Commack Students Opening Their Hearts Sharing Skills With Cambodian Women

Mailysa Wood and Caitlin Passaro

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Commack HS students Mailysa Wood and Caitlin Passaro have been planning for two years to go to Cambodia in support of impoverished women and children. The two High school juniors will not be vacationing when they get to Siem Reap, Cambodia in August; they will be volunteering to train approximately 65 young women in swimming and self defense skills. Mailysa is a certified life guard and Caitlin is a 3rd degree black belt in Jiu Jitsu. They have been friends since meeting each other in third grade at Burr Rd. Intermediate school.  They are courageous, idealistic and smart as well as practical, reasonable and passionate. 

Caitlin has been fundraising for the Little Shelter Animal Rescue for years and Mailysa has assisted her. Both girls are members of the Commack Interact Club, an extension of the Commack-Kings Park Rotary Club run by community activist, Debbie Virga.  The Interact Club is dedicated to providing students the opportunity to do good works in and outside their community. The Cambodian trip is not a Rotary trip and it is not sponsored by any organization. The girls are doing this on their own after learning of the plight of young impoverished women in the Cambodian regio. Too often these become victims of rape and human trafficking and lack the swimming skills that might help them survive the flooding that occurs during the monsoon season. 

The girls have identified their goal as “teaching skills to empower people to help themselves and for them to pass on others.”

Doug Wood, Mailysa Wood and Caitlin Passaro They did not come up with this idea on their own.  Mailysa’s dad has traveled back and forth to Cambodia for years and has been involved in a not-for-profit organization that trains women to become beauty salon owners. Mailysa’s mom is from Vietnam, so the family has an intimate knowledge of the region. Not so with Caitlin’s family. Caitlin admitted they had to be convinced. She was able to convert her family by coming up with a detailed plan. 

The two girls wanted to bring gifts  to the young women they will be training. One of the things they learned was that there are few roads and the woman often go barefoot. They bought flip-flops at Old Navy and personalized them with material and ribbons they purchased with a generous donation from Commack teachers and administrators. For the swimming lessons they were able to  secure the use of a hotel swimming pool in Siem Reap at no cost.  They are looking for a location for the self-defense training.  

In addition to the expense of the 24-hour flight to Cambodia, there are other costsputting together the flip flops involved in bringing supplies (goggles, swim suits etc.) with them and they are fundraising to pay these costs.  Their goal is to raise $6000.  Caitlyn and Mailysa  have a fundraising page on Crowdrise called Project Safe Cambodia https://www.crowdrise.com/search/combined-results/project+safe+cambodia. They also plan to participate in a fundraiser with their Interact Club and are hopeful the club will choose their project as the beneficiary. A second fundraiser (dodgeball) is being planned with the NOKADO School of Self Defense in Kings Park.  A School where Caitlin has trained since she was a young child under John Olshlager. 

Two scheduled fundraisers and the crowdrise page should help them in their effort to help others. They cannot do it alone and they are hoping that people will want to be a part of Project Safe Cambodia.