Heroes Pt. 1: Song Kosal

Everyone's got them. I have Batman. But I digress. During my time here I have met some brilliant people, people who live to create peace, who have made great impressions on me.
I truly believe that there are many people on Earth whose mission it is to teach us all how we can become like them. You can pick them immediately, by their humility, humanity and diligence.

I want to share stories of some of my heroes from Cambodia (and elsewhere) who deserve recognition, enjoy and perhaps you'll meet them someday...

Khmer Photos

Last week Kafia, Joe and I decided to have our photos taken in tradtitional Khmer style

 (read: washed-out, made-up, dressed-to-kill and cheesier than Wallace's wildest fantasies).

An essential part of any volunteer's time.

There are just too many stories of overseas volunteers having things lost, stolen or vaporised during their time in country. I have one more tale to add to this canon of catastrophes:

Election time.

The Cambodian commune elections are on Sunday, so cue the Blues Brothers-esque loudspeakers on cars, party supporters yelling into microphones at the speed of light and the silencing of activists.
It's that time of the year.

CPP supporters gather in Phnom Penh

State Department Human Rights Report 2011 and the inevitable hypocrisy.

The US State Department has released its annual world human rights report recently and it has made for some interesting reading.

"We want your land and we will shoot you for it."

Recently in Cambodia there has been a spate of brutal and hasty land evictions, which I have been following with great interest and concern. For those who aren't aware, the Cambodian government likes to grant pieces of land to companies and then kick out the people living in these areas. The evictions are hasty, poorly handled and often violent.

The extent of this incompetence came to a deplorable climax when police shot dead Heng Chantha, a 14 year-old girl in Kratie province a week ago. She was hiding under the table when they burst into her house and killed her. The entire village was quickly sealed off and access was denied to UN representatives. No one from the outside was allowed to the girl's funeral.

The alleged reason for the eviction was that the community is home to a seccessionist movement that is stirring up trouble in the region. Even if this is true, I don't see why the military had to surround the village beforehand (preventing anyone to exit freely) and come in the next day with hundreds of police.
Why did they use live ammunition as a first resort?
 

A soldier keeps mourners away from the perimeter.

  This is one of the three recent land disputes that is taking place now. Police arrested 13 protesters (all female, the oldest of which is 67 years old) from Boeung Kak community after they attempted to rebuild homes on land that was stolen from them last year. Today they were all sentenced to two-and-a-half years in jail.

One of the Boeung Kak protesters is dragged away by four men. (Photo: AP)

Another village has been given until today to leave their homes, police have threatened to burn their houses down if they do not comply.

None of the three villages has been offered any kind of compensation.

I am shocked to see how corrupt the Cambodian government is and how little compassion is being shown to the communities. I only hope that Heng Chantha's murderers are brought to justice and that something like this does not happen again.

Faith, Social Justice and Public Policy Talk

Recently our centre hosted a talk by Father Frank Brennan SJ, organised by Sister Denise and JRS Cambodia. Father Frank is a famous ethicist and human rights lawyer in Australia, who has played important parts in Aboriginal land rights, refugee advocacy and is a regular writer in the online journal Eureka Street.

Over fifty of our friends from all across Cambodia, Thailand and even Spain came to hear Frank's thoughts on Faith, Social Justice and Public Policy. Bishop Kike Figaredo introduced the evening and even convinced Sister to give everyone a quick tour of the centre (he's very proud of it). We were treated to many different insights as to how faith can determine one's attitude towards issues of injustice and the formulation of public policy.

Bishop Kike introduces Fr Frank

Frank explained some very complex issues in such a way that even I could understand them, speaking from both his experience as both a priest and a lawyer. Being new to this field, it was good to be led through things step by step. I was particularly taken by his comparison of secular societies to a country like Thailand, where religion plays an almost inseparable role in everyday life. Sadly this is no longer true in Cambodia ever since Pol Pot decided that monks had no place in his little utopia. 

Along with the main talk (attached below for your reading pleasure) we heard from three of our staff and their perspectives on the subject as seen through their work. Tess O'Brien spoke about land evictions along the Siem Reap, Maddie Gleeson (who happens to be Fr Brennan's niece) about trafficking and Nikola Errington on asylum seekers and refugees.

 Kafia gives examples of Islamic social teaching.

 

  Maddie talks about human trafficking.

 Denise intended to bring in a Buddhist monk to give his insight but he unfortunately couldn't make it. We were lucky enough to hear from another volunteer with us, Kafia Yusuf, who shared the Islamic point of view on modern social justice issues. The questions posed at the end by audience members also provoked thought and demonstrated a shared passion for social justice.
  Everyone spoke with sincerity and wisdom.

Kike gives his input from a bishop's point of view

Here is the talk in written form: https://docs.google.com/document/pub?id=1_nlRFFRJEbRpU_7Nr_Q6WaaEJau4wEY7t3GYJALUx5s

Apologies

The internet here is very unreliable, as such any attempt at making another post seems fruitless and slow. Don't think that I have abadoned you (God forbid) but hang on and eventually there will be a flood of new adventures for you to enjoy.

Cheers.

Banners and high wind.

A few weeks ago, Sister Denise asked me to create a display of peace symbols from around the world, to hang around the Centre on big pretty banners. Yesterday the weather was kind to us, holding back the monstrous winds for a few hours and allowing us to finally put up the posters.

My interest in esoteric spirituality and symbolism went wild while looking for pictures, which represent a wide range of cultures and belief systems, of course all with the common theme of peace and harmony. Unfortunately I am no graphic designer, so the pretty layouts you see below are courtesy of Tess, another volunteer here who saved my life (thank you!). I am also no photograper, so the pictures below could be a lot better.

There's a recurring bird theme in the display, as it seems that most cultures like to use the animal as a peace symbol.

In Burma, the white elephant is seen as an embodiment of strength and love, a powerful combination.

This is one of my favourites. The Hebrew letters for 'Yahweh' can be arranged into the figure of a person. It's a profound reminder that we are made with love to do His will.

Each one of these animals has part of its enemy on its body, which serves as a symbol of living 'as one' with each other.

A show of my love for Alex Grey here! This represents awakened senses, and how they are designed to work together for the good of humanity.

Sadako Sasaki was a 10-year old survivor of Hiroshima, who promised to make 1000 paper cranes and give them to little chidren. She finished them all a week before she died of leukaemia. Written on the dove is 'Shalom", the Hebrew word for 'peace'.

The phoenix is a symbol of infinity. It dies in its own fire, but rises from its own ashes. I think this concept is a fitting one to describe the slow awakening of Cambodia from the ashes of the past.

There you go!

Let's begin with the past in front...

After a month of procrastination and laziness I have done the unthinkable: Set up a blog to chronicle my adventures in Cambodge just like all the other cool cats do. Most of you already know me and what I'm doing, but apparently it's a good idea to put forth some private details so that outsiders can feel 'comfortable' and 'familiar' with these otherwise irrelevant posts.

I have been interested in the service field for quite some time and was lucky enough to travel to Cambodia in 2010 with my school for two weeks of volunteer work with the Jesuits. While over there I felt that I wanted to come back after school for a longer period of time. Luckily enough I was in a position to plan a return. Having finished high school last year and having acquired a TESOL certification I am back in the country for six months or so. 

Currently I'm staying in the city of Siem Reap, in the Metta Karuna Reflection Centre. This lovely little place is the home of one of Cambodia's biggest aid and development organisations, the Jesuit Refugee Service. Over twenty years ago the Jesuits came to Cambodia to assist the enormous numbers of refugees coming from all across Southeast Asia. Most will know the centre however for the International Campaign To Ban Landmines, which won the 1997 Nobel Peace Prize. The Campaign is still strong today, and I have been lucky enough to become good friends with its heroes.

Tun Channareth (left) and Song Kosal (right), the faces of the Landmine Campaign and two of the most inspiring people that I have ever met.

 The Centre is run by Sister Denise Coghlan, an Australian Sister of Mercy who helped found JRS in Cambodia. She was brave enough to allow me to crash their party and stay with them for these few months.She's got me helping out around the centre, going to villages to see victim assistance programs, and teaching English to the beautiful staff here. Busy, you think? No!

Just one of the incredible symbols in the Centre.

So what to expect from this blog? Stories about what I'm doing, some general musings about spirituality and philosophy, and plenty of funnies in visual and verbal form.

That sounds about right.