The Story Behind the Founding of Spring of Hope School
In the winter of 2009-2010, Asaf, Jill, and I traveled to Cambodia with our two boys, who were 11 and 13 at the time. We sailed down the Mekong River on a French riverboat, making various stops along the way. When we reached Phnom Penh, the captain had planned to take the guests to visit the Killing Fields. However, we felt this wasn’t an appropriate experience for our young boys. Instead, I reached out to my friend, Osman Ysa, and asked if he could take us on a day trip and share his story with us.
Osman is a member of the Cham community, an ethnic Muslim minority in Cambodia that was disproportionately affected by the Khmer Rouge during the late 1970s. Osman had recently helped us in a personal way, through a network of friends in Brooklyn. He located the birth parents of Kalei’s best friend’s adopted brother, who were living in difficult conditions against the wall of a factory in Phnom Penh. With his help and our non-profit organization, we managed to get the family back on their feet.
Osman agreed to take us out to visit two Cham villages just outside Phnom Penh. During the drive, he shared his heartbreaking story of being separated from his family at the age of six and growing up with hundreds of other children in an unsupervised camp, never to see many members of his family again.
When we arrived, we were warmly welcomed by the villagers. The village chief laid out a long cloth in his garden, served us noodles, and offered us the last coconuts from his tree. Their hospitality and generosity deeply moved us, and we felt compelled to give back in some way.
On our return to Phnom Penh, we asked Osman about his own village, Shay Khleang, and his wish to build a school there. When we inquired about the cost, he said it would be “very expensive, over $20,000.”
At the time, Jill was involved in building a school for the SCA in the Bronx, where the cost per seat was far greater than the cost to build an entire school in Cambodia. So we made the decision to support Osman’s dream. With the help of an art auction and the generous contributions of friends, the Spring of Hope School opened a year later, providing education and opportunity to the children of Shay Khleang.
What began as a simple wish to repay generosity has since blossomed into a lasting commitment to the future of this community. We are deeply grateful for everyone who has joined us on this journey.
-Craig Tooman