Christmas morning in Thousand Oaks, CA

9:30 A.M.

It was the first gift she unwrapped: a coffee-table book of beautiful Vietnam images. My step-daughter, Ashley, feigned appreciation and gamely thumbed through the beautiful images from the award-winning photographer, Hans Kemp.

A short time later, when she unwrapped the big box with the nón lá hat, she was almost convincing when she said, “These hats are so cool. I’ve always wanted one of these.”

When all the presents were unwrapped and all the stockings were emptied, there was still a card tucked in the branches of the tree. My husband, Scott, pulled it out. There was no name on the envelope. He opened it and said, “Oh, Ashley, this is for you.”

I watched her perplexed facial expressions as she tried to grasp what she was looking at. Her sister, Erica, the accomplished world traveler, helped her decipher the unfamiliar codes:

Korean Airlines – Reservation Information

1. GIBB/ASHLEYEMS

KE 012 14FEB14 LAX/ICN

KE 663 16FEB14 ICN/REP (Siem Reap) . . .

“Cambodia! . . . Ashley, you’re going to Cambodia!”

I watch the joy and disbelief spread across my step-daughter’s face. “Are you kidding me? Are you $#@&ing kidding me?”

She ran over and hugged me.

She posted on Facebook just a few minutes later:

I was about her age when I had an opportunity to take my first international adventure. Like Ashley, I was unsure about my life’s purpose, how I would ever make enough money to move out on my own and make my way in the world . . .

My first travel experience radically changed me, my world view and my ideas of how I could live my life. Erica’s first big travel experience radically changed her assumptions about what’s possible for her personal and professional life.

There’s no way such a journey cannot be a mind-blowing experience for Ashley. She’s so much smarter and savvier and confident than I was in my early 20s.

What a gift to ME – to be a witness:

… to her exposure to the unbelievable richness of foreign cultures and customs

… to her interaction with 18 accomplished women from the Dining for Women organization

… to her connection with the women she’ll meet in Cambodia and Vietnam. Many will be much younger than Ashley.  Some will have been married off – or borne children – as mere girls. Some will have been sold into slavery. Some will have been abused – or raped – or forced to leave school to care for younger siblings … or endured unimaginable hardships. All will have suffered the inequity of poverty, social bias and gender inequality.

And, all these women will have been supported, empowered and lifted up by the grassroots programs that are funded by Dining for Women.

What a gift – to myself, to Ashley – and to the women and children of the world!

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A bit of back-story:

A few years ago, when I was seeking a way to make a meaningful contribution to the world, I discovered the MOST amazing, simple, and effective organization – Dining for Women. It works for me at so many levels. Once a month, I simply invite my friends to a potluck dinner. They bring food to share and a donation in whatever amount that they might have spent to dine out at a restaurant. Those monies are collected from hundreds of such gatherings all over the country. Grants are made to carefully-vetted grassroots organizations  in the developing world that oversee specific initiatives that empower women and girls and give them access to better education, better health, better opportunity, more safety and security – and improved lives for themselves and their children.

Their motto:  Changing the world one dinner at a time.

(NOTE: I’m organizing this journey to southeast Asia, and have a space for one more amazing woman on this incredible journey! Dates are Feb 16-28.)