Hip Hop & Hope: One woman's journey in the slums of Cambodia
Hip Hop & Hope: One woman's journey in the slums of Cambodia
Part memoir, part history, part travelogue, this is the inspirational story of one woman's journey in the slums of Cambodia.
When Romi Grossberg decided, at thirty-five, to give up her job as a social worker in Australia for a two-year contract in the slums of Cambodia, she could never have imagined that the experience would change her life forever.
Hip Hop & Hope is part memoir, part history, part travelogue, and completely engaging. Its portrait of Phnom Penh is complicated and indelible. Its story of work in an NGO is inspirational. At this hip hop youth centre, Romi evolves from a frightened burrung to a respected manager who knows the words, the tunes, and the moves.
This is the story of trust and friendship, faith, and belief in oneself even when the world is against you. NGO's founder KK, Romi, and their kids forge unbreakable bonds and eventually breakdance their way onto the TEDx stage and to sold-out performances in Australia.
Hip Hop & Hope will make you laugh and cry as Romi shares with brutal honesty the highs and lows of life for the forgotten in Cambodia.
Romi Grossberg is an Australian-born social worker, public speaker and author of three books, who has been living in Asia since 2010. Romi has spoken at TEDx Phnom Penh 2011, SXSW Austin Texas 2023, and numerous festivals and international conferences in between. She appears regularly on television, podcasts and radio, including with Cambodian Princess Soma Norodom. Romi is still living in Asia, working as a counsellor (online and in-person) and in professional development training. Romi's first two books are The 5-Minute Guide to Emotional Intelligence (2016) and The Key - A Social Emotional Toolkit for Teens (2019). She is currently on the Board of Directors of Tiny Toones Cambodia and Asia Pacific Writers and Translators. Hip Hop & Hope is Romi's third book.