World Assistance for Cambodia

DOROTHY RINALDO’S SPEECH AT HER SCHOOL’S OPENING CEREMONY 

Thank you for your wonderful welcome. We feel privileged to be here. First, let me bring greetings from my husband, Peter Rinaldo, who couldn’t be here today.  It was he who read about the Rural School Project in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology alumni magazine, and suggested that that this might interest us.  Indeed it did, so we are here today.

Now let me introduce my children. David, my eldest son and his wife Suzanne Gelber have their own consulting firm which specializes in advising corporations on health care benefits for their employees. Marjory Rinaldo-Lee, my daughter, is president of her consulting firm which works to clean up ground pollution.

Many people have been responsible for bringing this school to you–those who had the idea, who planned and constructed it.  My husband and I have been fortunate to be able to join the many who made this school possible.  Now, your teachers are Making a Difference in your lives.

This school is named for my husband’s grandmother, Rachel Trout, and my grandmother, Emma Tate.  Both were school teachers.  Rachel Trout taught all classes in a one-room school house in Canada.  Emma taught Latin and geometry in a high school in a small town in New York State in the US.  I have brought Rachel’s Diary and a small biography of Emma to you.

My family and I have all benefited from education.  Indeed, education has Made a Difference in our lives; we in turn have been able to Make a Difference, each in our own way.

This school has already Made a Difference in your lives and will continue to do so.  You, in turn will Make a Difference in this, your village. You will become aware of a wider world. Whether or not you ever physically travel to distant places, education enables you to learn about other places and other people and to see them in your mind’s eye.

Education helps in your life’s work.  Education gives you influence. Use it well to benefit your community. Use your education to teach others, so that this village can become connected to other villages and places.

MESSAGE FROM DOROTHY RINALDO AFTER VISITING HER SCHOOL:

Visiting the school gave us a chance to see a concrete example of what our contribution (along with others who planned and constructed the school) did.  It is rare indeed to see a tangible result of one’s charitable contribution.  Generally contributions to organizations are mixed in with others, so that one knows generally that one has helped, not as specifically as this.