A surprise for Sophal

LtoR: Kathy Fossati, Luke, Soum Sophal

Thanks to his wife Kathy, I was able to spring a surprise reunion on an old guide pal of mine, Soum Sophal, when I visited Phnom Penh in early February. Kathy is the communications supremo with the NGO HeritageWatch and a few months ago informed me that her partner was none other than Sophal, who I spent a week with in the Cambodian countryside visiting places like Prey Veng, Srei Santhor and the back roads of Kompong Cham and Takeo, exactly four years earlier. Since then, Sophal has hung up his motorbike helmet and replaced it with a variety of tools as his handyman, garden maintenance, decorating, cleaning and construction business has taken off. He employs a lot of staff these days and has also found time to act as a translator for a French film that was produced in Cambodia. But best of all, he's the proud father of Luke and the picture above was taken at our reunion party at the Kandal House restaurant along the riverfront in Phnom Penh. If you need his services, you can contact Bizy Beez on 012 755 913.

Sak and his family from Battambang

Battambang's finest: LtoR (back row); Theara and Sak; (front row) Chamnap, Holly, Chakrya and Borromey.

Let me introduce you to my friend Sak and his family from Battambang. In the last couple of years, Sak has become a very close friend of mine and I love spending time with him and his adorable family whenever I'm in Cambodia's sleepy second city. I spent a few days there in January and the above photo was taken at a restaurant where we went for my goodbye meal. It was the KO music restaurant on the east bank of the river, the food was pretty good, it cost less then $15 for the 7 of us, the singers and band were pretty loud though (what did I expect, this is Cambodia) and the company was great. I can't praise Sak highly enough as a guide and moto-driver, and of course as a friend. He was so excited when we met, as he couldn't wait to show me that the foundations had been laid for his brand new one-storey, two-roomed home. This is a major milestone in Sak's life, which hasn't been an easy one by any stretch of the imagination, and for him, he was overjoyed to be able to share his good fortune with me. I had timed my visit just right. I had a great time in Sak's company for a few days, including visiting the village of Phasysra, near Monkolborei where he was forced to live during the Khmer Rouge regime. And of course, I recommend anyone who is visiting Battambang, to contact Sak beforehand as he'll gladly act as your guide and driver. His knowledge of Battambang and the province is second to none. More details here.

Cambodia's loss, Australia's gain...

Temporarily, Australia has been gifted one of Cambodia's unsung gems, in the arrival of Kim, the eldest child of the family who own and run my favourite guesthouse in Siem Reap, the Shadow of Angkor. She left her family for the first time, and what an emotional departure that was, at the end of January to begin 4 years of study at a university near Sydney in Australia. And what a great party her parents put on to mark her departure too. In her heart I know she'd like to be a journalist, but commerce is her chosen main subject and she's well aware of how fortunate she is to be able to study abroad and to have the full backing of her family behind her. Kim, with her gorgeous personality and mischievous sense of humour, was the life and soul of the guesthouse and I know she'll be greatly missed by her family, friends and regular guests. She is so determined to grab this opportunity with both hands, and I'm convinced she'll be a success at whatever she aims for. More on the Shadow of Angkor GH here.

Toun Sokheng - revisited

On 12 June 2006 I posted a blog entry entitled Toun Sokheng - a priceless gem, about a woman I met in a small village in the wilds of northern Cambodia in January 2006. I thought she was such good company that my pal Sokhom and I returned to her village, Kalapia, a month ago, during my most recent Cambodia trip. And there she was, as friendly, generous, honest, amusing and as gracious a host as before. Some things in Cambodia never change, one of them being the generosity of spirit of her people.

Sokheng's first words were "where are my photographs," shaming me into admitting I'd forgotten to bring the copies I'd promised her. She quickly forgave me with a smile and invited us into her home to rest before we traipsed across barren rice fields to pay a return visit to 'her' temple, Prasat Khna. In the intervening year, she'd been busy clearing more of the undergrowth to make a visit to the temple easier for souls like myself, but had still not received any payment for her hard work. We sat on the temple wall and talked about her day to day life, the death of her husband during an outbreak of civil war in 1996, her family of two daughters and one son, my life and family and anything else we could think of, before walking back to her house where we shared our chicken, rice and warm sardines between the three of us. Originally from Svay Rieng province near the border with Vietnam, she's been asked by her village to become a commune representative at the next election but because she can't read or write, she doesn't feel she can do it. In my view, she'd make an excellent spokeswoman, her fellow villagers respect her, she's a strong-willed and very capable woman, she's not afraid of hard work or speaking her mind and she has a real spirit that I admire. We parted best of friends, and I promised to deliver two sets of photos on my next visit.

If you ever take the back road from Tbeng Meanchey to Choam Khsan (or vice versa), then make sure you stop at the village of Kalapia to see Sokheng and her 10th century temple of Prasat Khna. Both are well worth the effort. This is a slice of Cambodia in all its glory.

Cambodian women under the spotlight

Is it just me, or do women, generally speaking, get a bum deal in Cambodia? I don't want to start a debate but in my limited experience, they are the fabric that keeps everything together, they work extraordinarily hard, yet they are still seen as second-class citizens in many ways. So its good to see that the Nordic Institute of Asian Studies are bringing out two books which will give a greater focus on women in Cambodia and the uphill battle they face. Trudy Jacobsen's Lost Goddesses: The Denial of Female Power in Cambodian History highlights the lofty position women once held against their struggle to regain that lost ground today. Its published next month, while Mona Lilja's new book, due out in June, will give a unique insight into the political struggles of Cambodian women. Its called Power, Resistance and Women Politicians in Cambodia: Discourses of Emancipation. You can find out more at NIASPress.

New Cambodia documentaries

In my desire to highlight and promote all films, documentaries, books and so forth that focus on Cambodia, I have news of new documentaries in progress. Cambodian Dreams, produced by Stanley Harper, has been 18 years in the making as he followed the fortunes of Yan Chhieng and her family, beginning in the Site 2 refugee camp in Thailand. Its due to be shown on Cambodian tv later this year and may even get a viewing at film festivals this Spring. Meanwhile, acclaimed documentary filmmaker Bob Elfstrom is still shooting a yet-untitled documentary on a rising star in the world of dance, Sar 'Sy' Sokvannara, a gifted Cambodian dancer who's trained at the School of American Ballet and is currently an apprentice with the Pacific Northwest Ballet School in the Seattle. The documentary will chronicle Sokvannara’s journey as a dancer as he uses the skills he learned from traditional, ritualistic Cambodian dances on the ballet stage in America.

In addition, you might be interested in these already-completed documentaries. Produced in September 2006, A Few Drops in Cambodia: Stories From a Relief Effort, is a documentary that highlights the challenges NGOs/donors face in seeking to provide health care to those most in need in Cambodia. Watch it here. Eliminated Without Bleeding is a touching and revealing one-hour documentary on the Khmer Krom indigenous peoples from the Mekong Delta in Southern Vietnam and which highlights evidence of human rights abuse. It's written, directed and produced by Rebecca Sommer. Watch it here. And if you haven't seen it on your cable channel yet, Les Guthman's superbly photographed 70-minute Churning the Sea of Time: A Journey Up The Mekong to Angkor, released last year, is now available from Amazon.com and elswehere.

The Drum - 2 events not to be missed!

The Drum, just ten minutes outside Birmingham city centre, is the UK's premier arts venue dedicated to African, Asian and Caribbean arts and cultural activities. There are two forthcoming events that I really want to see, involving two musical friends of mine. On Tuesday 17 April at 7pm, Who Shot the Sheriff, is the story of the Rock Against Racism movement featuring unseen footage of artists of the 70's and the Love Music Hate Racism (LMHR) movement today. Groups like Steel Pulse, Sham 69, The Clash and Ms Dynamite will be featured. The film tracks the rise of racism and the National Front in Britain and how a generation, black and white, fought back. There will be a post screening discussion and songs from Birmingham's very own singer songwriter Yaz Alexander. Incidentally Yaz will also be supporting the Mighty Diamonds at the same venue, on 17 March.

Then during most of June, from the 4th to the 29th to be precise, artist and musician Colin Gabbidon will have an exhibition of his paintings on show at The Drum. In Birmingham & the People Of, Colin has captured the beauty of Birmingham city, the people and their rich cultures from the 1920s to the present day. Featuring oil paintings, pastels and water colours tracing Birmingham's historical landmarks through the decades. I've known Colin for a few years and he's already exhibited his art in Germany and in his home town of Birmingham at the Symphony Hall and Central Library. He's also sketched and painted many famous musicians which he's sold to retail outlets and street sellers, including one of his Bob Marley paintings that has been widely copied throughout Europe and America (see above). When he's not painting, he's the drummer with reggae group Gabbidon. You can find out more about Colin here.

Update on Vansy

My recent return to Cambodia allowed me to meet up with lots of old friends and one in particular, Vansy. She's now 14 and growing up so fast, is doing really well at regular school and is so determined to learn and speak English to give herself, as she tells me, the chance of a career as a teacher or tour guide. I wanted to see the standard of the extra English classes she receives for an hour each day so I paid an unannounced visit to her evening class, only to find that the teacher was absent, so I took an impromptu lesson myself. It was abundantly clear that she's a 'leader' amongst her peers, the other students look up to her and her English is improving leaps and bounds each time I see her. We practised as much as we could in the few days I was with her and her family and I'm so proud of the way she applies herself and absorbs everything. I've now been afforded the privilege of 'god-father' status, which I will take very seriously. She's as bright as a button and I hope I can help her blossom into a confident and successful young woman. You can read more about Vansy here.

Peace & Reconciliation...in Oregon

The Khmer Rouge Tribunal, currently stumbling along inside Cambodia, will reach far and wide at the end of next month. On April 27 & 28, the Cambodian-American Community of Oregon (CACO) will hold a free public forum to raise awareness about the Tribunal. The two-day forum will take place in Portland and the event will include panel discussions by Khmer Rouge genocide survivors and scholars of Cambodian history and culture, as well as presentations and performances by authors, musicians, and community activists. Any Cambodia watcher will know that the United Nations and the Cambodian government are scheduled to prosecute surviving senior Khmer Rouge leaders sometime in 2007, but no-one knows what effect this may have on the Cambodian population, though it is hoped that it will bring a sense of closure and healing for many of the survivors of the Khmer Rouge regime. An estimated 250,000 refugees from Cambodia currently reside in the US, with approximately 10,000 living in Oregon and SW Washington. CACO believes it can help community members cope with individual and collective trauma by confronting the past and exploring the effects of the Khmer Rouge genocide, including post-traumatic stress disorder and will use the forum to inform and educate the general public about the long-term effects of genocide.

The line-up of speakers is an impressive one. It includes Sichan Siv, former US Ambassador to the UN; Loung Ung, renowned author featured often in this blog; Daran Kravanh, internationally renowned musician; Beth Van Schaack, legal advisor to Documentation Centre of Cambodia; Alex Hinton, author of Why Did They Kill? Cambodia in the Shadow of Genocide; and Craig Etcheson, author and prosecutor for the Tribunal, alongwith Ronnie Yimsut, author and organiser of the event. Visit www.CACOregon.org.

Loung Ung

I posted a blog-item on Loung Ung a few days ago and forgot to include this photo of Loung and myself, taken when we joined up for a chat and a meal in Phnom Penh during my recent visit to Cambodia. Loung was in Cambodia seeing family and writing an outline for her new book (sorry, I'm sworn to secrecy). She is scheduled to come to London in the next month or so for the publication of both her books in England & Europe, so I hope we can catch up again, this time on my home territory. This lady holds a special place in a lot of hearts around the globe, and mine is no exception.
You can read more about Loung Ung here.