Link to Nicole's Blog: 'Iolani School, iBlog: STRENGTHENING COMMUNITIES: A Blessing for Our Pilgrimage to Cambodia
My friend and colleague, the Rev. Nicole Simopoulos is a gifted priest (no she's not paying me to say that).
She is on a pilgrimage with students from Iolani school to Cambodia to stay for a little more than a week. They will learn more about its history and culture, they will do home stays to learn about the people and share aloha. As a part of that she began their journey on the plane with a prayer and some simple memory beads to help them connect in a deeper way to the journey they were under taking.What is different for us as chaplains is that trips such as these are more than educational opportunities. They are pilgrimages.
Without a doubt: this journey is a pilgrimage. At the time of this writing the students are over the Pacific on their way to Phnom Phen, Cambodia. Pilgrimages are a different kind of journey because though it may involve traveling to a place, the real journey is within.
As we grow these kinds of travel opportunities, it is not enough that our students grow intellectually. We must give our students the permission and the tools to allow their entire BEING to be open to the possibilities. Cambodia still reels from the heinous genocide of the Khmer Rouge and the killing fields. To often we ask our students "what did you learn on this trip?" Hinting at some new knowledge gained about the places they have gone and the things they have seen.
When we enter into a new place, especially a country so different than our own, with a history such as Cambodia, one cannot help but be changed. They will see the Killing Fields where it is estimated that in a number nearly twice than the state of Hawaii, between 1.7-2.5 million Vietnamese, Thai, ethnic Chinese, ethnic Cham, Cambodian Christians and Buddhist monks were killed and buried in an act of genocide in sites across Cambodia. Cambodia is more than the Pol Pot regime, of course. It is also a country of great beauty and diverse in ethnicities and religion. It is a country that is still struggling to break out if its past and strives reduce poverty and promote economic growth. So instead of only asking themselves, "What did I learn on this trip?" Perhaps the deeper question they can ask themselves is "What MEANING does this bring to my life and how have I been changed why what I have experienced?"
That being said, this is not planned as a religious trip, per se, but it is life altering. I am thrilled that Chaplain Simopoulos accompanied these students. ‘Iolani is blessed to have her.. She brings her skills as a pastor, priest, and theologian to bear. That she begins this journey with them with hopes and a prayer typifies of the deeper approach we continue build through St. Alban’s Chapel and the ‘Iolani Peace Institute.
'Iolani School, iBlog: STRENGTHENING COMMUNITIES: A Blessing for Our Pilgrimage to Cambodia
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