Few people are blessed with the opportunity to see the work of a true visionary. And before meeting Mickey and seeing his ideas in action, I would never have imagined that one person could affect positive change on such a dazzlingly diverse scale. After spending a mere few hours with the man, however, I believe that I witnessed greatness, and feel truly fortunate for the experience. Never before have I met such a creative force in solving and preventing problems in the developing world. Nor have I seen a person able to not only envision the most brilliant of solutions, but also make each one a reality. What I will remember most, though, is not simply what he accomplished, but the way in which he did it. The visits to RDIC are some of my greatest memories from the PEPY trips, and I am truly sad to learn about his death. I will remember him fondly, and will strive to follow the example of such a brilliant and compassionate man.

To be sure, Mickey was an exceptional scientist, but to stop there would fail to even scratch the surface of his unique gifts. More astonishing to me was his ability to find elegant, multi-faceted, and remarkably simple solutions to a vast range of issues. Never content to look at a problem in isolation, he understood that interconnected problems in a developing country require their solutions to be equally holistic. And, perhaps more importantly, he understood that he would be unable to affect real change if only his fellow gifted scientists could understand his ideas. So he created projects that anyone could grasp; 5 year olds, donors, hapless liberal arts trained volunteers - he made us all understand needs and solutions that in less gifted hands might have seemed overwhelmingly complex. I can’t count how many times my jaw dropped or my hand slapped my forehead as I was struck by the simplicity and sophistication of a Mickey project. And no sooner would I wrap my head around one idea than he would astound me with another. There are many brilliant scientists, but Mickey was one of very few who could rightly be called a genius.

Mickey inspired me most, however, by the manner in which he lived. No one has better embodied the idea of being the change you want to see in the world. He was never content to let somebody else tackle difficult challenges. He chose to see each new problem as an opportunity to think creatively, rather than a reason to lose heart. He learned as much from the few projects that didn’t quite work as he learned from the ones that did. He was incredibly humble, especially for such an accomplished man. He knew where his talents lay, and was determined to put them to use. He never complained about limited resources, but simply used his resources more effectively. He had powerfully religious convictions, but expressed them through his work rather than through proselytizing; for all the negative news we hear daily that stems directly or indirectly from religious conflict, we can always point to Mickey as embodying the very best religious ideals. He and his wife chose to give up a life a relative comfort in the U.S. in order to better understand and better serve the people they wanted to help. I am amazed that one person could combine such powerful intellect and creativity with such unparalleled humanity.

I am deeply saddened to hear about Mickey’s passing. My heart goes out to his wonderful family; I can’t imagine the loss they must feel. I am sad also for the entire country of Cambodia. It hurts to imagine all the great Mickey might have accomplished there with more time. It seems terribly unfair to his family and the Cambodian people that so valuable a mind and heart would be taken so young. I feel an enormous sense of loss today. The world was a better place with Mickey in it.

But I am also encouraged by his legacy, which has certainly not passed with him. I think about all the children who will grow up healthy and families who will stabilize because of his filters, wells, TV and karaoke programs, farming techniques, and countless other projects. I think about the young men and women who will return to Cambodia with advanced degrees, ready to take on the challenges of their own country and their own people, who had that opportunity because of Mickey. I think about all the interns, students, and volunteers he has touched. We want to Be Like Mick. He has done more with his far too few years than most people could do in many lifetimes.

So what can I do to honor a man who I knew so briefly, yet who touched me and many others so deeply? Though I will never be able to match his mind, his science, or his creativity, I think it is my responsibility to learn from the lessons he taught. A few things I can do (surely this list is woefully incomplete):

* I can be kind, compassionate, and humble.

* I can find my strengths, and use them to affect positive change.

* I can tackle the world’s problems myself, rather than hoping somebody else will.

* I can find opportunity rather than discouragement when faced with a problem.

* I can challenge myself to think creatively and holistically, and to use resources effectively.

* I can be thankful for what I have, and try to help others who have less.

* I can learn not only from my successes, but from times when I have been unsuccessful.

* I can try to inspire others by my example.

It is a lot to live up to, but Mickey proved that exemplifying these qualities is possible. I am glad for the opportunity to remember that, and hope that by trying to follow in his footsteps, we all are able to find our own silver linings in such a tragic event. Thanks to PEPY for introducing us to Mickey, thanks to his family for supporting him in his work, and thanks mostly to the man himself for being a true hero.

Thank you Mickey, you will be missed



p.s. I found a smattering of quotes from Einstein that, for me at least, help illustrate the life Mickey led. Maybe only a genius can succinctly explain a genius:

Any intelligent fool can make things bigger and more complex... It takes a touch of genius - and a lot of courage - to move in the opposite direction.

Concern for man and his fate must always form the chief interest of all technical endeavors. Never forget this in the midst of your diagrams and equations.

I believe that a simple and unassuming manner of life is best for everyone, best both for the body and the mind.

Intellectuals solve problems, geniuses prevent them.

If you can’t explain it to a 6 year old, you don’t fully understand it yourself.

Most people say that is it is the intellect which makes a great scientist. They are wrong: it is character.

A beautiful man.
Thinking of him, my spirit soars.

An example of what is possible when passion, integrity and commitment meet. Someone who has without a doubt left a deep mark on the world around him, and now a deep hole which we will try and fill through honoring his example.

What a loss for Cambodia and for everyone that has benefited from his amazing generosity and vision.

People TALKED about Mickey because he inspired them in life-changing ways in their minds, hearts and actions. Everyday, Mikey set out to make a difference in this world and he leaves it having shaped small pieces of it in utterly profound ways. A heroic teacher who will be forever appreciated for planting seeds... in people.

A couple years ago I entered the American Airlines essay contest, and was a finalist and top 20 prize winner. I had just returned from working in Cambodia. I used my experiences there as the subject in the essay question: \"Describe Your Ultimate Office\" Mickey\'s impact in my life is impossible to describe. I loved him like a big brother, and was constantly amazed at his generosity towards me. He gave me sooooo many hours of his time over this past decade, I am so privileged to have spent even a moment of my life with him.

I wanted to be his friend for a very, very, very long time.

Anyway, here is an essay I wrote about my experience working in Mickey\'s space.


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“Wait, you have an office? I thought you said you were a puppeteer.” “Um, kind of. Let me explain...”

Here we go again. I shudder when I hear the question “What do you do for a living?” I’m not exactly sure, you see. On many days I’m a puppetry teacher. A few days of the year I am a puppeteer. This weekend I was a juggler. Last week I was a web designer. Next week I am a speaker for a pre-teen Christian Camp. At the end of the month I’m a stand-up comedian for a comedy club. I’ve written a few books, but they are more like manuals, really. I guess I’m a writer. I’ve done a few keynotes for teacher training events. Public speaker? But then again, I’m a licensed minister with a few weddings under my belt too. “But what about that NGO you work for overseas?”

It’s hard to be honest about what I do and also be brief. I mostly keep my head down on airplanes. I plan on sleeping before take-off and waking after we land. No need to strike up conversation. I’m just now getting old enough to finally not be interested in talking about myself. (Well, mostly.) And if I do, it’s gonna get in the way of nap-time.

I’m 27 years old and all of these job titles together landed me an integral role with a NGO in Cambodia a few years ago. It started when the puppet manufacturing company I worked for pulled me out of my own office, during a temporary staff shortage, to work the phones for a few weeks. One day I got a call from an American who runs an NGO in Cambodia. He was looking for some free puppets. Compelling enough story. I transferred the call to my boss. In twenty minutes I was told I was scheduled to go to SE Asia.

Now, after my 6th trip to Cambodia in 5 years, its still my favorite workplace experience. Don’t get me wrong, juggling torches in front of 6,000 people in an arena in Bogota Colombia on Halloween of 1999 was a huge rush. But that office...

It’s in the village of Kean Svay, just about 35 to 40 minutes outside Phnom Penh. The guy who wanted some puppets is now my good friend. Dr. Sampson is more or less an ex-jock turned mad scientist who is constantly coming up with hair brained schemes, not to take over the world– but to purify water, feed mouths, and jump start primitive economies across the third world. My job? Write puppet scripts and develop magic trick demonstrations that teach about germs and water purification. These would be performed live at elementary schools across the nation as well as on national TV. “Oh, and make a web site for us too.”

And I got his office.

All day long the housekeeper is preparing food downstairs. The windows and the kitchen door are always open, and are conveniently located directly under the open windows of the second story office. The stir fry smell seems to deliberately waft up into the office twice a day just to tease me. Freshly squeezed fruit juice, vegetables, beef, pork, chicken, and a killer pepper-lime sauce are only a staircase away. The first Khmer (Cambodian) phrase I learned after the obligatory hellos, goodbyes, excuse mes, and thank yous was “Knyom Kleein” and that means “I’m hungry.”

A brick factory is very near; and as a result, the faint smell of burning wood is always present. But its not overpowering. It’s almost like the smell of Albuquerque suburbs in the winter. It’s not quite pinon wood, but its darn near close as far as my nose is concerned. It’s perfectly soothing in the cool evenings and working late is terrific when you love your work.

Inside the office? It’s nothing to look at. Some wicker chairs, a tiny desk, and a wicker bookcase filled with books on everything from how to write comic books, odorless pig farming, the history of storytelling and hundreds of things much, much less suited for an uneducated would-be comedian (like me) than the owner of the office (a former University of Kentucky chemistry professor.) Dozens of boxes of technical, scenic and personal photographs. Piles of maps, charts, graphs and government reports. Mostly a disorganized mess. But I digress. Three of the walls have windows that complete what used to be an outdoor deck. The trees in the back yard are relatively short, so the tops reach right up parallel to my line of sight. I can see right over the tops of their tropical leaves and watch and hear the wild southeast Asian birds land amongst the branches. Out in the backyard is nearly a zoo. Various flora, fauna, foul and fish are part of elaborate experiments to introduce new farming techniques to the village. A large smattering of animal sounds seem to be consistently audible from my window. My view showcases two small goat barns on stilts (keeps foot disease at bay, who knew?) Dozens of turkeys, geese, parrots, guinea foul, ostrich (or as the children who peek over the wall call them: “Giant Chickens,”) as well as fish ponds, gardens, and various other domestic and would-be domestic creatures are down below. Off in the distance are rice fields and various forests. I remember fondly watching the sun go down to reveal a beautiful pink Cambodian sunset, night after night.

I love hot weather, but the Cambodian sun can be a bit much in the dry season. All three windows are also screened in, so they open to catch a perfect breeze that rustles through the leafy trees and brings the room down to what I find to be a perfect 80 degrees. During the cool evenings, I couldn’t be happier tapping madly at the keyboard when I can rest for a few minutes in the cool breeze atop the trees with a beautiful sunset view. Add the delicious smells and my office beats your office. I guarantee it!

Some people in the USA take a midday break from stabbing away at a keyboard and head down to Starbucks in busy downtown corporate neighborhoods. Me? In my Cambodian cubicle of comedy I can head down the stairs, out the front door, and out the gate into a perfect little village of homes all on stilts. Down the dirt road a mere 1/8th of a mile is a tiny lean-to that serves as the neighborhood coffee shop. Iced coffee ( “Café De Ko De Ka” is how I learned to pronounce my second non-essential phrase) is twenty cents and its better than anything I’ve had at home or at any of the 15 other countries I’ve been privileged to work in. Sure the oxen pen is awfully close by, and the chickens, children and cats don’t seem to understand “personal space issues” but it’s beneath beautiful tropical trees and the people in the village are so full of smiles it makes it worth it.

As I return to the office after a refreshing drink, I can wander into a neighbor’s garden and look over a giant pond. There I can watch farmers gathering plants, waist deep in beautiful water. It’s disarming to know that every time they dip their hands in the clear water and take a drink, that they are ingesting water that is contaminated with dangerous levels of arsenic and other harmful bacteria that are completely unheard of to him and his family. His wife is always sick from the bacteria, and his child’s hair is changing color from the arsenic. He doesn’t know why. But there, up in my ultimate office only a few hundred yards away I’m privileged to come up with new and creative ways to teach his family how to collect rainwater, purify groundwater, and keep contamination away from his food. What a GREAT job.

You know on second thought, maybe my sweaty, smelly, loud, and cluttered office isn’t so *ultimate* after all, maybe it’s the work itself that I am so fond of. I’ve only worked there 15 weeks of my life, and not a week goes by when I don’t wish I were still there.

Check out www.rdic.org to see some the work that I finished entirely in my ultimate office.

It was just this past January that I had the pleasure of meeting Mickey at RDIC as part of the PEPYride. From the moment he met us I was inspired by his conviction and belief - he lifted my spirit and enforced my belief that change can happen. He will be sorely missed. My thoughts go out to his family, friends and everyone whose life he has touched. May his memory inspire all of us and long may the work of RDIC continue.

Our team had the good fortune of meeting Mickey this past January at RDI. We are making a film, A Drop in the Bucket, about building wells and clean water in Cambodia, and decided to interview Mickey. Our film is a humble story but as Bill Gates said, “The key thing is to pick a cause, whether its crops or diseases or great high schools,” he said. “Pick one and get some more in-depth knowledge.” If possible, travel to see the problems firsthand, then pick an organization to support with donations or volunteer time.
So try it. The only difference between you and Mr. Gates is scale.

Mickey Sampson did more than this and has helped so many people in Cambodia. His passion and determination inspired us while shooting the interview and we hope to honor him by dedicating the film to him. We all knew that day with him that we had met an extraordinary man. We send our sincere condolences to his family and the RDIC family. Lauren Shaw