A way I cannot see

Update on Chelsea's future: I'm still in State College through June, and I'm pretty sure now that I'll be in the US for at least the next year. Based on advice I've gotten, things I've read, and common sense, it seems logical to get some teaching experience before trying to teach overseas. I'm hoping to stay in or near PA to avoid completely uprooting myself, since I'd still love to go abroad in the not-too-distant future. Schools hire late, though, so it'll likely be June or July before I know for sure where I'll be teaching.

I'm looking at this year and next year as preparation for life overseas, but I'm afraid I'll forget about my dreams and get too comfortable here. That's why tonight, I was looking at web sites on education in Cambodia (a country that's drawn me for a while somehow).

It's bleak -
1930s: The first modern high school opened.
1960s: The first university was founded.
1975: The Communist Khmer Rouge assumed power, systematically destroying educational resources and slaughtering the educated population.
1980s: The succeeding government (PRK) made a half-hearted, half-funded attempt to re-establish an educational system.
1993-4: The government spent enough on books to buy one book per student every 20 years.
1998: Only 17% of teachers nationwide had attended school beyond ninth grade.
2000: Most Cambodian adults were found to be completely illiterate (36.3%; ) or semi-literate (26.6%); 45% of women were reportedly completely illiterate.

School fees are another problem: parents pay for 3/4 of primary education costs, while the government chips in a mere 13%. Many rural families are subsistence farmers; school is the greatest expense they face each year.

What would it take for me to improve Cambodia's education system? More experience in teaching, so I have something to offer. A decent knowledge of Cambodian. Some good connections to NGOs already at work there. The grace of God. And an inordinate amount of determination/stubbornness/insanity. Will I ever get there? I don't know. But I sure hope that if not, it's because something even more important grabbed my attention, and not because I got too comfortable.