Photo Credit : Cambodia Trust

Article Courtesy of Thame News

www.thamenews.net

An amputee, who lost an arm and a leg while clearing landmines in Mozambique, is currently cycling from the Thai border to Sihanoukville, Cambodia, to help raise funds and awareness for the Thame charity, The Cambodia Trust.

Chris Moon MBE's fundraising will help the Cambodia Trust to provide prosthetic (artificial) limbs, wheelchairs and the opportunity to go to school for many Cambodian children disabled by landmines, polio and other conditions.

"In 1993 I was clearing landmines for a charity in Cambodia and I saw the terrible circumstances in which Cambodian disabled people struggle to survive," explained Chris. "In 1995 I learned the importance of artificial limbs when I lost my lower right arm and leg walking in a supposedly clear area in a minefield in Mozambique."

Moon has undertaken a number of extreme challenges to raise funds for the Cambodia Trust, including a 300-mile run across Death Valley. "I’ve witnessed the work of the Cambodia Trust first hand for more than ten years. It’s a very worthy organisation doing excellent work," he added.

The Cambodia Trust is a UK Registered Charity, established in 1989 and runs rehabilitation centres, community-based rehabilitation projects, and Prosthetics and Orthotics education centres in Cambodia, Sri Lanka and East Timor.

To sponsor Chris Moon: www.justgiving.com/mooncyclecambodia

Article Courtesy of People’s Daily Online

www.english.people.com.cn/index.html

New Cambodian helicopter airline, Sokha, has begun daily helicopter services for the wealthy between several destinations in Cambodia, local media said on Thursday.

The new airline was officially launched in Cambodia on Wednesday, during a ceremony presided over by Deputy Prime Minister Sok An at the site of a newly-built 500-square-meter heliport, said Chinese-language newspaper ‘The Sin Chew Daily’.

Sokha Airline is a branch of Sokimex Company Ltd, said Airline Manager Dy Vichea, adding that the airline's purpose is to offer national and international tourists flight services. It has six helicopters, including two Ecureuil 550 A2 helicopters which can carry five passengers, and one Robison R44 helicopter which can carry three passengers, he added.

Sokha will cover six routes daily, including Phnom Penh to Sihanoukville, Phnom Penh to Siem Reap town, Phnom Penh to Battambang town, Phnom Penh to Poipet, Phnom Penh to Bavet and Phnom Penh to Bokor. One way flights from Phnom Penh to Poipet cost 1,100 U.S. dollars per passenger, while to Bokor Mountain it costs 2,536 U.S. dollars, and Sihanoukville 700 U.S. dollars. The rates may seem quite high, said Sok Kong, the airline's chairman who is also president of Sokimex Company Ltd, but he said that he believes that wealthy people will be willing to pay for the convenience and pleasure of flying in a helicopter.

Sokha Airline offers high-efficiency and high-speed services while also providing a humanitarian service, for example in remote areas in times of flooding and other natural disasters, said Deputy Prime Minster Sok An. He stressed that the airline service can contribute to economic growth and benefit the tourism industry and it is a reflection of investors' confidence in the country.

Photo Credit : AFP/AFP

Comrade Duch, also known as Kang Kek Ieu, the former Head of the Khmer Rouge’s interrogation centre in Phnom Penh – S21 – and so far the only person charged with crimes against humanity following the atrocities carried out by the Khmer Rouge's 1975-79 reign of terror – is reported to be seeking release on bail.

The full story, courtesy of Reuters World News, can be found here:

http://in.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idINIndia-29211120070829?sp=true

Courtesy of TODAYonline

www.todayonline.com

Francois Bizot – the 67 year old French ethnologist and author of the critically acclaimed book ‘The Gate’ – survived three months as a prisoner in a Khmer Rouge camp run by one of the regime’s most notorious torturers, Comrade Duch, who, within the last few weeks, has been the first Khmer Rouge leader to be charged with crimes against humanity. Now – 36 years later – Bizot says he is ready to testify at Cambodia’s UN-backed genocide tribunal.

The full story –  by TODAYonline – can be read here

More information of Bizot’s book ‘The Gate’ can be found here

Article by Caroline Marcus

Courtesy of The Sydney Morning Herald

www.smh.com.au

Tara Winkler had an enviable life. She grew up in Bondi, enjoyed the beach lifestyle and was establishing a career in the film industry. But after a holiday to Cambodia she gave it all up to devote herself to rescuing orphans from a life of abuse and neglect.

During that visit two years ago Winkler was deeply moved by the suffering of children she encountered at an orphanage at Battambang, in the country's west. She established the Cambodian Children's Trust to support the orphanage, which she described as heartbreakingly run-down. As the months passed, rumours intensified of underhand dealings by the orphanage's former director.

Early this year, Ms Winkler returned to Australia on a three-month fund-raising trip, and took measures to safeguard all donations to the orphanage. She went back to Cambodia this month after learning the orphanage's director and staff had been removed by the former director and replaced with his relatives. The former director allegedly has a history of embezzling donations from foreign sponsors, funnelling the money into his own property and livestock.

"It got a bit nasty and all of the children were being abused really badly - physically and verbally," Ms Winkler told The Sun-Herald from Battambang. "They have lost several kilograms each and look like little stick figures and really unhealthy." Seven of the children have hepatitis B and one girl is HIV positive.

In a desperate bid to save the children, the young Australian set up her own orphanage - in just two weeks. Battambang's Governor and government authorities gave her team full support to remove the children from the former orphanage and rehouse them, Ms Winkler said. She now houses all 14 orphans, aged between 5 and 17, and has employed a full-time nurse, local director, social worker and cook.

"I wasn't prepared to be setting up my own centre so soon but I'm just relieved to have them out," she said. "They're all from horrible backgrounds, with many the victims of child trafficking and others orphaned by HIV/AIDS."

In order to survive, the orphanage must raise $50,000 a year.

Ms Winkler intends to transform the orphanage into a sustainable "eco-village". She plans to spend five years and $2million introducing development projects that will enable the orphanage to support itself. Her designs include buying a 40-hectare plot to establish a plantation as well as a fruit, vegetable and herb permaculture garden. A medical facility, animal clinic, education program and English school are in the works.

To help, see www.cambodianchildrenstrust.org

Article Written by Rachel Snyder

Courtesy of NPR USA

www.npr.org

All Things Considered, August 22, 2007 : From 1975 through 1979, an estimated 1.5 million people lost their lives in Cambodia under the murderous rule of the Khmer Rouge. Since then, the tiny Southeast Asian country has struggled to get back on its feet economically, politically and culturally. Tucked away in the capital city is a man who exemplifies Cambodia's slow re-emergence, a man with a natural affinity toward music who was given a surprising opportunity.

Sethisak Khoun was fascinated by sound and music from an early age. When the Khmer Rouge banned all but officially sanctioned music, Sethisak made a kite that produced a pleasing sound when he flew it at night.

After the Khmer Rouge fell, he studied music at Cambodia's fine arts school and then studied voice at Moscow, Berkeley and Italy. He performed all over Europe and the United States, but lack of funding has interrupted the ongoing training that professional tenors receive.

Now, he's back in Cambodia, putting on his own concerts occasionally and performing at Embassy receptions for a little money on the side. He continues to practice twice a day — an exercise that he likens to Buddhist meditation.

It was an absolute pleasure to meet Loung Ung - the Cambodian Genocide Activist, Author & Lecturer - on Sunday 19^th August 2007 at the Edinburgh Book Festival, where she held a sell-out talk about her work and memoirs.

Loung is the author of two books; ‘First They Killed My Father – A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers’ which describes her childhood under the Khmer Rouge regime and ‘After They Killed Our Father – A Daughter of The Killing Fields Reunites With The Sister She Left Behind’ (known as ‘Lucky Child’ outside the UK) which details her life from the age of 10, growing up as a Cambodian refugee in Vermont (America) whilst, in parallel, talking about the challenges faced by her sister, Chou, who had been left behind in war-torn Cambodia.

As well as being a very talented author, Loung is also a National Spokesperson for the Campaign for a Landmine-Free World, and has lectured widely to schools, universities, corporations, and other symposia in the US and abroad, including the UN Conference on Women in Beijing, the UN Conference Against Racism in Durban, South Africa, and the Child Soldiers Conference in Kathmandu, Nepal.

Loung is inspirational - a strong & passionate voice for the people of Cambodia - and I encourage everyone to read her memoirs.

More information on Loung’s work can be found at www.loungung.com

Press Release Courtesy of La Compagnie Bosbapanh

www.bosbapanh.com

Phnom Penh, 20 August 2007 : Sibxy Na PANH, a classical Khmer dancer, aged 16, goes on stage for the first time in Phnom Penh. He demonstrates a natural gift for the combat. Feline in his motion, Sibxy na PANH captures the imagination and leaves the public gazing with emotion at his movements. The war in the Ramayana between the evil Yeak and the Preah Ream and Preak Leak princes demands the best from Sibxy na PANH. He will be performing on 24-25 August 2007 at 7:00 pm at the Sovannaphum Theatre among 21 dancers in an episode of the Khmer Ramayana choreographed by Thong Kim An, known as "Preap", and Thong Kim Leng, master dancers of the Classical Ballet Troup of the Royal Palace. A traditional orchestra and two singers accompany them.

Dancing since the age of five, Sibxy na PANH is from a family of Khmer intellectuals and artists, among whom BosbaPANH, young coloratura soprano and Rithy PANH, film maker. At the age of seven, he was introduced to Surat Jondga, a master dancer from the College of Dramatic Art in Bangkok. Already showing a gift, Sibxy na PANH is immediately adopted by Master Surat, with whom he evolved quickly to become one of his best students in the Rama and Laksmana repertoire.

Between his Chinese schooling and a piano-based musical education, Sibxy na PANH continues his long apprenticeship of Khmer classical dance. Sibxy na PANH is attracted by the epic combats between the good princes Preah Ream and Preah Leak and the devils of Krong Reap, a forceful style that he also finds in the wu shou (kung fu). He undertakes to learn wu shou in Phnom Penh with master Peou Yanna, who won several championship medals in France, and to deepen this discipline in Sichuan-China, one of the cradles of wu shou, with Chinese masters in the Emei Shan mountain and at the Sports University of Chengdu.

He discovers that in China, the wu shou is also a dance, a meditation that meets up with the gesture of the Ramayana epic combats and the classical dance tradition of the Khmer, Thai and Lao royalties. The precision of the fight enchainment, in wu shou, the Katas, rejoins the purity of the Ramayana movements.

He deepens his apprenticeship of the Khmer classical dance with two master dancers Noam Narim and her mother Thong Kim An, known as "Preap", both specialized in the Yeak figure and members of a family where Yeak dancing has been passed on for four generations. As it was the case with master Surat, Sibxy Na PANH has been instantly adopted by his master dancers who see in him their disciple, the heir to a thousand-year tradition. One has only to observe how Preap teaches Sibxy Na PANH. She shows a Yeak posture, stays immobile as she wants him to be imprinted. She becomes a living sculpture which reminds of the Rodin drawings recently exhibited at the National Museum of Phnom Penh. She tirelessly corrects him to obtain the same precision, with her fixed eyes alike Rodin's pencils drawing lines, her hands moulding swiftly his posture, her words hammering like a burin. She already calls him "my son".

After 47 days of intense training during this summer, she just decided to bestow him with a Thway Kru ceremony (payment of respects to the spirits and elders of the arts) and to allow him to perform with her the role of Krong Reap, a role that she is usually playing. In a time where young boys of the age of Sibxy Na PANH do not seek to learn the Royal Palace dance, Preab has been able in 47 days to transform a teenager into an artist. Preab, "the King" of the Yeaks and her certainty overwhelm us with emotions. Has a star been born from the generous heart of Preab?

Discover Sibxy Na PANH on Friday 24 & Saturday 25 August 2007 at 7pm at Sovanna Phum Theatre & Art Gallery, #111 Street 360, Corner Street 105, Phnom Penh, Cambodia

Episode of Ramayana Performed

Rama is about to go and preach but stops by the edge of a forest. At the same moment Ravana (Krong Reap) passes by, sees Sita, Rama's wife, and falls in love with her. To possess Sita, Ravana decides to use a trick. He orders one of his devil-servants to disguise itself as a beautiful deer, as radiant as gold, to attract Sita. Sita then implores Rama to capture the deer. Rama agrees after Sita's pleas for he loves her without limits.

Before leaving, Rama calls his brother Laksmana to ask him to take care of his land and to protect Sita from any danger. Once Rama has left, Ravana imitates Rama's voice and calls for help so that Laksmana could hear and come to rescue. Hearing the distress, Laksmana can not stay idling, he decides to confide his magic bow in Sita and in the Earth Goddess, Preah Thorani, and leaves. Ravana grabs the opportunity to disguise himself as an ascetic and succeeds in approaching Sita. He captures her and takes her to his kingdom of Lanka, located in the midst of the Oceans.

Discouraged and defeated by the ruse of Ravana, Rama calls Hanuman, the Monkey King, to find Sita and give her his ring, so that Sita does not despair. Rama orders Hanuman to assemble an army of monkeys to build a bridge of the oceans and reach the Lanka Kingdom, where Sita is imprisoned. On one side, the monkeys are placing rocks, on the other side, Sovan Maccha destructs the bridge. Hanuman flies to meet with Sovan Maccha and succeeds in convincing her of the good deeds of Rama. Sovan Maccha eventually helps to build the road over the oceans to reach Lanka. Rama with the Monkeys' army crush the devils' army and Ravana. Rama and his suite take Sita back to her palace.

Article Courtesy of The Sydney Morning Herald

www.smh.com.au

Cambodia's jewel has survived a lot, but popularity may be its biggest challenge, Kerry van der Jagt writes.

ANGELINA Jolie has a lot to answer for. Ta Prohm, with its ancient stonework and massive tree roots, is now sadly known as the Tomb Raider temple. And the tour groups love it. I watch on as entire groups re-enact Lara Croft running out from the temple. One at a time they sprint, leap and hurl themselves towards their tour guide - and his video camera. More like a stampede of clearance-sale shoppers than responsible travellers.

Angkor Wat and the surrounding Angkor temple complex in Cambodia are without doubt one of the seven man-made wonders of the world. Stretching over 400 square kilometres, Angkor Archaeological Park contains the magnificent remains of the different capitals of the Khmer empire, from the 9th to the 15thcentury.

In December 1992, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation declared Angkor a World Heritage Site. In 1993, 7600 intrepid travellers visited Angkor, but by 2006 the number had skyrocketed to 1.6million. By 2010, 3 million people are expected to visit Cambodia.

Dr Dougal O'Reilly, one of South-East Asia's foremost archaeologists and lecturer at the University of Sydney, founded the non-governmental organisation Heritage Watch in 2003. The group has implemented a number of projects to help protect Cambodia's heritage by raising awareness of looting and its consequences. With full support from the Ministry of Tourism and the Authority for the Protection and Management of Angkor and the Region of Siem Reap, Heritage Watch declared 2007 "heritage friendly". Its aim is to bring together locally-based private, public and non-governmental sectors in a nationwide collaboration to promote responsible tourism, while encouraging businesses to promote the arts, culture, heritage and development projects in Cambodia.

An additional component of the Heritage Watch project, the Heritage Friendly Tourism Campaign, was launched in January. "The idea behind the campaign is to raise awareness of the fragility of heritage and the need for travellers to be responsible when they visit archaeological ruins," O'Reilly says. "We also hope to discourage people from purchasing antiquities and to broaden their travel experience outside of just Angkor." O'Reilly would like to see visitors venturing further afield.

"Cambodia is an amazing and diverse country with much to offer, yet too few people leave Siem Reap where the temples of Angkor are located," he says. "Rural communities are in desperate need of tourist dollars and encouraging people to lengthen their stays and visit other places is one of the goals of the campaign."

A major component of the Heritage Friendly Tourism Campaign has been to involve the business and corporate community in promoting arts, culture and heritage in Cambodia. More than 100 businesses have been certified as heritage friendly. Heritage friendly businesses are promoted through banners, street signs and stickers to help travellers identify and support those companies that give something back to Cambodia.

Heritage Watch offers some simple and undemanding guidelines for visitors: do not purchase ancient artefacts; respect the temples as they are religious monuments; refrain from touching bas-reliefs as the lanolin on hands imparts oil into the stone; use environmentally friendly transport such as bicycles in the park (vibrations from buses affect the monuments); conserve water in Siem Reap - the water table is dropping, which may cause the monuments to subside; purchase Cambodian-made products; dispose of rubbish appropriately; support businesses certified as heritage friendly.

Dr Tim Winter, of the University of Sydney, has worked in Cambodia for many years on the challenges that emerge around heritage and tourism. Winter acknowledges that though there has been significant damage to some of the temples, including erosion to steps, entrance ways and fragile carvings, this is only part of the problem.

Winter says there are other important things to consider when visiting the area: the local economy and major inequalities arising in Cambodia because of tourism and Siem Reap as an island of hyper-growth, surrounded by some of the poorest communities in the whole of Asia.

Associate professor Roland Fletcher of the University of Sydney, who is also the director of the Greater Angkor Project and the Living with Heritage Project, encourages visitors to prolong their stay in the area. "Basically, the key thing that tourists need to do is to stay longer than the average two-day stay," he says.

It sounds so simple, but makes good sense. By increasing your stay to four days, you will significantly contribute to the local economy. Even the pollution problem caused by washing your sheets and towels will be reduced.

Yes, parts of Angkor can feel like a circus. But if you venture further a field to the quieter temples of Preah Khan, Ta Som, Banteay Srei or Beng Mealea or spend a few extra days away from the madding crowds, you will be rewarded with the moments that every traveller craves.

Perhaps it will come while you're sitting under a centuries-old silk-cotton tree that is slowly devouring a temple, or when you talk with a saffron-robbed monk. Or maybe when a shy local child plays peek-a-boo with you from behind a temple or during that spine-tingling moment when the sun first climbs through the sky over Angkor Wat.

The brilliant classicism of imperial Vienna meets the mythic-poetic splendor of ancient Angkor in Pamina Devi: A Cambodian Magic Flute. In this powerful work by Sophiline Cheam Shapiro, performed by the acclaimed Khmer Arts Ensemble from Phnom Penh, Mozart's fantastical opera is transformed into the refined and elaborate movement language of Cambodian classical dance and music. Cultures meld as 32 dancers, musicians, and singers depict Pamina's arduous efforts to transcend the rivalries and betrayals from which she is born and seek out a middle path of justice, tolerance, and love. The piece was commissioned by Peter Sellars for his New Crowned Hope Festival in Vienna.

Performances will take place at The Joyce Theatre, New York City

From Tuesday 9^th – Sunday 14^th October 2007

Tue-Wed 7.30pm

Thu-Fri 8pm

Sat 2pm & 8pm

Sun 2pm & 7.30pm

Joyce Theater

175, 8th Avenue

New York City

NY 10011

Tel: (212) 691 9740

Tickets : $44/$33/$25

Image by Allan Michaud

Article Courtesy of BirdLife International

www.birdlife.org

The Bengal Florican, one of the world’s most threatened birds, will be first to benefit from a new conservation approach that aims to save all 189 of the world’s Critically Endangered birds from extinction.

With less than 1,000 individual birds remaining, Bengal Florican had been given just five years before disappearing forever from its stronghold, the floodplain of the Tonle Sap Lake in Cambodia.

The Florican will benefit from the groundbreaking new ‘BirdLife Species Champions’ approach; whereby ‘Champions’ are being sought for Critically Endangered birds, to fund identified conservation programmes that will pull each species back from the brink of extinction.

The ‘Species Champion’ for Bengal Florican will be the British Birdwatching Fair 2007, contributing toward conservation works being undertaken by BirdLife ‘Species Guardians’ working in Cambodia. Three other Critically Endangered birds will also benefit: Belding’s Yellowthroat (Mexico), Djibouti Francolin (Djibouti), Restinga Antwren (Brazil).

Since being re-discovered in Cambodia in 1999, Bengal Florican numbers have plummeted due to unregulated land conversion for intensive agriculture.

The BirdLife Species Champions funding will contribute toward the government-approved ‘Integrated Farming and Biodiversity Areas’ programme in Cambodia, encouraging communities to favour ‘low-impact’ traditional farming techniques over intensive non-sustainable dry-season rice production.

“It is a fantastic privilege that Birdfair can act as Species Champion for the Bengal Florican,” said Martin Davies, co-organiser of the British Birdwatching Fair. "Visitors to the fair can take heart in knowing that their contributions will directly help the survival prospects of birds that otherwise would certainly disappear from the planet forever.”

“Critically Endangered birds can be saved from extinction through this innovative approach,” said Dr Mike Rands, Chief Executive of BirdLife International, on the BirdLife Species Champions initiative.

“We know the priority conservation actions needed for each species – what we need now is the support of companies, organisations or even individuals –Species Champions.”

Already described as the biggest and most wide-ranging bird conservation programme the world has ever seen, BirdLife’s Species Champions initiative aims to save all 189 Critically Endangered birds, by finding ‘Species Champions’ who will fund the work of identified ‘Species Guardians’ for each bird - organisations and people best placed to carry out the conservation work necessary to prevent an otherwise certain extinction.

“This is an enormous challenge, but one we are fully committed to achieving in our efforts to save the world’s birds from extinction,” added Dr Rands.

“One hundred and eighty-nine wonderful and fascinating bird species are on the brink of disappearing forever. Any such extinction diminishes us, and narrows our world,” said Dr Leon Bennun, Birdlife’s Director of Science, Policy & Information. “But these birds can be saved – the support of Species Champions will make this possible.”

The BirdLife Species Champions initiative will be launched officially at this year's British Birdwatching Fair at Rutland Water (August 19-21), co-organised by the RSPB (BirdLife in the UK) and the Leicestershire and Rutland Wildlife Trust.

Article By Tan Ee Lyn

Courtesy of Reuters (Hong Kong)

www.reuters.com/

Archaeologists have published a new map showing an extensive ancient settlement surrounding Cambodia's Angkor Wat that supported large numbers of inhabitants before and after the famous temple was built.

Now obscured by vegetation and low-lying clouds, the ruins spread over 1,000 sq km and were made up of thousands of houses, roads, manmade ponds and canals, researchers from Australia, Cambodia and France said in the latest issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

"We now know that instead of being just (a collection of) temples, Angkor was actually a continuous and interconnected network of temples and small scale residential features like small village ponds, small village temples as well," Damien Evans of the Archaeological Computing Laboratory at the University of Sydney told Reuters in a telephone interview.

"Very little remains now, they are just piles of brick ... a thousand years ago (it) would have been a huge and popular city, full of life, rather than this image of temples in a jungle."

Angkor Wat was built in the early 12th century, while the settlement existed between 500 AD and 1500 AD, Evans said.

"What we can see, even on a preliminary basis, is that several hundred thousand people must have lived in the Angkor area ... which is defined by the infrastructure, the roads, the canals, huge embankments," he added.

Using hand-drawn maps, ground surveys, satellite imagery, aerial photography and ground-sensing radar provided by NASA, the researchers identified what they believed to be more than a thousand former manmade ponds, temples and moats - all of which were now replaced by vegetation.

Ranging from 20 meters to 8 km long, the ponds were used for drinking, irrigation, livestock and other domestic purposes and were especially crucial for the dry season.

"The slightly lower elevations of the rice fields in the former moats and reservoirs ... result in different stages of rice maturity and in differential levels of soil moisture content, which strongly affect the returned radar signal," Evans said. "You get more mature rice in these wetter areas."

The researchers believe the settlement was abandoned around 1500 AD because of overexploitation and deforestation.

"What our work proved for the first time was that Angkor certainly was large enough and its water management system was complex and extensive enough to have created very serious environmental problems," Evans said.

"In such situations, infrastructure becomes very important and increasingly complex and difficult to maintain."

Future studies will look at how serious these problems were and if the inhabitants were able to deal with them.

Just a reminder that The Great British Duck Race will be taking place on Sunday 2^nd September 2007 from 12.00 at Hampton Court Palace in Surrey.

As part of a World Record attempt, an estimated 165,000 little yellow ducks will be dropped into The Thames and will ‘race’ a 1km course in an effort to raise more than £500,000 for charity.

A charity close to my heart - The Cambodia Trust - is one of a number of worthy causes being supported by the event.

Each duck costs £2 (plus a £3 recommended donation to the charity of your choice) and the ‘adopted parent’ of the first duck to cross the finish line will be awarded £10,000. Runner-up prizes will also be available.

So please click on the ‘Adopt a Duck’ logo above and help support The Cambodia Trust. Read more about the incredible work they do by clicking on their logo below or alternatively visit my website - Rachel’s Cambodia

The SAGE Foundation have just launched their new website – www.sagecambodia.org

Working For Children In Cambodia

The SAGE Foundation helps Cambodian children gain a valuable education, providing them with opportunities and choices in life many of us might take for granted.

They build and renovate schools, provide support in the form of native English speaking teachers, volunteers, classroom assistants, vocational local teachers (farming, crafts and hairdressing) and the funding of additional materials not supplied by the Ministry of Education budget.

The SAGE Foundation is supported through SAGE Insights – an independent, Cambodian run, travel company.

Sage Insights Travel

SAGE Insights will work with you to put together a complete, tailor-made itinerary for your travel to Cambodia including all accommodation, private transportation, and your own personal guide at an attractively low price. They'll show you the real Cambodia away from the crowds and beyond the tourist honey pots.

Half of Sage Insights' profits go to the Sage Foundation; a charitable organisation focused on the neediest children of Cambodia from families so poor they have little chance of a valuable education.

Courtesy of People’s Daily Online

www.english.people.com.cn

Radio Southeast Asia, a new radio station in Cambodia, officially hit the airwaves on FM 106 today.

Cambodian Information Minister Khieu Kanharith said that Radio Southeast Asia is their new colleague.

"We are very happy to have a new member," he said while addressing the official broadcasting ceremony of the new radio station, which is sponsored by the University of Cambodia (UC) and UC Chancellor Dr. Handa Haruhisa.

Radio still plays a very important role in providing news for people, he said, adding that this radio station will provide good knowledge for local residents.

Cambodian people have many choices of getting information from radio, he said, adding that it helps to wipe out illiteracy.

The new radio station's format will be designed to attract young listeners by presenting quality programs related to education, entertainment, culture, science and sports, UC President Kao Kim Hourn said.

The station initially has a transmission power of 10 kilowatts, he said. Cambodia has over 50 radio stations and 7 television stations now.