In an effort to do her part to rebuild the country she was forced to leave 28 years ago, Chenda Smead, an interior designer living in San Jose, California, has focused on education.
“You can start by asking yourself each and every day, ‘Did I do something today that I feel proud of?’” she said during a speech Saturday at the opening of her latest project, a learning center for gifted children at Bright Future Kids Home in Kandal province’s Kien Svay district.
Originally from Battambang province, Chenda Smead, now 46, fled Cambodia with her mother and sister following the fall of the Khmer Rouge in 1979 and moved to the US, leaving behind her father and brother, whom she still considers to be “missing.” She went on to study computer science, mathematics, and eventually interior design.
In 2005, she opened Seng Kheang Middle School, named after her missing brother, in Siem Reap province, as well as a dormitory to house 30 women of post-secondary education level being trained as future leaders.
“Create a dream of how you can best help your people and your country and stay close to that dream,” she told the crowd on hand Saturday.
The ceremony, which included the opening of a women’s dormitory donated by Cambodian-American Vanny Clay, was attended by Minister of Education Kol Pheng, who praised both women for returning to help their country.
Women in Cambodia now have greater access to education, which will give them more opportunities in the future, Kol Pheng said
“In the next 20 years, we may have a woman prime minister,” he added.
Seventeen-year-old Veasna Thorn, one of a dozen students living and learning at Bright Future Kids Home, said that Chenda Smead and Vanny Clay have inspired him to do more for his country.
“They help Cambodian people and are a good example for us,” he said.
Chenda Smead’s next project is to build a facility for expatriate teachers at a Ratanakkiri province middle school with the goal of attracting foreign nationals to teach.
Without good teaching, she said, “a school is just a building.”
