Graced With Orange: How Caring For Cambodia Changed Lives, Including My Own by Jamie Amelio
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
This is conceivably one of the most poignant books I have ever read, and I recommend this book to absolutely everyone. Not only does this book have some stunning history and touching personal vignettes, it chronicles a work of which I was completely unaware.
Cambodia–a place I only knew of in name only. I honestly couldn’t tell you where it is located except that it is in Asia somewhere near Vietnam. (Of course, I know now.) I remember that there were refugees coming from there in the 1980’s, but I often didn’t know the difference between the Camobians and the Vietnamese. I assumed it was an impoverished country, but I had no idea what this country had suffered. I had heard of the Khmer Rouge, but I didn’t even know that was a part of Cambodian history.
From the first pages of this book, I was so emotionally invested. Often when I was reading, I felt like turning away–like you would when there was a scary part of a movie. The problem is that you don’t have that same luxury with a book. I found myself crying, praying, and quivering all over. As I continued to read, I knew I had to share what I was learning with my mom. I believe that the tales of horror that the author tells us rival those of Stalin and Hitler. And the sad thing is that we don’t hear about it in our country! I found myself saying to myself repeatedly that I didn’t fathom how I could have gone through the public school system of this country (honors classes!), and I had never heard any of this. I feel much more informed, I must say.
Of course, this story goes far beyond history. It tells how one organization has begun to change one of the poorest countries on earth. In addition to that, she tells the story of her family. There is absolutely nothing that you will find inappropriate in this story. I believe there may be one or two words of mild profanity, but I applaud the author for leaving the hard core profanity to our imagination.
The thing that truly dumbfounded me was the fact that this was not done in cooperation with missionaries or other religious organizations. And yet her results often supersede those of missionaries I have seen. In fact, I would recommend that churches and missionaries who verily want to impact the world could learn a lot from Jamie. I was totally impressed, and what I have learned I shall not forget.
I was sent a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. I was not financially compensated, and all opinions are 100 percent mine.
Bringing Education to the Children of Cambodia, a Woman Finds the True Meaning of Her Own Life.
Readers will be inspired by the children of Cambodia. They are legacies of a genocide that murdered their teachers and many of their family members yet they yearn for the same opportunities young people deserve and desire all over the world a quality education in a safe, nurturing environment with skilled, motivated teachers.
In Cambodia, providing such an education was a huge challenge, but a small group of women in Singapore made it happen. This is the story of how Caring for Cambodia built sixteen life-changing schools, the likes of which were formerly unknown in this troubled third-world nation. It is also the story of how CFC changed the lives of founder Jamie Amelio and many of her friends and family members.
You’ll start learning how to build a charity from the ground up and end up understanding how ‘giving’ and ‘getting’ can become the same thing.
Find out more:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Caring-for-Cambodia/15894647497
http://www.caringforcambodia.org/
Buy the book:
http://www.amazon.com/Graced-Orange-Jamie-C-Amelio/dp/0986025801
