Help keep a Cambodian Music and Dance School open

Tola, a 19-year-old student at SCC, faced a challenging financial situation due to his family's struggles. With over seven family members, their life was not prosperous, with little income from farming, food shortages, and living from hand to mouth. The cost of living was high, and the family had to cover expenses for their children, food, and electricity. Tola decided to study Khmer traditional music at SCC in March 2018, he has been able to perform well and play many songs. He plays at ceremonies and hotels at least two to three times a month, earning 15 US dollars each time. Tola also worked as the music teacher's assistant, teaching Khmer traditional music to other students. He taught them good lessons and habits, such as practicing daily, recording key lessons, studying hard, and practicing with classmates. Tola emphasized the importance of listening to the teacher, sticking to clear goals, and following dreams. Tola is now a student at Chreav High School, with six siblings and one sister in the family. He aspires to become a professional Khmer traditional musician and is currently living in Chreav village, Sangkat Chreav, Siem Reap municipality, Siem Reap province. To make the dreams of other poor young people come true and preserve traditional Khmer music, Tola calls on philanthropists to join SCC in making the dreams of other poor young people come true. SCC hereby calls for the old and new charities to continue to donate to promote poor students to have a chance to learn the music and earn income for their daily food and contribute conservation of Khmer traditional music as well. Your contribution is most important and a hope for poor Cambodian children and youth.

Thank you for your continued support of youths' Khmer traditional music. Recently another youth who joined the music class at the SCC center can earn income to support his family. Below is the report from Nuy's story:

He is 16 years old, living in Siem Reap province, Cambodia. Nuy is a 3rd of 6 children including 3 females whose father is a construction worker and whose mother is a housewife. In 2018, He was selected to learn Khmer traditional music. “Because my family is very poor living conditions, and I didn’t have any skills for making income to support my living and education, I was supported to join the music class,” Nuy said. During the period of the training as well as the Covid-19 in Cambodia, Nuy and the other youth team used their free time cause of the pandemic, practicing their music lesson every day at the SCC center where they are very skillful after the Covid has gone away. As a result, he can perform the music at any ceremony and has been hired regularly to play at a hotel in the central Siem Reap province. His monthly income in the around of more than 200 USD from the traditional music play is contributing to his family’s living conditions lot for food, study, and others. In responding to the SCC, he commits to becoming a better traditional music player and transferring the knowledge to the next generation who are in the same condition. He added, “In the future, I want to be a traditional music teacher to provide opportunities to poor children/youth of SCC”.

Poor youth are making income to support themself for pursuing education at the university level and contribute partly to families’ burden. Through playing the traditional music, Pinpeat, in hotels, various festivals, and other ceremonies, each of trained youths has been paid at least 80,000 riels (20 US dollars) per performance after they got trained for 6 months in SCC music class. The income they earned is very mean to their life and it will provide them with a better future. It is proud of their respective youth's family.

For almost 10 years, SCC Siem Reap Branch has opened vocational classes on the traditional music to young people living in poverty, orphaned youth, vulnerable youth, and youth living with HIV, and youth to provide them with opportunity and hope for a better future. SCC trains the youths at the organization's location facilitated by the teachers from the Department of Culture and Fine Arts of Siem Reap. The evening classes are 2 hours long from Monday to Friday. At the moment, we are providing the training course in the traditional music to a total of 10 students of which 4 girls range age 13 to 24 years old.

Some young people want to become experts in the traditional music which belongs to Cambodia for a long time while others wish to make money from music to continue their education and share some income with their families. In particular, some commit to becoming a teacher of music and doing business in this field with love.

Currently, our musical instruments are too old that it is hard to provide the training. We are deeply grateful to you for your ongoing generous support to make shape the poor children and youths' future. We do hope you will join us once again.

The Pinpeat, which is enabling youths from poor families to generate income for perusing their education, is a type of the largest Khmer traditional musical ensemble. It has been performed in the ceremonial music of Cambodia's royal courts and temples since ancient times. The orchestra consists of approximately nine or ten instruments, including several varieties of xylophone, flute, Salai, and drums. This ensemble originated in Cambodia before the Angkor era. 10 youths (one female) including 2 university students, 2 graduated high school students, 1 studying student at high school, 3 studying students at primary schools, and other 2 dropout school students, are actively involved in participating and maintaining the traditional Khmer musical instruments, getting better income to improve their livelihood as a bridge to study at higher education level. Before the Covid-19, they were able to generate income from playing at restaurant 75 USD per month, performing at the any ceremony 20$ per time and small ceremony 5$ per hour; besides, they practiced and learned new songs at SCC office at evening time. During the Covid-19, they could only practice and learn new songs at SCC at evening only even though in restriction, they recognized and valued of the music, the youths struggling practicing and learn more new songs become more opportunity as soon as Covid-19 get rid of Cambodia and the world. During the early 2022 after Covid-19 gradually reduce pandemic, the music is required to be performed for religious ceremonies which is paid for 20$ per time (big ceremony) and 5$ per hour for a smaller ceremony. However, it is hoped that traditional Cambodian musicalensemblewill be hired for monthly basic to perform at the restaurants once again when the international visitors come to visit at Angkor Wat increase. In short, the Pinpeat is a vital part to support 10 youth’s livelihoods enable them to continue their education to higher level through the regularly income to improve their families’ livelihood. Furthermore, SCC is proud to contribute maintaining this importance the music which is not very much taken attention of youth is the current era since it requires to be patience and talent to learn and perforce. Therefore, we would like to sincere thanks to these who support us so far and please continue with us to promote the Pinpeat and the life of children who are very resistant and patience from poor families.   

Chin Sok, the 18-years-old, is the eldest brother of 6 siblings, whose poor widow mother cannot cover even daily food, living in Siem Reap Province, is making income from Khmer Traditional Music just after the covid-19 eased in Cambodia. The youth has been earning money to cover his family’s expenditures so that his brother and sisters have been able to attend the school like other children. This burden caused him to drop out of school at a young age and enrolled in free-of-charge training on Khmer traditional music course with Salvation Centre Cambodia, SCC. The Khmer traditional music is transforming him to have a decent life and contributed to maintaining Khmer traditions.

He has been studying Khmer traditional music at SCC school from March 2016 until today. He is now able to play many types of Khmer traditional music that he is always hired to play the music with friends at any events, receiving an incentive of around 20.00 US dollars per time. Remarkably, he is happy to share this knowledge with their classmates when the teacher was absent or the teacher gave him training. He has clearly instructed the key methods to learn Khmer traditional music to the next generation. Beyond the transferred knowledge to other students, he also shared good lessons learned and habits such as practicing music regularly/often, trying to study hard, rehearsing together, listening to the devices of the instructor, adhering to a clear aim, and following our dreams. He said, “These are the methods that I have practiced and found to be very useful and effective ways in practicing the music”.

In the future, he wants to become a professional Khmer Traditional Musician so he studies and practices very hard with the music. Finally, we’d like to appeal to all philanthropists to join us to make other poor youths' dreams come true as well as to maintain Khmer Traditional Music. Thank you for your generous kindness of yours through SCC.