – Seth
And not just cash, but really crisp. Really good cash.
[00:29:54.670] – Christian
Can you explain that for a second?
[00:29:57.460] – Kyli
Oh, they only take crisp dollar bills or new dollar bills and cash only everywhere. No credit cards. Yes. No credit cards.
[00:30:09.010] – Christian
I also wish I had known that. I brought more cash. It’s been fun to navigate. Yes.
[00:30:15.340] – Kyli
That’s been interesting, even in Panampan.
[00:30:19.220] – Christian
Yeah. It was the other day we went out to an Indian restaurant, and we thought they took card, and then they didn’t take card. And so we scrounged up every last dollar we had.
[00:30:31.620] – Seth
Correction, I scrounged up every last dollar I had.
[00:30:34.520] – Christian
It was not enough. They didn’t even want. We had one dollar that had a few rips.
[00:30:41.010] – Seth
It was barely ripped. It was not that bad. They did not want it. You can keep that. So we got a dollar discount on that meal. I do wish I did know more Kamai before coming here, at least more meetings and things like that from our other researcher, Elisa.
[00:30:59.600] – Kyli
I wish I would have taken more time to learn more Kamai from her, I think, or going forward.
[00:31:07.110] – Christian
Yeah. The people here are so eager to communicate. If you learn just a few things,. They’ll go crazy. And then I’m like, Oh, I don’t know what you just said. But yeah. What about you, Seth?
[00:31:23.600] – Seth
Should I known before? Well, so I watched a couple of movies on The Kamai Rouge. I watched first They Killed My Father, and then I watched The Killing Fields. The Killing Fields was super interesting. It was a movie made in, I think, 1984, so five years after the Khmer the Khmer Rouge ended. And that one was pretty graphic. So I would recommend watching it. Definitely understand that going into it, there’s going to be lots of horror just really hard scenes to take in. I think I wish I would have known a little bit more about present day Cambodia and the politics and everything that are going into that. As we learned just with the people being relocated out of Anchor Wat, and just other political knowings. I wish I would have known that. I think that would have been really interesting to come in with more sympathy and help me understand why the K’Mai people are the way they are now. I mean, being here and talking with everyone, I get it, but I can’t imagine. And I felt a lot of growth. So if I’d known that before, I can’t imagine the growth I would have felt beforehand.
[00:32:59.570] – Christian
This Yeah, just being more prepared with knowledge. It’s definitely a lot of things to try to understand.
[00:33:06.200] – Seth
Right. I mean, it’s learning a different culture. There’s a lot that goes into culture, right?
[00:33:13.690] – Christian
For sure. Going off of that, what advice would you give to other students, specifically researchers who are considering similar field work, maybe not even in Cambodia, but in another emerging market? What advice would you give them if they’re going to go out there, try and do some research.
[00:33:32.440] – Seth
Do research in Cambodia. It’s awesome.
[00:33:36.150] – Kyli
Yeah, I’d say for us, especially, it’s been really important to include Kamai people and Kamai voices, to just put out a positionality, a statement of positionality. We’re sitting here commenting on other people’s culture, and I think that is valuable to reflect on our time here in Cambodia, but it is important to include the voices of the people that actually live here and the expertise of the people that actually live here and experience the life of Cambodia and the history of Cambodia. So that’s the main thing I would say is to include Cambodian partnerships, Cambodian researchers, Cambodian trainers. And I think we’ve done our best to do that and try to do that going forward. And so I think that’s the best way to do research research in any emerging market because there are experts in any place in emerging markets of the people that actually live there. And we can do our best to research it and to get us close to it through data and through being here, but we will never understand it the way that they do. And so that’s the only real way to do research in an emerging market is to actually work with the people that live here.
[00:34:55.790] – Christian
That’s phenomenal advice. If you’re a researcher listening, please Please listen to what Kali just said. That’s such great advice. Definitely partner with the people, real people that live there and their day to day is in that country. They understand it so much better than we ever will.
[00:35:14.610] – Seth
Yeah. And I would say the same, honestly. Use the people where you go. It’ll be interesting to see how the trainers that we’ve selected who are Kamai, how their lives will be affected based off of this training. That is what I’m really excited to see, is the people that will be affected that are the trainers. So I would say definitely Use the people here. Find people that you trust. God is in the details of this project. He’s definitely been orchestrating a lot. And so we’ve been blessed to find people that we trust, people that are willing to help. But I think they’re willing to help because they see the value in this project. And so communicate to the people where you are, the value of the project, of the research. Show them why it’s important. They’ll buy in, which you can then use them for other resources. And so it’s been really exciting to work with the Kamai people. I’ve gained a lot of appreciation for them. I know that if you do research, one in Cambodia or in a developing market, as a user, people, you’ll develop a lot of gratitude for your position and also the people that you work with.
[00:36:49.350] – Seth
And like Kylie said, they know the culture a lot better than we do. So why not use those people? Why not use the people that the local businesses, Kamai businesses, can connect with?
[00:37:02.790] – Christian
Yeah. Thanks so much for sharing that, Kylie and Seth. Super helpful. And thanks for just entertaining these questions and reflecting on your time here. This has been really great. Before we go, I do have one last question. William Shakespeare once said that brevity is the soul of wit. And so while we keep things brief, I would love if you could share one big takeaway from your time in Cambodia that you want to share with our audience. What are you going to do or what will you see differently because of what you’ve experienced here? It’s okay if you need some time to think, but it’s a big question.
[00:37:50.800] – Seth
Yeah, I’ll respond on that one. Something that I’ve seen is the joy that people have in being different here. That’s something that’s been impressed upon my mind as I’ve been here is I’ve seen everyone comes from a different situation. All the trainers come from different situations. They’re all come high, but they’ve all had different lives growing up. I mean, even here, like with us, we’ve all had different lives. And I think something that I’ve really come to appreciate is that people are genuinely themselves, and they’re interested in what they’re interested in. They’re going after goals that they want to go after. And I think we become influenced a lot by the people around us, by social media, just by different things. And as we really strive to pursue our own goals, like example, one of the trainers wanting to have a restaurant with pigs in the blanket. That’s so unique, but he is so excited about it. And that’s something that I want to carry with me is carry that uniqueness of my own goals with me pursue them, work hard. Because, man, the opportunities that I have and the resources that I’ve been given are a lot, and I’m grateful for that.
[00:39:42.200] – Seth
And what better way to show my appreciation than using them, using those resources in my own unique way.
[00:39:52.750] – Christian
I love that. Thanks, Ed.
[00:39:55.820] – Kyli
Yeah. There are places that I’ve traveled to. I’ve been able to travel a lot in my life. And there’s definitely places I’ve been to, and there’s places that stay with me. And Cambodia is definitely one of those places that will stay with me for the rest of my life and will have definitely a special place in my heart just because of how much I know about Cambodia, and especially because of the experiences I’ve had here. But what will stay with me is I’ve just been really impressed with how they are doing gender development work. Just from talking with experts in gender development, they’ve talked a lot about how they work in coalitions with each other and how they work with government, nonprofits, even the private sector and how they’re all working towards this goal in lots of different ways, and they’re coming at it in lots of different ways. And they’re all working together so beautifully. And I’ve never seen that happen in in any of the other countries that I’ve worked with or even in the US. And they’re all working so diligently and beautifully together in a really innovative way that I’ve just been really impressed with.
[00:41:13.240] – Kyli
And so that’s really inspired me to move forward, not just in Cambodia, but in my own gender development work. That’s something that I’m really passionate about that I want to bring also to the US and just in my own life.
[00:41:30.300] – Christian
That’s awesome. Thanks, Kylie, and thanks, Seth, for sharing your findings. It’s so inspiring to hear the before and after of this trip. It’s inspiring to, as I reflect and think back on this week and a half that we’ve been here and how much I’ve learned, how much I’ve grown. I know that for anyone who decides to travel, to go to a new country, there’s going to be lots of takeaways, lots of experiences. But I hope that for our listeners out there, as you’ve been listening today, that you might feel a small portion of that, the inspiration that we’re feeling right now, a small portion of that I don’t know. I have a sense of urgency. I need to do more with my life. I need to be more than what I’ve been and make use of all the resources that I’m I’m blessed to have back in the United States. And so I’m so thankful for this trip and everything that we’ve learned here. For those listeners out there, thank you for listening, and stay tuned for the next episode. But before we go, one last thing, please remember to lift where you stand. Okay.