The courtyard space of this rural Cambodia wat (temple) is full of children practicing dances. The air is full of their laughter and singing. Ever since the Songkohak Komar School opened a traditional music and dance class for the village children, the students have been coming to practice before their classes, even on days when classes are not held! One of the students, 12 year old Sok Phaly, tells about her involvement, her eyes glow with excitement about the dance and music program:
“This October, the community school, Songkohak Komar School, started Khmer music and dance lessons and I am taking classes! Every day now, when I wake up at 5:00am, I do my dance exercises first, before everything else. My robamp (folk dance) teacher says that if we do the exercises every day, we will be better dancers. After that, I help my mother selling, cleaning and cooking.
“When I was younger, I saw older students doing the Blessing Dance (a traditional Khmer dance used in many ceremonies and community events) and I thought it was beautiful. I didn’t know that I would be able to learn to do it someday. The first time the teacher showed it to us, it looked difficult – especially the part where the dancer balances on one foot – but I joined the class. When it was my turn to try, I found that it was easy! I think the exercises are helping!”
Sok Phaly’s family reflects the migration that affects most people in rural Cambodia, often because of poverty and debt to money lenders. She says, “My older brother has gone to work in Thailand and my older sisters work in a factory in Phnom Penh. They need to work to pay back loans for the family. Every morning, I help my mother sell noom (cakes) before I go to school.” It is difficult for families to keep their children in school when everyone’s labor is needed to survive.
Sok Phaly lives in Rong Damrey Village, and – like most communities in rural Prey Veng Province – her village consists primarily of subsistence rice farmers and day laborers. Over the past 50 years, the forces of war, food insecurity, genocide, and migration have led to fragmentation of communities. Most rural, poor children leave formal education at the end of primary school – or even before finishing. In many cases, they are integrated into family and community structures through other means, but many children are left orphaned or otherwise uncared for; their futures are uncertain and their role in the community tenuous.
The wats (Buddhist monasteries, usually located in each village) have traditionally cared for and educated the children who are left without resources. The wats so try to preserve the traditions of the community. The chief monk in Phaly’s village, The Venerable Mao Kuen, and community elders and activists started and sustained an informal school for children who had left formal schooling, or who needed extra help. They dreamed of also having a traditional music and dance class to help tie these children into the community, encourage them to continue to study, and to help their community rebuild their cultural heritage. This past year, MCC’s Global Family program helped sponsor the needed stipends for teachers and materials, and the music and dance classes started in October 2012.
Cambodia has experienced the eroding of traditional arts and culture and there is a deep wish to renew that identity. The nation lost 90% of its artists, musicians, dancers and intellectuals as targeted victims of the Khmer Rouge regime from 1975-79. Poverty and instability in the past 20 years has prevented Cambodia from renewing its important cultural arts traditions. Today, many dedicated Khmer artists are working to build the skills and knowledge of Khmer traditions in the next generation, and to help communities embrace their cultural heritage again.
Source : https://cambodiamcc.wordpress.com
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