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Stewards Receive Award
From Cambodia with Love Voluntourism
By Deborah Huth
By April Moran Reza, Outreach Coordinator
Like many of us, Evelyn Tilden Mohrhardt nurtured throughout her life a
When we fell in love with Cambodia and its people during a trip to the magnificent temples of Angkor Wat, the search began to find a place to volunteer. I wanted to work with children and use our talents in the arts, since I am a former childhood education dance teacher and my husband is an artist. Cambodian public school is dominated by academic studies, and the inclusion and promotion of arts subjects make up one of the exceptional aspects of the program at Anjali House. Our plan was to stay in Siem Reap for three weeks and work on a play based on a traditional Cambodian folktale. My husband, Gerald, would teach art and work on the backdrops with the students, and
special love for the outdoors. As a young girl, she spent her summers amongst the redwood giants of Calaveras Big Trees and Big Basin State Park. The Evelyn Tilden Mohrhardt Fund was established not only to honor her unwavering love of the outdoors, but specifically with the purpose of investing in programs and organizations dedicated to the protection and preservation of redwood forests.
This October, The San Francisco Foundation announced Stewards of
the Coast and Redwoods as one of their honorable recipients of a $45,000 Mohrhardt Grant. This grant will allow Stewards to improve and enhance the protection of the old-growth redwood forest of Armstrong Redwoods State Natural Reserve by repairing
old and installing new symbolic
fencing throughout the forest.
Comprehensive fencing was last
installed at Armstrong in 1997,
decreasing the impacts of erosion,
soil compaction, as well as any
potential damage to the overall
ecology and redwood understory
caused by human activity.
I would be responsible for the script and choreography. Folktales have the advantage of not only being entertaining, but also reinforcing the value of cooperation and continuity of tradition.
The restoration project will be taking place throughout the next year. Secondary outcomes from this project would be the fostering of a strong sense of stewardship in visitors, students and community members. People will witness
ANJALI HOUSE targets children from six to seventeen years of age who
are sent out by their families to sell souvenirs, postcards, and trinkets to the tourists, rather than attend school. The children often come from families who do not value them. The afterschool program provides each child with free healthcare, education, food, and clean drinking water. “Let adults earn, and children learn” is their motto.
Our first day is chaotic. The children are a wild bunch, not used to discipline or focus, except for the older ones who have been coming to Anjali House for a few years.
Sokli is bawling her eyes out, inconsolable. She is the narrator in the play, and I had told her that I am giving four lines of her part to another girl, who has only one line. Quickly I dispatch Sophea, the Khmer teacher, to talk to Sokli. “No, I don’t want to be in the play at all. Buntha can do the whole thing,” she whimpers, her body heaving with sobs.
The girls are very proud of their achievements and are usually the best and most disciplined students.
By the second week I lay down the law and tell the children that I know they are capable of far more than they are giving. “You guys look exhausted”, says Rhonda, a longtime volunteer from Australia, as we leave school for the day.
On the final day before the play, half the students in the main roles are absent. After only one full rehearsal I am ready to strangle the boys because they are running around and disappearing. Self-confidence is important for these children in order to be able to succeed in life and we don’t want them to feel like failures, so I do a group-rallying cry of “WE CAN DO IT” and repeat it three times to keep the students motivated.
We are not prepared for how well it all turns out, and for the level of commitment on the part of the students.
But the children said it best: “When I am acting it helps me feel confident and trust myself. Maybe when I grow up I will be brave enough to do things”- Peng Li
“Never believe that a few caring people can’t change the world, for indeed, that’s all who ever have.”- Margaret Mead
to improvements taking place,
recognizing the need to protect
this sensitive and unique forest
habitat. Stewards’ monthly
volunteers will work alongside the
State Park paid trail crew to install
the floating hand split rail fencing,
potentially inspiring others to take part in stewarding this park as well.
Stewards of the Coast and Redwoods would like to thank The San Francisco Foundation for supporting and funding this restoration project. We thank those from State Parks and the Stewards’ community who will be working
in partnership to provide the hands on help, as it is vital to the completion of this work. Lastly and most importantly, we thank Evelyn Tilden Mohrhardt who generously extended this opportunity to ensure that these natural spaces would be preserved for future generation to experience, enjoy, and be captivated by the wonder of these majestic redwoods, as she once was.
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