Khmer Abroad

Backstage

Mon, 24 May 2010 13:28:49 +0000

Once again, the Cambodian American artists from the Washington DC area are on the road. On May 8, they traveled to Richmond, Virginia, to perform at a fundraising event. For the artists who were born in Cambodia, it’s another routine, performing a classical dance they have surely performed hundreds of times before. For the younger ones, born in the US, it’s a sort of maiden voyage, as this time they are performing a folk dance on their own. They have made the trip to Richmond by themselves, without the elder ones, carrying a legacy that was passed from generation to generation. Little fish growing bigger…

Cambodian Masters: Stories Told

Thu, 06 May 2010 15:01:06 +0000

From the Cambodian refugee camps of the Thai border in 1979 to America today, there’s still thousands of stories that must be told.

All the confirmed artists that I have met at the Cambodian temple of Silver Spring, Maryland these last two years have compelling stories… Most of them have fled Cambodia while the Vietnamese took over the country and the Khmer Rouge loosing it. Several ended up meeting together in Kao-I-Dang refugee camp where they were eager to bring back the Cambodian living arts alive. After a few months, a group of 30 families of artists was admitted in the United States, among the first Cambodian refugees accepted in the US. They settled in Maryland and started a new life in the early 80s. For the last 30 years now they have challenged the odds, going back to school, looking for jobs to support their family and raising their children. Still they continued practicing their art, sharing the tradition to a younger generation of Cambodian Americans. This project made with the Cambodian Temple of Silver Spring has received the support of Maryland State Arts Council.
“Cambodian Masters: Stories Told” presents you 7 pieces about 7 artists who have become Masters in their art, plus one piece introducing the whole story and project. I hope you’ll enjoy it as much as I had pleasure working on it!
These stories are not just about keeping the Cambodian arts alive, but it is also about healing, community, and family.

Links to the the introduction slideshow + to the 7 portraits of artists, each piece is approximately 7 minutes:

http://stephanejanin.com/media/Introduction/index.html

http://stephanejanin.com/media/Ny/index.html

http://stephanejanin.com/media/Kantya/index.html

http://stephanejanin.com/media/Viphas/index.html

http://stephanejanin.com/media/ChumNgek/index.html

http://stephanejanin.com/media/Rith/index.html

http://stephanejanin.com/media/Sochietah/index.html

http://stephanejanin.com/media/Masady/index.html

The Nurse

Wed, 06 Jan 2010 17:05:53 +0000

Malida’s Suong parents fled Cambodia after the fall of the Khmer Rouge regime, and escaped to Khao-I-Dang refugee camp on the Thai border, where an estimated population of 160,000 refugees was living. Malida was born there in 1981. In 1985, the whole family finally left for a new life in a new country, the United States. After a short period in Maine, Malida’s family moved to Lowell, Massachusetts, where South-East Asian refugee families had already settled, among them a big majority of Cambodians. Malida’s parents found jobs easily there, factory works… It’s not until she traveled back to Cambodia in 2004 - the first time since her family had left the country - that Malida envisioned the career she wanted to embrace: public health and nursing. In May 2009, she has graduated with a Masters in Science and received her license to be a nurse practitioner. Malida is now working at LCHC (Lowell Community Health Center), a non-profit organization that started in 1970 to serve the diverse ethnic population of Lowell, with high quality and affordable health care services.

The Health Center

Mon, 14 Dec 2009 02:52:31 +0000

In Lowell, Massachusetts, 1 on 3 is from Cambodian origin. The city holds the second largest Cambodian community in the US - with 30 000 people - after Long Beach, Ca. One of the most recent part of the immigration heritage that has built the city since the mid 19^th century, the Cambodians refugees and immigrants in Lowell have definitely “shaped” the city in a way no other community has done before, with its economical, social or cultural activities, its restaurants and shops. Still, many members of this community struggle with low paid jobs, lack of education, physical or psychological health issues. For them, the Metta Health Center - one of the six community health centers in Lowell - has specialized since its opening in 2000 in Southeast Asian medicine and resources, mixing both western medicine and traditional Asian practices such as massage, meditation or acupuncture. For the Cambodian Americans of Lowell and around, Metta Health Center is a great place to consult a doctor or a nurse, as everything in the center is made to put them comfortable: Cambodian staff, Khmer language in use, art from Cambodia displayed on the walls… More than 5000 patients have consulted at Metta Health Center in 2008 - a large amount being from Cambodian origin - to find affordable quality health services… In the Buddhist Pali language “Metta” means “Love”, “Compassion”…

Survivors’ Voices 3

Thu, 03 Dec 2009 15:06:43 +0000

After California, Oregon, Virginia, Maryland, and Massachusetts non profit ASRIC (Applied Social Research Institute of Cambodia) has organized in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on Nov. 13^th and 14^th what may be its last workshop to help the survivors of the Khmer Rouge regime share their stories, file a complaint for the trial now in process in Phnom Penh, possibly have their voice be heard. ASRIC is guided by its mission to seek social peace and health for Cambodians who have been directly and indirectly affected by the Khmer Rouge regime, and still suffering from it, 30 years after the collapse of the regime. Thanks to the support of the Asian/Pacific/American Institute at New York University and with the help of organizations of Pennsylvania (Cambodian Association of Greater Philadelphia, Mental Health Association of Southeastern Pennsylvania, The Khmer Post East Coast), ASRIC could gather in Philadelphia a group of volunteer lawyers and students to listen to the stories of survivors and help them file. Today, after 10 workshops in 2009 in the United States, ASRIC has already received and filed more than 150 complaints that will soon be addressed to the ECCC in Phnom Penh (the “Khmer Rouge trial”) for the second part of the trial that should start early next 2010…

Survivor’s Voices 2

Thu, 03 Dec 2009 14:56:37 +0000

After California, Oregon, Virginia, Maryland, and a week before Pennsylvania, non profit ASRIC (Applied Social Research Institute of Cambodia) organized in Lowell, Massachusetts from Nov. 6^th to 8^th another workshop to help the survivors of the Khmer Rouge regime share their stories, file a complaint for the trial now in process in Phnom Penh, possibly have their voice be heard. ASRIC is guided by its mission to seek social peace and health for Cambodians who have been directly and indirectly affected by the Khmer Rouge regime, and still suffering from it, 30 years after the collapse of the regime. Thanks to the support of the Asian/Pacific/American Institute at New York University, ASRIC could gather in Lowell a group of volunteer lawyers and law students to listen to the stories of survivors and help them file. Today, after 10 workshops in 2009 in the United States, ASRIC has already received and filed more than 150 complaints that will soon be addressed to the ECCC in Phnom Penh (the “Khmer Rouge trial”) for the second part of the trial that should start early next 2010…

Sopheap Pich, Sculptor

Tue, 29 Sep 2009 12:22:51 +0000

In 2002, Cambodian American artist Sopheap Pich has chosen to return and live in his native country, some 16 years after he had left Cambodia with his family, establishing in Massachussets. From 1984 to 2002, he has lived in Amherst, and eventually traveled and studied in Miami, Chicago, France and Boston where he received his Masters of Arts. Now based in Phnom Penh, Pich has settled a space for work, found his voice (abandoning painting for sculpture) and his material, rattan and bamboo, which he uses to create his sculptures, some of them referring to the body and our organs, and the feelings and emotions that our mind and spirit experience through them. One of the most prominent artists in Cambodia today, Pich now also receives international recognition, from New York to Japan, from China to Australia…

Boomer, a returnee rapping destiny…

Sat, 12 Sep 2009 19:08:29 +0000

Born in 1982 in a refugee camp on the Thai border, Bunreas Pin (known as Boomer) arrived in the US as a baby and has lived all his childhood in Stockton, CA. As a young adult he got involved in gang activities, went to jail and was finally deported back to Cambodia at the age of 21. Boomer is one of 212 Cambodian American returnees that Cambodia has already accepted back on its soil since 2002. Definitely decided to reconstruct a new life in Cambodia, Boomer has created his own organization, “A+ Entertainment” and decided to be an educator and a role model for the young boys he brings off the streets of Phnom Penh, giving them a chance to be part of the growing rap-hip-hop-DJ club scene in Cambodia.

Survivors’ Voices

Fri, 05 Jun 2009 04:56:07 +0000

Far from their native country, few Cambodian Americans have a full understanding of how the Khmer Rouge trial works in Cambodia, and about the possibility to file a complaint to be addressed to the court, as witness or victim of physical, material psychological injuries. A Professor of Sociology at California State University has founded an organization - ASRIC, the Applied Social Research Institute of Cambodia - to educate the Cambodian Americans about the trial and bring support in filing complaint. Supported by local community organizations, she organizes weekend workshops to answer questions and encourage people to share their testimonies and stories, as part of what she considers a justice healing process.

The Graduate

Fri, 05 Jun 2009 04:51:08 +0000

On Friday May 22, 2009, Jamie Kimberly Lok, 25, graduated from the School of Public Health of University of Maryland, College Park, with an MPH, a Master of Public Health. A wonderful achievement, 30 years after her mother had to flee her country devastated by the Khmer Rouge regime…