Team Boravuth was founded on February 11, 2009 for the purpose of promoting the education and well-being of underserved children in Cambodia through the Arts.
カンボジアの子ども達の教育促進、特にアートを通じた文化交流、国際協力をしたいと2009年11月よりシェムリアップにて活動しています。
I visited the Iki Iki School on Jan 2nd and we had a new year party with children and their family at the village. There are about 30 Japanese people to go there the day. We had two pick up track. Before we go, we went to a market to buy food, snacks and beer. When we get there, children were waiting for us to play music, game, rope, origami etc. It was fun to play with children. The grand mother showed up and taught us Khmer as always. We all enjoyed the new year party. The school had a big progress.
On Sunday 20th, Chinese Vice President Xi Ji Ping came to visit Siem Reap. The Scout Brass band members welcomed him at the airport and played Chinese song. They practiced a new Chinese song just only one day, but they played very well.
Today was my last day at the Blue Sky classroom. We had an Christmas concert and we sang some Japanese songs and Khmer song. It was nice that they could introduce themselves in Japanese in front of audience (staff of the guest house). I also gave an certificate and show my appreciation to these children. I spent about 7 weeks at the class and I am very proud of their achievement. They gave me some drawings and they made me so happy. It is sad not to see them every day any more, but I will come to visit them again.
I visited Cray Village with some Khmer teachers and Japanese sisters. I look forward this Thursday morning since children are very excited for the class. Khmer teachers and students sang songs together, read book, do art activities. Students made beautiful Christmas trees. It was very fun.
I went to see the biggest lake in Cambodia, Lake Tonlesap. It was a quite beautiful day (almost everyday these days), so there were many tourists there. Many children help their family business such as tickets booth, restaurants or selling souveniors around the lake. There are many houses, churches, schools on the lake. I wonder how difficult to live on the boats during raining season.
We had a special class on Sunday since the guest house owner had some guests from Japan. Students came to Japanese and English class. Guests brought some snacks, so we had art activities after the language class. Students enjoyed chatting with Japanese guests and we also had some art activities: drawings and origami.
My heart was so filled with happiness to see children's smiles. There was a renewal opening ceremony of National Youth Center. Originally it was build in 1988, but it looked like a ghost house a week ago. Korean NGO and UNESCO sponsored to rebuild the youth center. It was a national holiday for students and I attended the ceremony with scouts brass band members. There is a beautiful library with 4,000 new books, mural, pretty furniture, computers, reading room and more. Students were so excited and they smiled all the time today. It was such a wonderful ceremony.
I visited Oh village with some Japanese teachers. Students were very excited to meet teachers since Teacher Ryuichi was in Japan last week. Children greeted us very politely (they join their hands together) in Japanese. They sang “if you are happy, crap your hands" and "Do-Re-Mi song" in Japanese and Khmer. Students learn very quickly how to write Katakana and Hiragana. I try to study Khmer so I can communicate well with students.
There was 14th Angkor Wat International Half Marathon this morning. Attendees are more than 3,400 people from 48 countries. This event was started 14 years ago from the olympic medalist runner Yuko Arimori to support victims of land mines and HIV/AIDS. Every year, this marathon is getting bigger. There were wheel chair runners, artificial leg runners, small children, seniors and more unique runners with costumes. I was impressed runners and their achievements. I may attend the event next year.
I visited Crau village with some teachers. There were not many students this week since many students now moved to morning class at their school. Children had Christmas art activity to decorate Christmas trees. Some cut papers, some made some decoration rings. They really enjoyed making the trees. They also learned some Christmas songs.
It was quite exciting day for scouts and me today. I was invited to Angkor high school in the morning for the ceremony. I did not know what the ceremony is, but it seems like a national event. There were more than 1,000 people such as VIP, monks, soldiers, students and more. About 130 scouts brass band members played music there. They put their uniforms really nicely and played very well. I am so proud of them. There was an another ceremony at the Angkor Wat this afternoon. Selected scouts members played at the annual event to worship God in Angkor Wat. I am happy that they have more opportunities to play in public. I would like to support them as much as I can.
I got some more drawings from Vanny (13) and his little sister Mom (10). They put really beautiful colors on their drawings. You can check their drawings at the video. We are planning to have a concert soon. They are all so excited.
Last Friday, I gave crayons and drawing papers to students who have almost perfect attendance. I asked students to draw whatever they like such as family, animals, house, dreams and more. Today, four students brought their beautiful drawings. The youngest Thaidav (9 years old) drew her house and a little teddy bear. She also wrote her name and "sensei" (means teacher) in Japanese. She put brown on the teddy bear. Mao Mun (14 years old) also drew her house, flower on the side, a small house with hammock. She put beautiful colors all over her drawing. Sophors drew her family and message. She said "This is my family. I live in Cmaabodia and I live with my family and I am a student in Grade 6. I love family. thanks to Yiko. (I think she means Yuko) I love Yiko. Nin drew two people (I guess a father and his son) reading a book together. I am so happy to see their drawings. I will put them on the wall of the guest house. So people can see them.
I had an exciting school project site visit today with 9 Japanese and 2 Khmer drivers/interpreters. Kade and Guriko started to build the school two weeks ago. They commute everyday for 1.5 hours to the village. Carpenters live there until the school ends for three months. Today, we did not have much to do since they put concrete at the base and wait until it dries. Since I am not available during weekdays, it was my first site visit to the school. Children at the village were all so excited for the school and they help to carry stones, woods and more. We played games, origami, took pictures together. They loved to see their photos. A grandmother enjoyed teaching Khmer to us. She taught each single word such as eye, month, dish, spoon. I was not a good student. One the way back to Siem Reap, we saw beautiful sunset. It was such a wonderful day. Thank Kade, Guriko, their friends and children at the village.
今日は、日本人９人と２人のドライバー兼通訳の方々と一緒にIKI IKI School の建築現場に初めて見学に行きました。リーダーのかでさんと奥様ぐりこさんたちは、２週間前から建て始め、毎日１時間半ほどその村に通ってます。行く途中に市場によって、その日のお昼の食材を買って、３ヶ月間住み込みで働いてくれている大工さん達とほぼ 毎日作業しているそうです。今日は、コンクリートを乾かす日として、特に作業はなかったのですが、様子を見に、子ども達と遊びに行きました。村の子ども達は学校をとても楽しみにしていて、毎日とても良く手伝ってくれるそうです。今日は、一緒に鬼ごっこをしたり、折り紙をしたり、写真の取り合いっこをしたりして遊びました。おばあちゃんのが、これは、目よ、鼻、口などクメール語のレッスンを私たちにしてくれました。シェムリアップに戻る道で、きれいな夕日を見ました。かでさん、ぐりこさん、日本人の皆様、ガイドさんたち、そして村の子ども達、とても素敵な一日をありがとう。
I was invited to a class at Village Angkor Krau (North of Angkor Wat) with some local teachers and Japanese Christian sisters. They go there once a week to teach music, art and health. Two senior teachers are now in Japan and taking trainings. The road to the village was quite tough: bumpy and narrow. I thought I need a helmet on the car. There are more than 70 children waiting for teachers. They sang songs that were translated from Japanese to Khmer. All students needed to wash their hands with soap and teachers taught how to keep healthy. During Origami lesson, they made a frog. It was quite difficult for small children.
My friend took me to see a Khmer Classic Dance show and buffet dinner. There were so many tourists from all over the world. We sat down pretty close to the stage. Before the show starts, we enjoyed Khmer dinner. My friend has been to the show many times before, so she explained about the history of the classic dance. I have seen Khmer dance before, but I did not know such rich culture and history behind. (You can check detail at this site)
There are many local children around the guest house where I am staying. While we are studying Japanese or eating breakfast, they come to say hello to us. I am not sure if they go to school or not. With my limited Khmer, I just play with them like drawing and hands game. I thought it may be a good idea to start art lessons for them.
I found an ad about Aikido class in Siem Reap at Japanese guide book. I contacted with Ayako san and went to class together. They practice at the back yard of international school. Aikido master Kaneko sensei from Japan is a senior volunteer from JICA. He came to Cambodia to teach Aikido. He and some students came to Siem Reap from Siem Reap only for a few days. I stopped training three years ago in Philadelphia, so I forgot many techniques.
I met young couple who just got married through Mr. Ito who has experienced built three schools in Cambodia. Mr. and Mrs. Kato are traveling the world as their honey moon. During their trip, they decided to build a primary school in Cambodia. They have raised about $11,000 since last August. With Mr. Ito's support, they just started to build a school in village. It is not simple to build a school in village. Transportation, money, communication with people in village and carpenters etc, they have experienced many difficulties. I will join them this Saturday and I am really excited to see children there.
カンボジア支援のご経験が豊富の伊藤さんを通して、最近ご結婚されたばかりで、新婚世界一周旅行をされている、加藤ご夫妻とお会いしました。彼らは、大好きなカンボジアに学校を建てたいと、去年の８月より資金集めをし、学校を設計し、今こちらに来て学校建設を始めました。教育委員会とミーティングをしたり、交通手段を決めたり、棟梁を決めたり、いろいろなことを、着々と実行し、２月の完成まで、現地の大工さんとともにほとんど休み無しで活動しています。私も、できる限り協力していきたいと思っています。今日良い夫婦の日（１１月２２日）、加藤さんの奥様のお誕生日だそうです。きっとこの日が生涯の思い出になることでしょう。おめでとうございます。 彼らの活動記録は、こちらのブログでご覧頂けます。 IKI IKI 世界一周ハネムーン
Khmer people start to work very early around 7AM and have a few houses break during lunch. There is an construction next to my guesthouse, so they and two dogs wake me up every morning. I am not morning person, so I stay in bed for a while. That is why I did not know there is a Japanese lesson for Japanese guides every early mornings at the classroom. A volunteer Japanese guide teaches some useful Japanese words and grammar. I would like many people (not only Japanese) to come to visit Siem Reap, so I would be happy to help the lesson and get more ideas together with them to promote tourism here.
There is no class on Saturday and Sunday. I really miss my students and I can not stop thinking about them. I know little about them. I have now 11 students. Four boys and seven girls. I think boys names are more easy to remember. Vanny, Phuok, Nin and Daoung. Girls are Thaidav, Maomun, Sophors, Mom Much Sreymom, Sreynith. I am not sure if I pronounce their name correctly. Youngest is Thaidao 9 (picture at the top) and next is Mon 10 years old. They sit in front and they are very shy when I ask them a question. I can not wait for Monday to see them.
My new Khmer friend, Thida who works at French owned arts and craft shop took me to her company's workshop. Her company has several shops in Siem Reap and their products are all handmade in Cambodia. So I was interested in their workshop. There are nice products such as soaps, spices, candles, teas and coffee and more. I tasted their teas and coffee. They are all really good and natural taste. I bought tea and tea cup. There was an ceramic workshop as well. I used to take ceramic class when I was in Philadelphia. So I wanted to see how they make ceramic. There were some interesting design. I enjoyed watching artists's work.
One of my student, Phuok invited me to his music practice. We decided to meet 4PM at the guest house and we drove bikes together. He plays a pianika. I told him I used to play flute and brought it to Cambodia. I was a bit shy to play it since I did not play for many years, but I was looking for an opportunity to practice again hopefully with children. So, it was such a perfect invitation for me. We drove our bike about 30 minutes to North and I heard the sound of music such as trumpets, sax, drums and more. There are about 60-70 students were practicing outside. Phuok introduced me to his friends. There were no teachers the day, but they practiced both individually and group. The student leader said he wants to introduced me to the all and they made lines. I did not expect that, but they played two songs for me. So I introduced myself and played one simple song. I am only Japanese and 30s, but who care?? I am so happy to play music with them and hope to seek some benefits for them. Music and Arts connect people whoever and that is why I want to promote children's education through the Arts.
I had an exciting day. I finally got a bicycle!! I used to borrow a bicycle at the guest house, but they were not comfortable for me. So I was dying to get one for me. I visited 3 used bicycle shops and found one perfectly my size and reasonable. Many used bicycles here are from Japan. I do not see people who ride bicycle wear helmets, but I got one for my safety.
12/11/2009 Atsuko san and I visited Friends Without a Border children hospital founded by Japanese photographer Kenzo Izu. They are serving children free. Japanese nurse Mrs. Okao started local home visit and she also dedicates to raise money for the hospital.
We went to visit local school near Angkor Wat called Kravah School. Teacher explained that there are about 400 children studying and some living there. We joined one of class and Atsuko san distributed her gifts to children. I also brought some color pencils and crayons. Many students started drawing and brought to me and Atsuko san. Some were flowers, birds, houses, and more. They are all beautiful. They are during math class.
14/11/2009 I also visited another children hospital by Swiss Dr. Beat Richner. I was with my friend from Swiss and we are very looking forward to see his chello performance. His hospitals (both in Phnom Penh and Siem Reap) have served 80,000 children for free last 15 years. He plays every Saturday night to raise money for the hospitals. His music was really nice.
17/11/2009 Last month, I met Mr. and Mrs. Urushibara who were both teachers for many years in Japan. After they retired, they moved to Siem Reap to promote education for children. They have been visiting Oh village for past two years once a week on Tuesdays to teach music and Japanese. Now they use the primary school building, but they used to study where there was almost outside and no desks and chairs. If rain started, they needed to cancel the class. They continue "Small scholarship program" ($7/month per student) for 56 children for past two years. I was so happy to meet them who are so experienced and know how to serve children.
9/11/2009 I left Phnom Penh at 8:30AM and took a bus to Siem Reap. It took about 7 hours. I enjoyed the views from the bus window. Not much colors: green, blue and brown - natural colors. I came back to the same guest house where I stayed a month ago. Last month, there was a huge flood around the river. It seemed calm now. Many people had big damage from the flood. I am going to start teaching Japanese at this guest house language class.
10/10/2009 I started teaching Japanese at the blue sky class room at my guest house. There are around 10 students age from 9 to 16 years old. I introduced myself to teacher Keo and students in Japanese and English. They are really nice. Teacher Keo also teaches at public school. I will continue to teach here until Dec 18th. Hope children enjoy learning Japanese and English.
7/11/2009 I met Boravuth' sister, Visey and her husband. We had breakfast together and chat about their family. Visey and her brother is so similar. It was so nice to see Boravuth's family. They took me to a bus stop for ticket to Siem Reap.
After the meeting with Visey, I visited a bookstore and toyshop to attend Origami workshop. Japanese teacher Miho san is teaching origami twice a month. She is also coordinating nursing schools in Phnom Penh. Her origami ornaments are sold at the bookstore.
I also met my old friend from my university in Philly. He graduated much earlier than me and went to graduate school in Australia. He just came back from there. I reconnected with him through my friend in NY. Such a small world.
I also met Khmer friend, Sophea who I met in Siem Reap. He was a tuk tuk driver and now he is working for Japanese NGO called Cambodian Children Support Network. He introduced his Japanese director who lives in Thailand. His NGO supports orphanage center. The director has experienced living in Cambodia.
I visited Cambodian NGO and met director Mr. Kim who is a friend of my friend in Philadelphia. Mr. Kim and his assistant welcomed me to their office/house. His son was so polite and speaks English very well. We talked more than 5 hours about their work and my interests. I was really impressed his dedication for Cambodian people.
フィラデルフィアのカンボジア人友達に紹介されたNGOディレクター Mr. Kim Yさんと彼のアシスタントの方とお会いしました。始めて１年ぐらいらしいのですが、ほとんど無給／無休で活動しているそうです。カンボジア人の良いところ、悪いところ、これから必要なところなどカンボジア人の視点からのお話をたくさん伺いました。５時間も熱く語ってしまいました。
11/3/2009 I arrived at Phnom Penh at night. Staff from American Assistance for Cambodia came to pick us up at the airport. Atsuko san and I were taken to the Cambodian Daily staff house.
夜プノンペン到着。American Assistance for Cambodiaのスタッフが空港まで迎えにきてくれました。宿泊は、The Cambodian Dailyのスタッフの家に泊まらせていただきました。
11/4/2009 Atsuko san and I did sight seeing in Phnom Penh since it was first time to be there for both of us. We went to the royal palace, museum and more. It was nice weather and we enjoyed the capital of Cambodia.
11/5/2009 We were invited to the Sihanouk Hospital's One Million Free Patient Consultations celebration. Three founders received awards from the hospital. Deputy Prime Minister and United States AMbassador to Cambodia were also there to give special remarks.
11/06/2009 We visited Bright Future Kids school and orphanage where American Assistance For Cambodia (AAFC) runs. Children were so polite and they introduced themselves in English and Japanese. Orphanage children sang songs for us.
Kamonohashi Project is founded in 2002 by three university students. One of founder, Ms. Murata, witnessed children in risk as sex slaves when she traveled to Thailand. Her stories about these children touched many people's heart. Kamonohashi Project now has a community factory in near Siem Reap Cambodia to provide parents a job and children an education. Factory workers make bags, book cases, and more. Team Boravuth follows their mission and would like to support their project.
Give parents a Job, children an education.
The victims of the child sex industry all have something in common: the poverty of their families. To put it another way: those who don't have the abilities and skills to find employment (and a fair few who do too) are unable to get a job. We try, by offering vocational-training and employment opportunities for the poor in Cambodia, to provide a means to an income for families and in doing so, a measure of stability. A stable income means that a child can go to school, free from the danger of being sold into prostitution. Specifically, we have been operating our PC school since 2004, and since 2006, a handcrafts center. We have been able to provide opportunities for learning and working for many many people. We try to obtain business costs for small companies which enable rural Cambodians to make and sell their products in the city.
There is a nice Cambodian style cafe in Yanaka, Tokyo called "Cafe 2Lotus". The cafe owner Manami has been to Cambodian many times and she wanted to introduce Cambodian food and drinks. They sells Cambodian crafts made by local artists.
Team Boravuth artists, Eriko Takahashi and Yuko displayed our hand made art crafts at Wholefoods, Fairmount. It was such a beautiful summer weekend. Eriko is a book making artist. Her handmade books are very creative and beautiful. She will have another craft show at the end of September.
Team Boravuth attended Fleisher Art Memorial’s annual event on Sunday, May 31st. Nine artists contributed their unique hand-made art crafts such as earrings, bags, T-shirts, silk screen frames, soaps and more to help raise money for the project. Sales totaled $541 of which $317 will be applied to Team Boravuth’s fundraising efforts.
We are getting really close to our goal to sponsor 10 girls.
We have raised a total $1,016.25 and need just $63.75 to reach our goal!!
Thank all of you very much!
Team Boravuth artists and supporters will have hand made art crafts tables at Fleisher's community festival. We will display beautiful crafts such as bags, origami/beads earrings, hats, soaps, T-shirts, films, etc. Hope you can join and support us.
Fleisher Art Memorial presents the third annual ARTspiration! — a FREE community arts festival. This outdoor festival will take place between Fleisher's 719 Catharine Street and 705 Christian Street buildings and along the 700 block of Catharine Street. Family-oriented activities will include free bicycle-art stations, free art-making activities, a plant and herb sale, bake sale, book sale, art and craft sale, free performances, and a prize raffle. Neighborhood food vendors will also be on hand selling refreshments and treats for the whole family.
It is so exciting news. Team Boravuth started sponsor a girl called Pim Ttha. Girls Be Ambitious program selected her and posted on their website. She is 6 years old and enrolled the Ruth G. Kimballb School, #273, Cha Ung Chan village, Cha Ung commune, O’Chum district, Ratanakiri province. To view her info click here.
Thank you very much for evereyone who came to the party and support Team Boravuth! Team Boravuth supporters (Naoko and Julie) hosted a second Sushi demonstratin party. We had 19 attendees who were willing to learn how to roll sushi. Ken (Sushi chef) served fantastic apitizers and entertained his cooking talent. We also displayed our art crafts and had presentations about Team Boravuth for our guests. It was really successful and we enjoyed very much. Thank you very much for Naoko, Julie and Ken. We raised total $335.
Team Boravuth members and friends visited Cambodian temple for New Year celebration. There are many people to wish their good luck for the year. There are also many volunteers who contributed their food such as noodle, salad, curry, etc. They are really delicious. Cherry bloosoms were beautiful there.
We met the president of CEEF there and they had a vender there. They just updated their website and it looks really nice. Please check http://www.ceefoundation.org/
There was a Japanese Sakura Festival at Fairmount Park. It was such a beautiful day to have a picnic. Sakura (Cherry Blossom) was beautiful. We could introduce about Team Boravuth and show art crafts to friends and families. Performers were really fantastic, especially taiko drummers and fan dancers.
Team Boravuth had an Art Craft table at CASA's senior night. There were many attendees and we had an opportunity to introduce our team project. A reporter from the Epoch Times was interested in us and she told that she will write an article about us.
On March 21st, Yuko had a great opportunity to meet Ms. Chenda Smead, VP Public Relations at Cambodian Education Excellence Foundation (CEEF)in Saretoga, CA. I was introduced her by Mr. Krisher, President of American Assistance for Cambodia. She warmly welcomed Yuko at her house and we had a wonderful conversation such as girls leadership program. We found that we have such a common interests and share a lot of passion for empowering girls.
On March 18th, it was such a wonderful night to get together with Team Boravuth supporters. Kensuke who is a real Sushi chef shared his talent with us. We had great short films about Cambodia. One called Small Voices:The Stories of Cambodia's Children. Yuko happened to borrow it by a workshop business coach from MA. It shows that Cambodian children are in risk and lack of opportunity for education. Thank you everyone for supporting Team Boravuth!!
Team Boravuth attended a fundraising event which was organized by Cambodian Education Excellence Foundation. (www.ceefoundation.org) This organization was founded by Dr. Dr. Samrang Kchao in February 2007. He stared to share his dream at Google discussion group and his motivation has grown for children education in Cambodia. Their mission is to create and promote an environment that empowers our young and precious generations of Cambodians to take up education as a way to enrich their own life, the life of others, thus the prosperity of the country. Dr. Kchao presented about the organization's successful accomplishment. People enjoyed food, music and dancing. Team Boravuth could have an opportunity to connect with people who share same mission.
Team Boravuth attended First Friday. We exhibited our art crafts in Old City. It was such a beautiful weather. Team members enjoyed meeting new friends and artists.
Boravuth is a young Cambodian lady who had a strong passion for children in Cambodia. About a year ago, my Cambodian colleague introduced his niece Boravuth Sorn. She is a manager at gift shop and tour guide in Siem Reap where World Heritage Site Angkor Wat is. She studied Japanese to be a guide for Japanese tourists. Boravuth and I became e-mail friends to share our interests and life. We often talked about children's Education in Cambodia. As our friendship grows, I became more interested in helping children in Asia. In such circumstance, I heard from my Cambodian colleague that Boravuth got a terrible car accident last week. She was brought to a hospital, but on Wednesday, 2/11/09 at 6PM, She passed away and ended her life at age 28. This sudden death brought me something to think about; life, her will, my goal etc. I thought I have to do something make a difference. So, I decided to organize a team to take over her will for children in Cambodia. I found an organization an Japan Relief for Cambodia/American Assistance for Cambodia's (JRfC/AAfC) which has a strong commitment for children education. I thought it would a good start to connect with the organization to achieve my goal. I contacted with a chairman Mr. Krisher (who lives in Tokyo now) and he was really supportive and I got really excited to support what they are doing. You can see his work at Youtube:
To honor Boravuth, I thought it would be good to support their girls scholarship program called The Girls be Ambitious program. The Girls be Ambitious program is to prevent the trafficking of Cambodian girls and women for sexual and labor exploitation through an incentive program for girls from poverty-stricken homes to stay in school and receive additional vocational training that will provide employment alternatives, income generation and social and political empowerment.
I started to sell my mother's handmade crafts for fund-raising. Thanks to supporters, I collected $120 within a few weeks and I sent a check to the Girls Scholarship Program with our sponsor name "Team Boravuth". $120 makes it possible for a girl to go to school for a year. The team has grown up with more passionate and talented artists, IT specialists, editors, chefs etc.. who are willing to make a difference of the world with their talents.
We would like to welcome you to be our team members to open girls' future and create smile and happiness.
