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Since I moved to Cambodia some six years ago, I have found myself more and more involved with university students and various university activities. The more I think of this, the more I am amazed because in my early years I was never a lover of universities. I was very bad at studying and became known as a "Straight 'F' student" which meant that my grades were definitely less than admirable. My happiest moment and day at university was the day I left!! In this - as well as a few other matters - I took after my mother. She went to Cambridge University in England and was also known as a "Straight 'F' student" there!!! But that never upset her. She would always tell me that being a "straight 'F' student" should not hold me back and she was right. It didn't hold her back any time either.
Nevertheless, because of all the "straight 'F'" business, I am amazed at my current interest in the students here in Cambodia. I wonder if I got analyzed by whomever, as many people do, whether I would be told that my interest is due to a long-hidden envy or jealousy of these young people and their extreme talents in so many subjects. But whatever the reason - and I don't intend to look further for it - I learn a great deal from these young people and I treasure that knowledge. I get great pleasure from talking with them and listening to their ideas, their opinions as well as their desires and ambitions for their future.
This past weekend I had the great privilege of spending a full day with a host of top students from universities in five different countries in this area. As well Cambodia, they came from Vietnam (both Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City), Thailand, Laos and Myanmar to compete in the Sixth Annual McKinsey Mekong Business Challenge. It is a competition to promote entrepreneurship among students in the Mekong Region and also to launch new businesses and social ventures.
Over one hundred student teams from five countries applied to this year's Challenge and an international team of judges then selected the best 10 teams to come to Phnom Penh and present their projects. What an amazing and incredible collection of projects were presented at the event! It was held at the Raffles Hotel Le Royal here in Phnom Penh. I did not envy the job the judges must have had in deciding the three winning teams as all entrants were worthy of a prize. The first, second and third prize winners were Thammasat University, Bangkok, Lao American College, Vientiane, and Cambodian Mekong University, Phnom Penh, in that order.
I would love to give a detailed account of each presentation as they deserve every recognition, but that would take too long, so I will have to pick out but a few.
I will start with the team from Myanmar because this was the first time that a team from there was able to travel here for the event. Their project is to build eco-friendly construction material for their country using plastic waste. Their knowledge of the different types of plastic even astounded the judges. Their explanation of how one small plastic bottle of water that people buy contains three different types of plastic (the bottle itself, the cap and the wrap-around label) and how when the bottle is recycled in the normal way, these have all got to be separated. In their method of using the waste for construction material, separation is not needed, so even that part of the process makes it cheaper, easier and quicker. In addition in the finished product the toxicity is minimal. The important thing for the poor people in rural Myanmar is that the product is affordable even for them. Buildings made from this material will be much more durable than those currently made from bamboo and palm fronds. Everyone present at the event were pleased to learn that the Myanmar team had been awarded a special prize for their effort.
Another project of practical and immediate value came from the Cambodian team who put forward their plans to install latrines in thirty-six villages in Kampot Province. Sanitation is a huge problem in many parts of this country and in Kampot Province alone, 65% of the population does not have access to proper sanitation. This in turn leads to serious illnesses - especially among children and the elderly and it also increases the death rate. The team have already installed latrines in one village in Kampot and will be looking for funding to continue their work. For westerners the cost is regarded as not worth talking about - it is $45.00 for each installation. Everything included. But for the poor in the villages that can be a big amount. The team have asked me to help them get Government funding for this important project and I hope we can do that. I am sure that we will be able to find the funds somehow as this is a very important thing for the health of our country.
A team from the Lao American College in Vientiane came up with an interesting project for insect repellent shoes. That was also a very practical project but for me I found it hard to follow all the technicalities as to how they worked. I have a slow brain as I have said so often, and as to how wearing a repellent of some sort on or in your shoe can ward off insets from your arms and head, I could not follow, but apparently it can. The shoe which is like a Nike (but isn't) sports shoe, contains a tiny micro chip in the sole containing the repellent and it is powered - or rather charged up - by a tiny solar panel also in the shoe. It seems these shoes have been tried and tested and proved to be good and because they carry the little solar panel to re-charge the repellent, as long as the shoes are worn frequently the repellent will work indefinitely.
The only other thing I can say here without heading into the realm of boredom - if I haven't already got there! - is that these students have to be applauded. Their imaginations, their credibility and their talent are equal to any student anywhere. It is too bad that only a relatively few people overseas hear about them. The great thing about them is that without exception, all the students with whom I spoke that day - and I spoke with most of them - are intent on working to improve their own country rather than moving to a western country for a higher salary. They have to be applauded for that. The additional fact that the presentations had to be done in English - a foreign language for all of them - could not have been easy all the time. Sometimes the judges unintentionally asked questions on a technical matter that caused the students to ask them to repeat the question and a bit slower. The young people have to be applauded that the way they handled all of that.
I wish them all good luck in their future and repeat again how privileged I feel to have the opportunity to be with and talk with these amazing young people. I would also extend a big Thank You to all those who organize this excellent McKinsey Mekong Business Challenge.
