Don't be surprised if, after a bit of small talk, Dave Richter asks what you and your family are doing next February.

And don't be surprised if, no matter what you have planned, Richter has a better idea: That you abandon SUV, DVD and HDTV for a place that may never know such comforts. Richter, 46, is organizing a trip to Cambodia, where American families will build houses for the poor.

He is calling the trip "Working Together for One World" and is convinced it could change lives there and here.

That's how it was for him, a Bellevue father of two, who in April took time off from his benefits-consulting work to build nine single-room houses with his family.

Now Richter wants to return with 20 "builders" who will invest their time and bounty, do some good and see that "there is more out there."

Families pay for their own travel, lodging and meals (all tax deductible) and are asked to donate $300 for building materials.

In return, they will get a firsthand view of another world, and the satisfaction of knowing that they, literally, helped raise a village.

That gift is bound to follow them back home, Richter said, and prompt a re-examination of what really matters in life.

"What's important in this country are the brands and gadgets," Richter told me. "But in Cambodia, it's how to get fresh drinking water."

Richter grew up in New York state, the son of a Peace Corps volunteer. He got his master's in international relations from Johns Hopkins University. He's lived in Kenya and Taiwan and is fluent in Mandarin. He hopes to offer his travel mates "a cultural stretch with a safety net."

The idea for the trip came from a colleague who invited Richter, his wife, Maren, and their two children, India, 12, and Kai, 10, to Cambodia to build homes.

The program is part of the Canada-based Tabitha Foundation, a nonprofit, nondenominational Christian organization, "respecting all faiths, seeking to help the suffering in various nations."

Cambodia continues to recover from strife that still feels like a fresh wound.

In 1975, the communist Khmer Rouge captured Phnom Penh. Over the next 14 years, more than 1 million people were displaced, executed or starved.

In other words, this ain't the Magic Kingdom.

Which is probably where the Richter kids would have voted to go.

Instead, they met a woman who, at 7, was at a friend's house when her family was executed. And another who was imprisoned and put in charge of keeping the babies quiet, lest they be shot.

For his own part, Richter carried back his own quiet reminders of Cambodia. Every morning, he puts a pot of water on to boil, not knowing what he will use it for, only that it will be clean.

"I don't know who decides where you pop out into this world," he said. "But we got lucky."

Nicole Brodeur's column appears Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday. Reach her at 206-464-2334 or nbrodeur@seattletimes.com.

Richter's e-mail address: dave@richterintl.com.

Copyright © 2006 The Seattle Times Company