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getting ready for the show to begin
at the Shinta Mani Hotel |
Last night was the launch party for the 5th issue of the Anjali House young adults creative writing magazine, Imagination is the Best Power — all 50 pages of it! It was quite an event. The beautiful space around the swimming pool of the Shinta Mani Hotel in Siem Reap was filled with well-wishers, some friends of ours, some local business people, a couple of representatives from Pannasastra University. Even my Khmer teacher who now lives in Phnom Penh came up to see what this program of mine is all about. I wasn’t nervous, but I was very excited.
The kids were a bit nervous, although we had been practicing for the past three days, not only what they would say, but how they would present it. Each one would come to the podium, give a small bow of respect, state their name, age, the title of their poem or story and then read into the microphone slowly, and clearly. They had practiced not to stumble over words like thought and to say life instead of lise. They had learned to make eye contact with the audience and not to fiddle with their hair. Sure, they were nervous at first, but they also knew — mainly because I had told each of them over and over again — that they were ready.
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| Some of us waiting for it all to start |
But if they were nervous, it didn’t show once they got to the stage. Each read with confidence. Some even joked with the crowd. “Good evening everybody. Are you all well?” It was sometimes hard to remember that all these kids live in corrugated one-room huts, sometimes ten to a room, with jobless parents (or worse). For a few of the kids, this was their second or third time reciting; for others, their first. But each one read with poise and confidence, while somehow managing to have their own unique personalities and senses of humour shine through.
There were poems about imagining places like Antarctica. Stories about drunken fathers and grieving grandmothers. Reports on their trip to the circus. Titles like
The Redemption of the Man, The Life Can Change and
Khmer Support Khmer. There was a theme that ran through many of the pieces this time about helping others and being able to change one’s life. These were a far cry from what the kids were writing three years, which was almost entirely about the beauty of Angkor Wat and scary ghosts in the forest. And I don’t believe that I had all that much to do with that change. My main role in all this is simply to give them permission.
The final story of the night, called A Kind Man and an Orphan Kid, was a thinly veiled version of the role that the Anjali director, Sam, has played in these kids’ lives. It was written by Sreyline, now 16 years old, whom I’ve known now for three years:
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One day, one boy called Kim walked on the street and was crying. But then his luck changed. He met one foreigner and his name was Sam. He is a manager of one organization called Anjali House in Siem Reap. He is a very kind man. He always helps the kids who have no family or are poor. When he met the boy he asked him about his family and his relatives. The boy said he had no mother and father because they died from illness and because they had nothing to eat. After he heard the boy’s story he had much pity for him and he asked the boy to go to study and live with him. The boy was very happy and went with him.
After he stayed there for one month he looked a lot better. He had good clothes, he had something to eat, place to stay and he also had a lot of friends there. Sam is a good person. He helped Kim to study from start until finish. Kim is a good boy. He studied very hard…Kim finished university and his hope was to work as a doctor because he wanted to help people like Sam had. He studied and at that time he also tried to help himself by working a part-time job. He didn’t expect Sam to help with everything because he had a goal and hope. Eight years was not so long for him.
Then one day was the day he graduated. He finished and he went to work as a doctor. He was very excited and happy. Sam was also very happy because the kid that he tried to help got success in his life. He didn’t want to get anything back from Kim. After that,Kim went to work as a doctor and he helped kids and old people. He never forgot how Sam helped him and kept him like his father. The last words he said to Sam were, “Thank you.”
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The magazine is also filled with photographs and drawings done by the kids. It will be available to download from the website soon for a US$5 donation to the program.
This is getting long and uploading is slow, so I’ll post some more photos tomorrow. But I would like to say a quick word about the hotel that hosted our event. The idea of responsible tourism is taken seriously here and the new Shinta Mani is determined to lead the way in Siem Reap. For a hotel of this calibre and service, they keep their prices low. A portion of all room fees goes to fund their own not-for-profit foundation, Open Doors Open Hearts, which focuses on education, start-up businesses and health care in the Siem Reap area. And it’s absolutely beautiful with incredible attention to service, all provided by an almost entirely Khmer staff. For me, this hotel is a fantastic, and honestly, encouraging example of how business can not only return investments for their shareholders, but also invest in the community which surrounds them. I am grateful to them for hosting our event and providing drinks and food, all for free.
Stay tuned for more photos, as soon as technology allows.
Sue, how brilliant. Congratulations to all the writers, from another writer. vx
Utterly, awesomely brilliant, Sue. What an amazing journey for all involved. xx
How lovely! Good job Sue!