CIVIL RESISTANCE


My TREASON & INCITEMENT MASS TRIAL (Initial Page on Trial Matters)     TUESDAY, 14 JUNE 2022 VERDICT ANNOUNCEMENT Court Statement: Concluding Remarks ការការពារ ផ្លូវច្បាប់ របស់ខ្ញុំ  [ ... ]


CIVIC EDUCATION


សាលា ចំណេះដឹង មូលដ្ឋាន Basic Knowledge Academy     សេចក្តីផ្តើម, ទិដ្ឋភាពទូទៅ INTRODUCTION / OVERVIEW   គ្រូបង្រៀន៖ លោកស្រី  [ ... ]



 

Borei Keila Eviction Site

Wednesday, 29 Feb. 2012

 

The commie security were out in full force the morning of our disseminating of care packages from the Springville Middle School students in New York.  One hour before we arrived at the Borei Keila eviction site, the Housing Rights Task Force informed us that 4-5 military police and approx. 20 others in civilian clothes were roaming the area.  It was to intimate the people from coming to our gathering because most of them have left by the time we arrived.  A few did stay to document and film us (see photos).

Hey, Mr. Commie Police, you should learn from the young students in New York; take a page from their handbook on ethics.  Also, we would be more than happy to share our photos and videos with you for your commie scrapbook.

More photos...

 


200 care packages (wrapped gifts along with bags of candies/cookies, and 240 water bottles) handed out to Borei Keila children living in limbo at the eviction site in Phnom Penh 140 care packages) and in Phnom Bat one-hour drive outside Phnom Penh, near Oudong (60 care packages).  Each wrapped gift comes with a note in Khmer (see below) and the Press Release of 18 Jan. 2012...

 


More photos...


Phnom Bat

(near Oudong, over one hour drive in regular traffic outside of Phnom Penh in a God-forsaken desolate Dumping Ground)

 

 

. . .

 

The Dissemination of Gifts to Borei Keila Students

will be on WEDNESDAY, 29 Feb. 2012

(instead of Tuesday, Feb. 28).


9: 20 - 10:00 A.M. at Borei Keila

Depart Phnom Penh at 10 A.M.

10:45 - 12 NOON at  Settlements in Oudong

 

In addition to CIVICUS Cambodia staff, we have invited and will be joined by Mr. SIA Phearum, director of Housing Rights Task Force, media including Voice of America, and other friends including Mr. RONG Chhun, president of the Cambodian Independent Teachers' Association, Ms. Michaela Korb of Rotary Club International and Ms. Kate Mackintosh.


We have created 200 gifts of color pencils, pencils, pencil sharpeners, rulers, notebooks, erasers, etc. wrapped in a large krama, totaling US$700.  Another $100 will go toward snacks and bottled water to hand out with the wrapped gifts.  As there are approximately 100 families still living in limbo in Borei Keila, we will allocate 100-120 gifts, each gift per family, and the rest to the 80 families living in the settlement in Oudong, a one-hour drive outside of Phnom Penh.


Each gift contains the above items, wrapped in a krama, tied with red ribbon.


Inside each krama gift contains the items shown above, to be wrapped in red ribbon.  200 gifts prepared for children living in limbo in Borei Keila and in the settlement of Oudong.


CIVICUS Staff wrapping the gifts to be disseminated on Wednesday morning.


The note accompanying each gift.  It reads: "Gifts from Springville Middle School students in New York, US to students evicted from Borei Keila and living in Oudong Settlement." In red: "DAY OF SILENCE".


(The remaining $500 [now US$700] of the $1,300 [increased to $1,500] will go toward t-shirts for teacher-representatives training with RFK Center-CIVICUS Cambodia Courage Without Borders curriculum.)


Please come join us enlarge the ripples of hope created by these brave young human rights defenders from Springville Middle School in New York.



The violent, illegal evictions at Borei Keila by the military police in Dec. 2011

 

Building 10 rises at Borei Keila

The Phnom Penh Post,

28 Feb. 2012

...

Read press release of 24 Feb. 2012

See full press release of 18 Jan. 2012...

For more information...


Watch this awesome video

by Springville students on their

Day of Silence

 

. . .

 

CIVICUS Cambodia logo

CIVICUS: Center for Cambodian Civic Education

a partner of The Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights

conducts

Curriculum Courage Without Borders

(Speak Truth To Power, based on book by Kerry Kennedy)


Training Workshops for Educators and Monks

in 20 Provinces/Municipalities


 

[Letter from CIVICUS Cambodia founding president Theary Seng]


Dear Colleagues and Friends who are Teachers/Educators—our unsung Heroes:


This is your book! We created it with you in mind, as the shapers of minds. We know of some of the challenges you face in present-day Cambodia and we empathize. More power to you.


We believe greatly in the importance of this curriculum because we believe deeply in this virtue—COURAGE. We believe it is a virtue that can be practiced more and more by everyone, especially the young people.


Courage is defined as “mental or moral strength to persevere and withstand danger, fear, or difficulty,” something that all of us (as Khmer—in the NGOs, in the government, in the opposition, in business, in Mondolkiri, Kampot or wherever, holding different religions or beliefs, rich or poor—as well as foreigners—French, African, Chinese, no matter the background) can and do believe in.


As with any other disposition, courage is only fixed in us through practice. As Aristotle notes in the Nicomachean Ethics almost 2,400 years ago, we become brave only by doing brave acts: "By being habituated to despise things that are terrible and to stand our ground against them we become brave, and it is when we have become so that we shall be most able to stand our ground against them." Moreover, when we encounter obstacles, let us be reminded that they are only invitations to courage. Fear destroys a person's spirit whereas courage builds a person and in turn society.


Everyone everywhere in the world, anytime throughout history believes in the significance and practice of this virtue, COURAGE.


Thus, our deep admiration for you, who are in the frontline in instilling this virtue via this curriculum in our children.


Of course, we would like very much for this curriculum to be included as part of the official educational curriculum. We are engaged and will continue to engage the relevant government officials to make this happen. Before this happens, however, it is necessary that we all are familiar with the content. Naturally, this takes time.


But we are making a good beginning. For example, we are pleased to have H.E. Om Yentieng’s recognition of the importance of the Speak Truth To Power project (as expressed to Kerry Kennedy over a dinner he hosted in February 2011). We continue to count on his Cambodian Human Rights Committee as a vehicle for the dissemination of this material. We believe in the universality of this virtue; we believe in the government’s courage to take this on and we will do everything to work with ALL partners, who believe in EDUCATION.


I would like to give you a bit of background as to how we went about producing this Courage curriculum:


First, the drafting of the Khmer curriculum in the English language is based on extensive discussions between CIVICUS Cambodia in Phnom Penh and RFK Center in Washington, D.C., with comments and ideas from Kerry Kennedy after her visit to Cambodia in February 2011.


Among all the 51 defenders featured in Kerry Kennedy’s book Speak Truth To Power, we decided to focus on eight individuals whose works and issues resonated with the current situation in Cambodia: Elie Wiesel (Genocide), Marina Pisklakova (Domestic Violence), Juliana Dogbadzi (Slavery/Trafficking), Vaclav Havel (Free Expression), Muhammad Yunus (Right to Credit), Desmond Tutu (Reconciliation), Ka Hsaw Wa (Corporate Social Responsibility), Kailash Satyarthi (Child Labor).


Second, we had the English-drafted curriculum translated in Khmer which took several phases. We put a lot of energy into this process, as we know ultimately it is the Khmer version which must be understandable and readable. Those who have worked with translation from the English into the Khmer language can appreciate the process—the content quality of making sure the Khmer language makes sense; preserving the spirit and meaning of the original English content; the technical difficulties of typing Khmer, with associated problems transferred to the layout process, etc.


We employed some of the best translators in the country who did the initial translation for us. Toward the middle and the end of the translation process, I meticulously scrutinized the Khmer version line-by-line, with the English text for content integrity and comprehensibility, with my dedicated assistant Ms. Sivnin Eam typing in the changes as well as providing the sounding board for my explanations and my constant, recurring questions: Is it understandable to a 13-year-old? Is there a simpler, more common word in usage? Tell me what you think this word or phrase or sentence means.


As important as preserving the spirit of the content, we were very concerned that the Khmer translation flows smoothly and is understandable to the larger population. Simply put, we focused on clarity and common (vernacular) usage for UNDERSTANDING. We preferred the common vocabulary to the highly technical ones, if we could avoid them. It was not uncommon for Sivnin and I to be engaged for half an hour, for example, over one phrase or one sentence. We consulted the available dictionaries, with great reliance and value given to the works of Venerable Chuon Nath.


During this process, we also engaged some of you, the educators who will actually be teaching from this curriculum. We met in person at three consultation workshops with approximately 40 of you, senior educators, from four northwest provinces of Siem Reap, Battambang, Banteay Meanchey and Kampong Thom as well as you, senior educators, from Phnom Penh and Kandal Province. You assisted us tremendously with your comments and feedback, especially on the readability, usage and spelling of certain words. We included as much as we can of your feedback. (Thank you so much!)


Finally, we worked with a layout designer, a very able young woman Ms. Rany Song, to put everything together as suggestions and comments gleaned from the consultation process (workshops and private review of drafts) continue to stream in.


I ask for your good will, magnanimity and patience with any mistakes (e.g. spelling) you may find or preferences (e.g. usage of commas) you may disagree with. We accept full responsibility for the content in this curriculum but we ask for your help in providing us your feedback for future printing.


I pray you will find this Courage curriculum inspirational not only for your students, but for yourselves as well. Peace and courage be with you.


_____________
Theary C. SENG
Founding President
CIVICUS: Center for Cambodian Civic Education
Phnom Penh, Sept. 2011

 

_____________

 

Kampong Chhnang Training Workshop

Aranh Pagoda, Sunday, 9 Oct. 2011

Kampong Chhnang Training Workshop, 9 Oct. 2011

More info and photos...

. . .


Training Workshop in a Takeo Pagoda

Sunday, 16 Oct. 2011


Head monk at Ompor Wanaram Pagoda

More info and photos...

. . .

 


Training Workshop in a Kampot Pagoda

(including educators from Kep)

Monday, 17 Oct. 2011


Students from next door view skulls and bones from Khmer Rouge era (Wat Stung, 17 Oct. 2011)

More info and photos...

. . .


Training Workshop in Kandal Province at Sa'ang

Courage Training Workshop in Sa'ang, Kandal Province, 9 Nov. 2011
Mr. Man Kee (who we teased as our "little monkey", a dynamic, courageous, dedicated teacher from Kandal province who was orphaned by the Khmer Rouge and obtained his education living in a pagoda), is reading for the group the section on "Chronology of Human Rights". Despite the local authorities communistic tactics in intimidating (e.g. sending military police) and paying teachers $5 each not to attend our training workshop, nonetheless we had 80+ participants (our target is 80-100 teachers per training).

Theary Seng trains at Sa'ang, 9 Nov. 2011
Theary Seng explaining the Chronology of Human Rights at Sa'ang, Kandal Province (Independence Day, 9 Nov. 2011)

 

More info and photos...


. . .


Courage Training Workshop in Kampong Thom

Sunday, 5 Dec. 2011

Theary Seng training in Kampong Thom, 4 Dec. 2011
Theary Seng introducing Speak Truth To Power project (translated into Khmer as Courage Without Borders) in Kampong Thom, 4 Dec. 2011


Theary Seng listening a teacher-in-training expressing his appreciation for the Courage curriculum and at the same time the frustrations of being a teacher in Cambodia, to a group of 90 other teachers and 30 monks.

More information and photos...

. . .


Courage Training at Khang Cheurng Pagoda

Kampong Speu Province, Sunday, 19 Feb. 2012

 


Theary Seng paging through Kerry Kennedy's book Speak Truth To Power as she introduces the STTP project to teachers, monks and provincial authority at the Sunday training


More information and photos...

. . .


Courage Without Borders Curriculum Training

Sunday, 26 Feb. 2012

Spean Chivit Church, Kandal Province



Theary Seng with the pastor and his wife Chhayary who is also the CITA representative


A teacher is reading the part of Kerry Kennedy in posing questions to Elie Wiesel, read by a very brave young monk.  Lesson on Genocide from Courage Without Borders curriculum.  At the last minute, we were forced to change venue to this Spean Chivit Church, after the provincial authority blocked 2 pagodas and threatened monks who had heartily agreed to participate and let us use their pagodas.  We had anticipated 250 teachers and monks who had enthusiastically wanted to attend our training.  Normally, we prepare for an average of 100 monks and teachers.  However, the last minute change of plans did not disrupt our program as we received approximately 90-plus monks, teachers and this time, the added presence of pastors!  The pastor, whose wife is the teacher representative of the Cambodian Independent Teachers' Association for this region, warmly opened us to his church, moved his regular Sunday church service to a nearby, less-comfortable area with a delayed start, in order we may succeed in our Courage training.  Which we certainly did!  (Sunday, 26 Feb. 2012, Spean Chivit Church, past Koki market in Kien Svay, approx. one-hour drive outside of Phnom Penh)

 

More info and photos...

 

 

Courage Without Borders

Curriculum Training in Pursat Province

Friday, 2 March 2012

 

More info and photos. . .

 

 

Courage Without Borders

Curriculum Training in Battambang Province

Sunday, 4 March 2012

 

More info and photos. . .

 

Courage Curriculum Training in Siem Reap Province

Thursday, 8 March 2012 -- International Women's Day

 

 


Theary Seng operating the overhead slide presentation when Sivnin is running around taking care of coffee/snack/lunch arrangements, as well as doubling/tripling up as photographer etc.


After a heavy lunch under a heavy tropical heat in the early afternoon, we needed to revive the participants with a group massage, including the 60 monks from Wat Damnak and nearby Wat Bo.

 

More info and photos . . .

 

 

 

 

 


 

 

 

 

 

 



 

Theary's BLOG

Published Articles of Vietnamization

Vietnamization: Military Occupation - Present
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 Francois Ponchaud, a French Jesuit who had diligently chronicled the destructiveness of the Khmer Rouge in his book "Cambodia: Year Zero," maintained that the Vietnamese were conducting a [ ... ]


Translator

English Afrikaans Albanian Arabic Armenian Azerbaijani Basque Belarusian Bulgarian Catalan Chinese (Simplified) Chinese (Traditional) Croatian Czech Danish Dutch Estonian Filipino Finnish French Galician Georgian German Greek Haitian Creole Hebrew Hindi Hungarian Icelandic Indonesian Irish Italian Japanese Korean Latvian Lithuanian Macedonian Malay Maltese Norwegian Persian Polish Portuguese Romanian Russian Serbian Slovak Slovenian Spanish Swahili Swedish Thai Turkish Ukrainian Urdu Vietnamese Welsh Yiddish