Grand Day for Project Enlighten and Cambodian Land Mine Museum Relief Fund

This was a wonderful article by our good friend and team member Lisa McCoy. I promise I will fill the rest of the dates on this Blog this weekend..just a bit shell shocked, coming home to snow!



Sunday, January 13, 2008
Grand Day for Cambodian Land Mine Museum and Relief Facility
Cambodian dignitaries, team workers from around the world, facility staff and children all came together to celebrate a significantly special day for the Cambodian Land Mine Museum and Relief Facility.

On Thursday, January 10, 2008, a ceremony took place in which the facility was presented its official organization licensing certificate. In Cambodia, this certificate, difficult for most organizations to achieve, is imaginably more difficult to attain for an organization which has defused land mines on display. But this facility, an eight year project implemented by Canadian documentary filmmaker Richard Fitoussi of Bayfield, Ontario, is more than just a Land Mine Museum. It is also the home to Akira, his family, and the 22 child land mine victims which presently live there.

As part of the 'Team', I was delighted to be a part of this momentous day. The ceremony saw 23 noted dignitaries on the stage, and the event was covered by Time Magazine (Canadian Edition).

At 9:30am, after the opening remarks, we all rose to respect the Cambodian National Anthem. Richard Fitoussi then thanked everyone for making this day possible, and proceeded by reading a letter recently presented to him by Lloyd Norman Axworthy, PC, OC, OM, Ph.D, MA., who's greatest success was the Ottawa Treaty, an international treaty to ban anti-personnel land mines. He also campaigned against the use of child soldiers and the international trade in light weapons.

In his letter, Dr. Axworthy speaks of keeping a landmine from Bosnia in his office as a stark reminder of the devastating cruelty of this man made weapon. He noted that as of October 2007, 156 state dignitaries have signed the Treaty, and that 40 million land mines have been destroyed since the Treaty's implementation. Dr. Axworthy thanked and congratulated the Facility for the success of all its endeavors.

The Deputy Governor of Siem Reap was the next dignitary to take to the podium and offer his congratulations, followed by His Excellency, Secretary General of the Cambodian Mine Action and Victim Assistance Authority, Mr. Sam Sotha. In 1997, Sam Sotha was in attendance at the signing of the Ottawa Treaty. He spoke on how hard Cambodia, and other NGO's in place, work constantly to clear land mines. He stated that the government has to work hard to assist the victims, and acknowledged the help the new Facility gives to children injured by land mines. His Department worked hard to check, and double-check, every landmine at the Museum, to ensure that they were defused. He applauded Fitoussi and Akira for their tremendous work, and then ceremoniously handed them the official licensing certificate.

The children were next in line to be honored for their scholastic achievements, as each one in turn was presented with an Oxford Khmer/English dictionary. They were presented by Asad Rahmen & Olivia Lorge of Project Enlighten www.projectenlighten.org , the NGO which raises funds towards scholarships for these children. Richard Fitoussi Sr., along with wife Corrine, next presented gifts to the Facility staff and educators.
Tol and Voleak, two resident children of the facility gave heartwarming speeches of how the facility has given them the opportunity for a better education, resulting in hopes for a rewarding future.

Local police and military were also in attendance, and Akira presented the local police with a gift of hand held radios, insuring the Facility's immediate communication with the police, should the need arise.

Ending the morning's celebration was one final speech, given by the man who's dream made this all possible – Akira. Akira's never-ending vision, 'To Make My Country Safe for My People', is a vision shared by many in Cambodia. Akira has never stopped acting on his vision, resulting in many years of having personally defused and removed landmines. He has also taken into his family uncared for children of land mine casualties. I was personally touched when he stressed his strong desire to build more schools in the rural areas of Cambodia lacking schools. Within the next week I will personally be able to share this desire with Akira as we go to visit the Cambodian countryside to view the site for the future 'Muskoka School', funded by the generous citizens of Muskoka.

He is a man of many visions, and thanks to all of those who made this New Facility possible. The Facility is solely run on donations. It presently has a very small schoolroom that only comfortably seats 5 children. The Relief Facility is presently fundraising to build a new, larger schoolroom. Donations can be made through the Cambodian Land Mine Museum and Relief Facility's website at: http://www.cambodialandminemuseum.org/








Posted by Lisa McCoy at 5:20 AM

Land mine Museum Certificate Ceremony.

Where does the time go? It’s 3:53 and I can’t sleep. I’m watching a Japanese football program and the announcer is wearing a San Francisco 49er jersey. Maybe next year! Lol.
I’m the lone one here, Olivia left for home on Friday night and today is my last day before I march over the miles to a sleepy little town called Yreka!

Here is another quick recap of what our fantastic team accomplished!

*January 10th we proudly celebrated with Akira and family the celebration of his many years of sacrifice and hard work. None of this would have come to fruition with out the leadership and vision that Richard Fitoussi has brought forward. Thank you for allowing Project Enlighten be a part of the children’s lives and supporter of their future academic aspirations! We were humbled to be able to present school books to these inspiring children.
The day was filled with smiles, none brighter than Akira’s as he proudly accepted his plaque from the Honorable Sam Sotha adviser to Prime Minister Hun Sen and secretary general of Cambodian Mine Action and Victims Assistance Authority, we were able to have a nice conversation with the Honorable Mr. Sotha at the end of the ceremony.

*Matt, Riva, Olivia and I interviewed five prospective scholarship applicants from Build Bright University in Siem Reap. I had met with the Vice President of Student Affairs a week earlier in hopes of finding students who had met the entrance requirements but did not have the financial capability to attend college. We met with three wonderful young men and 2 fantastic young ladies. Their hope for the future was bright and they knew their place to make it a reality! We will keep you posted, as the PE team will have to make some tough decisions, as we will be offering two scholarships!

Sorry this a short one as I’m running late..much do to on my last day, you will be happy to know I have a 10-hour lay over in Bangkok tonight, so I promise to get you caught up!

Snake Bites & Good Samaritans

The days pass by so quickly as our time here in Cambodia is winding down. We finally have time to catch another swift breath & write a bit more for you all. Even with Matt & Riva’s arrival (and fairly quick departure), our team barely had time to pause. Meeting Richard Fitoussi in person was one highlight for Olivia and most of our team members who have only conversed via email & Skype. It was a genuine pleasure speaking with him and learning of his various travels and passions in life. At first encounter, he has a quiet, charismatic presence but as conversations flow, a domineering side emerges. He is a well read, well spoken, subtly humorous, energetic and an altogether positive person to be around. We are happy to be working with such an ambitious and inspiring individual.

Mr. Brian Janes taught a couple crash courses of first aid at the Volunteer Development Poverty Children’s School with the gracious support of Miss Gwen Hobbs. It was an intriguing course for the kids, which covered very basic first aid techniques [like choking, stopping bleeding, getting stung by insects and a classroom favorite, SNAKE BITES]! Differences in respective cultures were exchanged as Brian helped them understand the western way of medical response and how it can benefit them all to learn the basics. The children shared with him the challenges they have helping people in their community when they get hurt. The “Good Samaritan Law,” doesn’t really exist here in Cambodia and there are even greater fears of helping severely injured [bleeding] patients in regards to HIV, AIDS and other blood born diseases. People are apprehensive in helping others when they need medical help, despite this, Brian was successful in sharing ways the kids could help without putting themselves in harms way. One thing notable was that the children were very interested in health related illness and conveyed the desire to learn more. Perhaps this is something we can help plan for sometime down the road. Ideas anyone?

Minutes after landing Riva and Matt were ready to fully engage the people, sites and genuine beauty surging within the landscape of Siem Reap. We got them checked into the Angkor Green Guesthouse (a local favorite of ours: www.angkorgreen.com) and took them on a quick tour of the area. We had a meeting afterwards to get them fully prepared for the rest of the week. Their excitement and energy was rejuvenating. One of the first things we tackled was taking them out to the Landmine Museum. Monday was a Holiday, a day of remembrance for the Khmer, Victory Over Genocide Day. We hoped to give a good tour of the Landmine Museum and Facility to share with Matt & Riva our inspiration for helping the people within Cambodia. We had quite the entourage of tuk tuk’s…Richard Fitoussi, Lisa McCoy, Bill Morse, Brian & Gwen and Matt & Riva joined us for a dusty, colorful, full of electric beauty ride through the countryside to the Cambodia Landmine Museum. Upon arrival everyone there was busy preparing for the ceremony on Thursday. Our team was able to get a good look at the facility and later met up with Richard, Akira, Hourt and the rest of their team to put the finishing touches on the plans for the ceremony.

While Asad continued to show Matt & Riva various projects, Brian & Gwen also kept busy. Brian designed a recycling and compost area for the museum and later in the week teamed up with Lisa and Gwen to construct a new clothing line for the museum. We can’t express how happy we are to have such a dynamic group on our team! We worked so hard to make good things happen, great job to everyone! Next chapter, the perseverance and dedication of all pays off, we take a small break to visit our good friend Sao’s village, visit some school sites and help Akira & Richard celebrate the museum’s success…

Quick updates...

01/06/08-

First things first- we have to wish everyone all the best in health and happiness in this fantastic New Year. Olivia and I want to personally thank EVERYONE who made 2007 such a productive and empowering one. We are eternally in debt to you all for allowing us to pursue our passion of serving the amazing people of Cambodia! We cannot say thank you enough!

I will try to give you a quick update on the happening of the last week.

*Mr. Meng is the assistant director at the VDPCS School, if you have been keeping up on the Blog you know Mr. Togh as the Director at the school. Well Mr. Meng was out with Graham getting cement for the foundation of the new school. He returned from the cement shop to find his motto had been stolen. He had the keys in his pocket even. Long story short I sent out an email and was able to raise a quick $500 to buy Mr. Meng another motto! Thank you so much Graham, Nick, Kipp and Chann, we were able to give Mr. Meng the best possible Christmas present!

*We returned to Sao’s village with Brian and Gwen in tow. As always the hospitality and kindness that is shared through the village leaves us in tears, there are not words to describe the kindness and sheer joy we feel. I will let the pictures speak instead!

*Sao took us to his pagoda in his village, Bangro pagoda to be exact. It is a humble place, maybe 20 or 25 monks living there. We watched Malay teach English to the children of Sao’s village. I felt bad as they were more focused on us then their lesson. Giggles and smiles seemed to be the topic of the class! Malay is a 22-year-old monk/teacher; he shared his simple classroom and explained to us the frustrations of trying to teach English to the children, as he had only one textbook for 60 children. We discussed the possibility of Project Enlighten helping provide materials for a very simple and basic school. As you will see by the pictures, it was standing room only and even some children were using their bikes as a make shift desk! I hope to make this a thing of the past, as every child should have the ability to write on a desk, not a bike seat.

*Olivia and I have been visiting the local universities and speaking with students with the pro’s and con’s of each. I want to Build Bright University or BBU and was able to speak with Mr. Siv Vutthy (First Vice President) and Mr Srin Sivhorng (Vice President Student Affairs). I shared with them my intent for Project Enlighten to provide 2 scholarships for 2 students. One under the John Fletcher McKim scholarship and one under the Dave Linsdell scholarship. Mr. Vutty explained to me that he had a list of 49 students who met the entrance requirements for the university but where to poor to attend BBU. For the price of $330 to $390 a year for tuition, we will do some massive fundraising when we get home, as my dream is to wipe that list of 49 students to zero!

* The team is together. As I mentioned earlier, Brian and Gwen are in Siem Reap. Bill Morse our dear friend from the Land Mine Relief Fund came into down and we had a wonderful dinner and caught up on the work we need to accomplish in our time together. Lisa McCoy a wonderful fundraiser from Canada was in town as well. She raised close to $4000 to build schools for Akira in the rural villages in northern Cambodia! As Olivia and I were waiting at the airport to pick up our Board Members Matt and Riva we were shocked to see Richard Fitoussi walk down the ramp! Wow what a day, the whole team is here!
We were so happy to see Riva and Matt today as well, we were so worried that the massive storms in California would cancel their flights, well after many delays and cancelled flights we were so happy to see their smiling faces at Siem Reap Airport! We are so fortunate to have a wonderful people like Matt and Riva on our Board! We will be interviewing 6 prospective scholarship candidates at the University on Wednesday with Matt and Riva, we will keep you posted! We have a very busy week upcoming as we attempt to get Matt and Riva up to speed on our TEAMS many projects! Life is grand!