Friendship with Cambodia and Accessing Education after the Arab Spring

Bhavia Wagner had traveled lots of places and had seen lots of eye opening things in third world countries, but when she first arrived in Cambodia, she says words can’t quite describe how what she saw made her feel. For the first half of this episode of Focus, host Jim Meadows talks with Wagner about her efforts to empower young girls and women in Cambodia with her non-profit organization “Friendship with Cambodia.” Wagner is originally from Urbana and will be hosting a screening of the documentary “Half the Sky” April 20th at Friends Meetinghouse in Urbana.

Then in the second half of the hour, we’ll talk with Rangita de Silva de Alwis. 

Last October, Malala Yousafzai was shot in Pakistan on her way home from school for her beliefs that all children should be able to go to school. Shortly after the incident, the United Nations issued a petition making it a goal that all children have access to education by 2015. During the second half of this hour on Focus, we’ll talk about access to education after the Arab Spring with Rangita de Silva de Alwis.  She will be giving a lecture at the Alice Campbell Alumni Center at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign on April 16 entitled “Malala: Access to a Girl’s Education."