Help Young Cambodian Artists Start Their Career

Over the three months, we’ve gotten to know our 38 new scholarship students, oriented them on the program and given them some really unique, exciting creative and performance opportunities around social change initiatives. This quarter also marked the first opportunity for the new class of 2015 to perform in front of an audience with Gender & Development Cambodia (GADC) and received a special grant to support the occasion.

In October, we had our first workshop for the scholarship year with a full induction including an introduction to CLA, the scholarship program and establishing students’ goals for the year ahead. A representative from GADC also joined the session to share information about their programs and introduce two exciting events for the students to participate in: 16 Days White Ribbon - End Violence Against Women from 25 November to 10 December 2014 and 1 Billion Rising on 14 February 2015. The GADC team also screened a short film showcasing some of the past 1 Billion Rising activities.

The students were really engaged and excited about inspiring social change through the arts with some initial ideas including modern spoken drama, dance and singing. Many students immediately volunteered to participate in the events including Chapei Dong Weng student, Nhe, and Smot student, Srey Ny. Some students also suggested a great idea about simplifying traditional dance movements to improve the chances of audience participation while still giving them a unique dance experience.

Over November, our scholarship students were busy devising and rehearsing their pieces for the End Violence Against Women event on 5 December. The students also rallied together and formed a volunteer events team to arrange the venue, coordinate production and marketing.

The monthly meeting featured Sopha from the advocacy music group, The Messenger Band, who joined the monthly workshop to lead a discussion on the role of art in society. We also distributed official CLA moto bicycle helmets to all students as part of our efforts to improve their health, wellbeing and road safety awareness.

When December finally rolled around, we were delighted to receive a small grant from our friends at GADC to cover the costs of our White Ribbon event with the scholarships students. The occasion was a huge success with almost 360 people coming together on 5 December at the Cambodian Japan Cooperation Centre in Phnom Penh for a full afternoon of discussion, performance and networking. We were pleased to welcome the Dean of the Royal University of Fine Arts as a guest speaker. Sopha from The Messenger Band also addressed the audience. One of the many stand-out performances came from the Chapei Dong Weng students who composed and wrote a special song expressing gender balance as well as ending violence against women. Typical of the Chapei art form, the performers sang in pairs with a comical question-and-answer lyric style with English and Khmer as well as audience participation including clapping, cheering and laughing.

The final workshop for 2014 focused on effective team work with a field trip to the home of our Board President, Charley Todd, for a fun, participatory-style session by the river. There were no pens and paper at this workshop. Instead, there was lots of discussion, games and personal reflection with pancakes for lunch. It was also the first workshop facilitated by our new Program Coordinator, Awatd.

As we welcome in the New Year, we would like to thank you, our family of Global Giving donors, for all of your support over the last 12 months. Your generosity allows us to bring the Arn Chorn-Pond Living Arts Scholarship program to life and work with more young people on their education and artistic development.

We also welcome to hear from you on any ideas for how we can reach more supporters, just like you!

Sour s’dey chhnam tmei! (i.e. Happy New Year!)