CNN Heroes!

The day after I arrived to Cambodia a crew from CNN arrived to do some filming.  Ponheary (of the Ponheary Ly Foundation where I am working) was nominated as a CNN Hero for 2010.  She was selected by the network to be recognized as a Hero of the Week and will be in the running to win Hero of the Year later in 2010 (I’ll definitely let you know when the voting begins!).

Ponheary’s story is truly amazing.  Although I had only been around her for a couple of days when filming started, I could tell that she had something special about her.  While she has been through some many struggles of her own, she has been so willing to give back to those around her who are in need.  Ponheary grew up in poverty and suffered violence under the Khmer Rogue.  Her father was killed along with other members of her family but she, her mother, and her siblings survived.  Unlike most Cambodians who don’t seem to talk about that time in their lives, Ponheary and her family are willing to share their memories and the struggles they endured to survive.  It’s been amazing to hear firsthand accounts of everything that has happened in Cambodia.

My next blog post is a draft of what I put together on the history of the Foundation for the website.  It will give you some insight into what Ponheary and the Foundation are all about…

The Foundation was officially formed after Lori Carlson, my boss, visited as a tourist and had Ponheary as her tour guide.  Lori now lives permanently in Siem Reap and directs things from her room/office in the Seven Candles Guesthouse where I am also living and working.  A former business executive, Lori sees things differently than many of the Cambodians supporting the Foundation do.  The combination of her business sense and Ponheary’s understanding of the Cambodian way of life make the Foundation successful.  They both have a passion for what they do and for the children they work with.

CNN came to recognize Ponheary’s contributions to the lives of children in rural Cambodia.  It was great to see them interact with her.  The Foundation works rather quietly and does not often get the recognition that it deserves for all that it does.  For a brief clip that CNN put together (based off of two full days of filming!), check out this website: http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/living/2010/06/17/cnnheroes.ly.profile.cnn 

You can also see a clip on Lori here: http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/living/2010/06/17/cnnheroes.ly.extra.cnn

Everyone joked that I was so lucky that on my second full day in Cambodia that CNN was here and that I was getting a free tour of part of the Angkor Complex, and I was!  While I was still extremely jet lagged, getting to watch the filming process and getting to be a part of it was a great experience.  I got to do some filming as a new intern for the Foundation with Ponheary at Bayon Temple (which has come to be one of my favorites) and then at a temple on the way to Koh Ker.  I am only in the videos for a brief second, but I am just glad that I was able to be there that day!  I think that the clip they put together is a good representation of Ponheary and her work.

   

    

This was also my first trip to Koh Ker and the first time that Lori and the others had actually spent the night there.  (More details on Koh Ker to follow in a separate entry…)   Koh Ker is the most rural school and the one that has the most needs in almost every way.  The village has been traumatized by the violence of the Khmer Rogue and doesn’t seem to be able to recover from it.  The hope for PLF is the children.  

(Photos by me and Dara Ly.)