Narith is a 21-year-old farmer from Stung Treng, and like over 85% of Stung Treng’s population he relies on agriculture to survive.[ii]


producing crops and livestock sustainably. Unfortunately,


still live way below the poverty line, making it difficult for him to provide even the most basic necessities for his children. Narith’s ongoing struggle is in large part due to a lack of knowledge about advanced farming techniques, sustainability components and all this combined with an underuse of resources. Choices are difficult to make when some decisions have been made for you. Politics, geography and education have a way of hobbling even the most committed.


Currently I’m working with a project in Stung Treng that is helping to address some of these issues through skills related classes, a farm that will be maintained to mentor locals, like Narith, as he and others continue to build their own capacity. With the right tools things are starting to change. We all have a toolbox. Some of us just have a little better access than most. With the right motivation and incentives Narith and thousands of agricultural workers just like him will no longer struggle to provide food, shelter and education to their families. This is about development that seeks to build up others around them with a solution that is contextually based and relies on the local knowledge of community-based leaders and their people.


About 2,500 years ago Socrates was sentenced to death for corrupting the youth of


the day. the time, and go beyond scratching the surface. In truth, he was encouraging


them to ask penetrating questions, dig a little deeper than the politicians of


Young Cambodians are looking for a leader who will encourage sustainable development and support growth for its entire population – people, planet, prosperity. They are fighting back. They are taking their ideas and opinions to the streets and are having a political influence that is affecting the conversation around unions, garment worker wages and human rights abuses.


The Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) has for the first time developed into a promising alternative to the dominant ruling party led by Prime Minister Hun Sen. This is in large part due to the fact that the CNRP has effectively mobilized Cambodian youth and provided them with hope for a brighter future. David Chandler, a historian and author, said recently,


“…educated,


urban Cambodians, at least, are not simply sitting back and letting things wash over them any longer. This doesn’t mean they are politically foolhardy. It means that they are more skeptical and responsive than Cambodians have generally been.”[iii]


He wrote


this in 2010 and by the looks of things and if you read the New York Times or The Cambodia Daily you will get the sense that a wave of unrest abounds.


He and his family live on a fairly large piece of land for they


Youth, I trust, will never be wasted on the young and I do hope that we can learn a lesson or two from them about not sitting idle and mildly accepting the status quo. Turning a blind eye does no good. When Thomas Edison invented the light bulb, says Wendy Kopp, he didn’t start by trying to improve the candle. He decided that he wanted better light and went from there. You don’t need to read the Phnom Penh Post to know that Cambodian youth are taking it to the streets in many new, fresh and revealing ways. They too want a better light.


Rithy Panh is a Cambodian filmmaker who survived the civil war, the illegal American bombings[iv]


in the 1960’s and 1970’s, and


the Khmer Rouge era as a child and has made several movies about the history of his people and homeland. He is now an Oscar contender for his new film, The Missing Picture. It is a creative and moving film about the strength of the human spirit, the desire for growth and the commitment to a new future. Panh said,


“


It’s been a very long journey. From my childhood experiences with the Khmer Rouge, to learning cinema in France, and now, getting nominated for the Oscars – well, it’s good. It shows the people of Cambodia that you have the possibility to express your feelings and point of view, that you can look at your own history – and even if it is terrible – you can face it, and you can film it, and claim your dignity back. [v]


Panh’s first film about a family of Cambodian refugees on the Thai/Cambodian border called, Site 2 was awarded the Grand Prix du Documentaire at Cannes in 1989. Panh was 25 years old. Wasted on the young? I think not.


” iAM March 2014 39


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