Carrying Contrasts

I just got back from Cambodia with my family, and the trip hasn’t left me. Cambodia is a country of breathtaking beauty — the temples in Siem Reap, the islands in the Gulf of Thailand — and also one carrying deep wounds. Visiting Tuol Sleng broke me; the genocide wasn’t all that long ago… And even traveling around now, you see widespread poverty, corruption, and people working so hard just to move forward.

Since returning home, I’ve been sitting with the contrast: how a place can hold so much wonder and so much sorrow at the same time. You can adore a country (or any place, really) and still ache for it.

I think it’s hard to hold both beauty and struggle, but I’d venture a guess that this is how most of the world’s population lives each day. And I’d also guess that, at this very intersection, we find growth and resilience, adaptation and creativity.

Isn’t that what our work in social impact is, too? We hold tension. We celebrate progress while facing persistence challenges. We witness suffering and potential in the same moment and choose to lean in anyway.

Even though my heart hurts for Cambodia, I think about all the incredible NGOs working there to make things better. For example, I think about Nomi Network, which I profiled in this newsletter last year; this organization runs a workforce development program for women 18+ who are survivors of or at risk of human trafficking. And I think about APOPO — my new nonprofit crush; I talk about APOPO below under Nonprofit Love.

This is why I will forever love social impact. It’s real people doing steady, important work…trying to lessen the sorrow and make space for more beauty. This is the work you’re doing, and I hope you keep doing it (even when things ache).

With love and appreciation,

Sarah

p.s. — I did a thing. I launched another newsletter, this time on LinkedIn. Because you can never have too many newsletters, right? On the alternate weeks when this beehiiv newsletter doesn’t go out, I’ll be writing there about volunteering, philanthropy, and CSR (from a slightly different angle). You can read and subscribe here.

First time reading this newsletter, Word It Out? Subscribe here for a regular roundup of things I’m thinking about.

📝 HOW ARE 1.9 MILLION NONPROFITS DOING IN THE U.S.?

Yep, there are 1.9 million registered nonprofits in the U.S. (!). In a world where trust feels harder to come by, nonprofits remain one of the most relied-on, community-rooted institutions we have.

And yet, it’s been a super tough year (years?) for the sector — and it doesn’t look like the headwinds are slowing down. But the need for nonprofits has never been greater. More than ever, we need organizations that are healthy, well-supported, and equipped to deliver real impact.

Independent Sector just released its annual Health of the U.S. Nonprofit Sector report, offering a clear snapshot of where things stand: workforce trends, trust and governance, public policy challenges, and more.

Read the report here — and please share it far and wide. This data matters.

🪙 SUPER COOL OPPORTUNITY FOR KIDS AND TEENS

Do you have a motivated young person in your life? If yes, tell them about the Karma 4 Cara Foundation Microgrant Program! Students 18 and under may apply for funds between $250 and $1,000 to complete service projects in their communities throughout the U.S.

Applications are due by January 1. Learn more and apply here.

📷 LYNSEY ADDARIO ON FRESH AIR

No doubt you’ve seen her photos. Maybe you’ve even read her memoir (which is on my list!). I’m talking about Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist Lynsey Addario, whose work I find gripping.

Addario was recently interviewed for Fresh Air and it’s an excellent 40-minute listen. In the podcast, she talks about the tension of being both a mom and war-time photographer and shares stories from the field.

Here’s just a brief snippet: “Images can move people, can educate people, can enlighten people, can flip misconceptions, can bridge people. I still believe in photojournalism and even though I’ve seen so many horrific things and I’ve seen evil and I’ve seen things that I just never thought a human being would be capable of…I still see extraordinary beauty and generosity and resilience and love and hope…”

You can find the full interview here.

💘 NONPROFIT LOVE

I am now majorly obsessed with APOPO. While in Cambodia, my family had the chance to visit the APOPO Visitor Center in Siem Reap. There, we held Nina, one of the HeroRATs (she was pretty cute…and big!).

APOPO was founded 25+ years ago by a Belgian man named Bart Weetjens, who figured out that African Giant Pouch rates could sniff landmines. The rats are bred and trained in Tanzania and then transported to Cambodia (and Angola, Azerbaijan, and Ukraine, currently) to sniff out mines. The Cambodian Mine Action Center (CMAC), with whom APOPO works closely, estimates that there may be as many as four to six million mines and other pieces of unexploded ordnance in Cambodia, leftover from years of war.

A HeroRAT can search an area the size of a tennis court in 30 minutes. A human deminer with a metal detector can take up to four days. APOPO trains HeroRATS in tuberculosis detection, too, and trains HeroDOGs to search for landmines across difficult terrain with high levels of vegetation.

To learn how you can support APOPO, through giving, volunteering, adopting a HeroRAT (yes, please!) and more, please visit this page.