TAMIU ‘Reading The Globe’ Cambodia Fundraiser Set Nov. 13

Freshmen students at Texas A&M International University have an enriching first-year experience through the ‘Reading the Globe’ common read. It is designed to promote meaningful learning, set high expectations for students, build an intellectual community, and deepen students’ understanding of international issues.

All incoming freshmen at TAMIU are responsible for reading a selected text written by a contemporary author on an international topic. The book is discussed in freshman seminar classes and students meet the author during a campus visit.

This year’s selection was “The Road of Lost Innocence: The True Story of a Cambodian Heroine” by Somaly Mam. In her book, Mam writes about her life in Cambodia as an orphan, a sex slave at 12, how she finally escaped that life and has since dedicated her life to helping and healing other young sex workers.

On Nov. 13, TAMIU will host the “Healing Cambodia Bicycle Race and Fun Run/Walk/Bike” fund raiser to demonstrate the impact of the book. Cost to participate is $30; proceeds will go to the Somaly Mam Foundation and PEPY, an organization devoted to improving the quality of education offered in government schools in rural Cambodia.

Registration begins at 7 a.m. and the race begins at 8 a.m. Bicycle Race participants will depart from TAMIU, ride to Doctor’s Hospital and back. Fun Race participants will walk, jog, or ride along TAMIU’s Loop inside the campus. The events are open to the public. The event is sponsored by the TAMIU Reading the Globe Ambassadors.

As part of the initiative, a small group of essay competition winners have so far traveled to Poland and Ghana. A new group will visit Cambodia in Spring 2011, to teach English, work the fields and clear land.

Mam, one of Time Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People of 2009 and a CNN Hero, and human rights advocate, recently spoke at TAMIU as the third featured author in the “Reading the Globe: the TAMIU Freshmen Experience.”

This program is made possible in part by a grant from Humanities Texas, the state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities.

For additional information on the “Healing Cambodia Bicycle Race and Fun Run/Walk/Bike” fund raiser, please contact Dr. Hayley D. Kazen, instructor, University College at hkazen@tamiu.edu or 326.2134 or visit offices in the University Success Center, room 223.

University office hours are 8 a.m. – 5 p.m., Monday – Friday.

Journalists who need additional information or help with media requests and interviews should contact the Office of Public Relations, Marketing and Information Services at prmis@tamiu.edu