Farewell, Cambodia

Leaving Cambodia

****

****

"Keep on learning & dreaming & preparing yourself to make your own mark on our world." —The First Lady go.wh.gov/m1EPti #LetGirlsLearn

—
The First Lady (@FLOTUS) March 22, 2015

****

****

Rise and Shine: The First Lady in Cambodia

First Lady Michelle Obama visiting a school in Siem Reap province, Cambodia

****

VOA: Michelle Obama Meets With Cambodian Students

U.S. first lady Michelle Obama is in Cambodia where she spoke Saturday at a Peace Corps training event in the city of Siem Reap, home to Cambodia’s famed Angkor Wat temple complex. The visit is part of a two-nation trip meant to highlight a new global women’s education initiative.

Obama thanked the Peace Corps volunteers for the work that they are doing to educate and empower girls in Cambodia.  She called the volunteers the “living, breathing” embodiment of what her program, “Let Girls Learn,” is all about.

Earlier in the day, Obama met with a group of girls at a school on the outskirts of the city.

Accompanied by Bun Rany, the wife of Cambodia’s prime minister Hun Sen, Obama told the schoolgirls to stay in school and take advantage of their education to demand greater freedoms in their impoverished country.

“Let girls learn’ is about giving girls like you here, all the girls who are here, giving you a voice in your communities and in your country,” she said.

The trip is the first time that the wife of a sitting U.S. president has visited the Southeast Asian country.

More here

****

First Lady Michelle Obama and Bun Rany, the first lady of Cambodia, arrive to meet with students at a high school on the outskirts of Siem Reap, Cambodia

****

****

The First Lady Travels To Japan And Cambodia

Instagram

****

First Lady Michelle Obama Visits Japan And Cambodia

U.S. First Lady Michelle Obama has arrived in Japan for a three-day visit designed to highlight her global women’s education initiative.

The First Lady landed late Wednesday in the capital, Tokyo.

On Thursday, she will hold separate meetings with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his wife, Akie. She also plans to meet with the Emperor and Empress of Japan before heading to Kyoto, on Friday.

A White House statement said the First Lady will announce a partnership between the U.S. and Japan on the Let Girls Learn initiative, which aims to help educate the 62 million girls globally who do not attend school.

On Friday, she will head to Cambodia, which is one of 11 countries initially included in the initiative. It is the first time that a sitting U.S. first lady has visited the Southeast Asian country.

In Cambodia, Michelle Obama will meet Bun Rany, the Cambodian first lady. She will also meet meet volunteers with the U.S. Peace Corps program, which will play a key role in helping expand access for schooling for girls.

****

****

Tweets by @FLOTUS

****

Instagram: A stunning view flying over Alaska’s Chugach Mountains

****

The First Lady:

This week, I will be traveling to Japan and Cambodia — and I want young people like you across America to join me!

This trip technically starts today when I leave the White House and get on a plane for a long flight to Asia. But really, this visit is part of a journey that began decades ago, back when I was a little girl.

Like many of you, I came from a pretty modest background. My family didn’t have much money, and my parents raised me and my brother, Craig, in a tiny apartment in Chicago, Illinois. While my mom and dad never had the chance to attend college, they were determined to see me and Craig get the best education possible.

School was the center of our lives, and I worked as hard as I could to learn as much as possible. I often woke up at 4:00 or 5:00 in the morning to study, because that was the only time our little apartment was ever really quiet.

With my parents’ encouragement and a lot of hard work, I was able to get into college and get the financial aid I needed to pay for it — and my college education opened doors of opportunity I never could have dreamed of back in that tiny apartment. I studied subjects I was passionate about — like English literature, African American history and sociology. I met classmates and professors from all over the world who opened my mind to all kinds of new ideas. And because I got my college degree, I was able to attend law school, become a lawyer, work in city government and as a hospital executive, and even run a non-profit organization that trained young people in Chicago to serve their communities.

Unfortunately, so many girls just like me and like many of you — girls who are so curious and hungry to learn, and so willing to work hard — never have the chance to get an education. Right now, 62 million girls worldwide are not in school at all. Many of them simply can’t afford the school fees (unlike in America, where every student can go to school for free, in many countries, parents have to pay to send their children to school). Sometimes, even if their parents can afford it, the nearest school might be miles away, and it’s simply not safe for girls to walk there and back each day. Sometimes, a school will be located nearby, but it might not have bathrooms for girls, so they simply can’t attend. And in some countries, girls are forced to get married and have children at a young age — sometimes before they’re even teenagers — instead of getting an education.

This is such a heartbreaking loss, not just for those girls, but for their families, communities and countries. Studies show that girls who attend school have healthier families, earn higher salaries and even help boost their entire countries’ economies.

That’s why, earlier this month, the United States Government launched a new initiative called Let Girls Learn that will help girls worldwide go to school and stay in school. Through Let Girls Learn, we’ll be supporting education projects across the globe — leadership programs and mentorship programs, and so much more.

But the United States can’t address the global girls’ education crisis all by ourselves — it’s just too big. We need countries around the world to step up and help. That’s why I’m starting my trip in Japan — because this week, the United States and Japan will be announcing a new partnership to educate girls worldwide, and we’ll be calling on other countries to join us in this effort.

After spending a few days in Japan, I will be heading to Cambodia, which is one of the very first countries where Let Girls Learn programs will operate. I will visit a school and meet with girls whose lives are being transformed by the power of education.

But while the focus of Let Girls Learn is international, this effort is also very much about inspiring young people like you here at home to truly commit to your own education.

Through Let Girls Learn, I hope that more girls — and boys — here in America will learn about the sacrifices that girls around the world are making just to go to school each day: working multiple jobs to pay their school fees, enduring threats and harassment from people in their communities who think girls shouldn’t attend school, walking for hours each way to school, and more.

I want all of you to be inspired and motivated by these girls. I want you to realize that while your own school might be far from perfect — and my husband is working as hard as he can to fix that — you still need to show up to your classroom every day and learn as much as you can.

And finally, I want young people like you to be citizens of the world — I want you to connect with other young people of every background and nationality and learn about what’s happening in countries across the globe.

That’s why, as I travel, I will be using all kinds of social media to share my trip with you — and I’ll be taking questions from kids across America as I go.

****

First Lady Michelle Obama waves upon her arrival at Haneda International Airport in Tokyo Wednesday, March 18. The First Lady is visiting Japan and Cambodia, who are among Asia’s richest and poorest nations, to highlight cooperation on helping girls finish their educations

****

Love these classy gestures: First Lady wore a dress by Japanese designer Kenzo Takada on her arrival in Tokyo today http://t.co/XdTrma5HdB

—
TheObamaDiary.com (@TheObamaDiary) March 18, 2015

****

The President’s Day

 Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi looks on as President Barack Obama shakes hands after a roundtable with members of parliament and civil society to discuss Myanmar’s reform process in Naypyitaw, Myanmar

****

****

President Barack Obama with Myanmar President Thein Sein ahead of the 9th East Asia summit plenary session at Myanmar International Convention Center in Naypyitaw, Myanmar

****

****

President Barack Obama speaks with Aung San Suu Kyi

President Barack Obama speaks at a U.S.-ASEAN (Association of South East Asian Nations East Asia) session at the Myanmar International Convention Center

****

****

President Barack Obama talks to members of his delegation as he attends an East Asia Summit Plenary at the Myanmar International Convention Center in Naypyitaw, Myanmar. With President Obama are Nina Hachigian, U.S. Ambassador to the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) and U.S. Ambassador to Myanmar Derek J. Mitchell

President Barack Obama and Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung hold a bilateral meeting. President Obama says he sees opportunities for deeper engagement and cooperation with Vietnam despite the difficult history between the two nations

****

****

****

****

From left, South Korea President Park Geun Hye, U.S. President Barack Obama, Philippine President Benigno Aquino III, Brunei’s Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah, arrive for group photo session during the East Asia summit

Myanmar university students walk past a graffiti of President Barack Obama on a roadside in Yangon, Myanmar

****

Newspapers in #Burma highlight @BarackObama visit to the country http://t.co/GU5xCy8hT3

—
IRI (@IRIglobal) November 13, 2014

****

President Barack Obama smiles as he joins hands with leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations at a group photo session during the 2nd ASEAN-U.S Summit at Myanmar International Convention Center in Naypyitaw, Myanmar. They are from left: Philippine President Benigno Aquino III, Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, Thailand’s Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha, Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung, Obama, Myanmar President Thein Sein, Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, Brunei’s Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah and Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen

Early Bird Chat

President Obama talks to New Zealand Prime Minister John Key as they arrive for the gala dinner together with other head of states participating in the 21st ASEAN Summit, Cambodia, Nov 19, 2012

****

Yes, it is the first anniversary of that shirt

****

****

MoooOOOooorning Early Birds!

Rise and Shine: The Week in Photos

With Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, greeting children performers at a dinner at the Government House in Bangkok, Thailand, Nov. 18 (Pete Souza)

Greeting the children of U.S. embassy staff during a reception at the Chulalongkorn University Sports Center in Bangkok, Nov. 18 (Pete Souza)

Rangoon International airport, Burma, Nov 19

The Shwedagon Pagoda in Rangoon, Burma, Nov. 19 (Pete Souza)

The Shwedagon Pagoda

Greeting Aung San Suu Kyi during a visit to her private residence in Rangoon, Nov. 19 (Pete Souza)

Rise and Shine

****

NYT: President Obama skipped dessert at a long summit meeting dinner in Cambodia on Monday to rush back to his hotel suite. It was after 11:30 p.m., and his mind was on rockets in Gaza rather than Asian diplomacy. He picked up the telephone to call the Egyptian leader who is the new wild card in his Middle East calculations.

Over the course of the next 25 minutes, he and President Mohamed Morsi of Egypt hashed through ways to end the latest eruption of violence, a conversation that would lead Mr. Obama to send Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton to the region. As he and Mr. Morsi talked, Mr. Obama felt they were making a connection. Three hours later, at 2:30 in the morning, they talked again.

…. The White House phone log tells part of the tale. Mr. Obama talked with Mr. Morsi three times within 24 hours and six times over the course of several days, an unusual amount of one-on-one time for a president. Mr. Obama told aides he was impressed with the Egyptian leader’s pragmatic confidence. He sensed an engineer’s precision with surprisingly little ideology. Most important, Mr. Obama told aides that he considered Mr. Morsi a straight shooter who delivered on what he promised and did not promise what he could not deliver.

Full article here

****

President Obama talks with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel during a phone call from his hotel suite in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Nov. 19 (Pete Souza)

President Barack Obama talks on the phone with Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi, aboard Air Force One during the flight from Phnom Penh, Cambodia to Washington, D.C., Nov. 20. National Security Advisor Tom Donilon listens at right. (Pete Souza)

President Barack Obama talks on the phone with Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi in the Oval Office, Nov. 21. Chief of Staff Jack Lew, National Security Advisor Tom Donilon, and Deputy National Security Advisor Denis McDonough listen in the foreground. (Pete Souza)

****

****

Happy Thanksgiving everyone

Making History

All photos by Pete Souza – see more here (including captions)

Rise and Shine

An exhausting trip: President Obama yawns at the beginning of the East Asian Summit Plenary Session at the Peace Palace in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Nov. 20

****

Thank you FoxFire

****

Chat away, Night Owls/Early Birds

You know, the previous post was meant to be the last of the day, but you people are immensely chatty, so it got a bit on the long side.

I couldn’t think what to put in this post, so I just picked a completely random video (blame JER).

See you tomorrow – and keep your shirts on.