unsungheroes

Dr. CHHIM Sotheara, a Cambodian psychiatrist who treats Khmer Rouge victims, was named as one of the four recipients of the 2022 Ramon Magsaysay Award, also known as Asia’s Nobel Prize.

The annual award, which was first given out in 1957 and is named for the president of the Philippines who died in an airplane crash, is given to individuals who have contributed “selfless service to the peoples of Asia.”

He was honored for dedicated his life to treating victims of the Khmer Rouge, with a focus on “baksbat” or “broken courage,” a syndrome that is widespread in Cambodia and is similar to post-traumatic stress disorder.

When the Khmer Rouge seized control of Cambodia in 1975, Sotheara Chhim was just seven years old. People were transported from the cities to rural camps for slave labor and “reeducation.”

Children were taken away from their parents, like Chhim. When Phnom Penh was liberated in 1979, it took more than three years for the boy to be reunited with his family.

After the conflict, Chhim became one of the first Cambodian psychiatrists to graduate from Phnom Penh’s University of Health Sciences.

The Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation remarked that Chhim’s task was difficult in the face of the psychological damage caused by a genocidal regime that claimed 1.7 million lives.

Chhim is one of the Ramon Magsaysay Award recipients for this year, commonly known as “Asia’s Nobel Prize.”

Chhim was given an award for “his calm courage in overcoming profound trauma to become his people’s healer,” according to the body that awarded it. The Award recognized his “transformative work in the face of overwhelming need and seemingly insurmountable difficulties.”

Although Dr. Chhim is located in Phnom Penh and serves as the executive director of the NGO, Transcultural Psychosocial Organization, he frequently travels throughout the country.

The organization offers psychological and mental health services to the people of Cambodia at the community level, focusing on individuals who have been traumatized by the Khmer Rouge and those who experience mental health issues as a result of a lack of social support and poverty. It develops programs that allow people to assist themselves and to contribute to their families, communities, and society.

Chhim is honored “for proving that daily devotion to one’s job may itself be a sign of grandeur.”

We’ve all at some point in our life had grand ambitions and dreams of changing the world. We actually start to await the perfect time to fulfill our high aspirations of changing the destiny of the world.

However, volunteering is the first step toward success. Although, when put into perspective, transforming communities may seem like a mammoth endeavor, volunteering to support impact activities is a way to go. A great ambition can only be achieved by first taking a step.

Being a volunteer is a fantastic way to change communities. One’s physical and emotional well-being improves when they make a contribution to serving humanity.

Additionally, it enriches the community by establishing connections. 

San Thai: Providing Cambodians the skills they need to build a sustainable future.

Thai San was aware that inequality and a lack of education are the main causes of poverty because he came from a background of hardship and did not start school until he was 10 years old. Due to this, Thai and his friends co-founded HHA Cambodia (Human and Hope Association) in 2011 when he was 19 years old as a nighttime English school.

Thai volunteered as an English teacher so that he could help the underprivileged children in his commune who could not afford to pay for their education. Then, in order to pay for his education, he drove a tuk-tuk from 7 p.m. until 12 a.m. On top of that, he also worked as a builder on the weekends.

Thai was promoted to be a community liaison after graduating from high school in 2013 and started his studies at the university on a scholarship.

Through his determination to help underserved rural communities in Siem Reap who are left behind in society, Thai has motivated others to make positive change over the past few years.

Thai is in charge of instructing workers from underprivileged backgrounds to challenge gender norms and other normative roles, especially for women, who are frequently discouraged from pursuing education and employment.

In effort for the children he works with to lead their communities out of poverty through fair and inclusive change, he instills in them the ability to think independently critical thought while making sure that negative elements of the society are questioned and challenged.

In 2015, Thai was appointed managing director of HHA Cambodia, where he led the organization’s transition into a fully Khmer-operated entity.

In order to promote trust and resiliency among the villagers, Thai offers empowering programs that include entire families and develop close ties with each participant.

Thai is also the recipient of World Relief Australia’s 2017 Unsung Hero award.

Thai Says, “Being a Managing Director of HHA is important because I play an important role to make sure that HHA’s goal is being achieved. We are great role models for our Cambodian youth to understand the importance of their participation to help their own society under our local staff’s leadership.”

The entrepreneurial spirit of the Khmer people is best exemplified by a boy from Banteay Meanchey who represents the country’s vibrant youthful culture of creativity and entrepreneurship.

Lim Vannarith, a 14-year-old kid from Prey Russey village in Sangkat Preah Ponlea, Serey Sophorn City, has created completely functional remote-control vehicles out of discarded scrap materials.

He has been interested in doing this since he was a young child and has managed to keep up his passion.

Vannarith has made fantastic toys like remote-controlled mini-harvesters as well as other toys like cars and tractors.

“I blend this stuff with waste items and scrap materials, such as cans, foam, and so on,” the young boy says.

His most recent invention, a remote-controlled mini-harvester, took him a week to complete and cost 40,000 riels ($10).

The eighth-grade student inventor from Cambodia wants to become a designer.

We are confident that Cambodian innovation has a promising future with such an entrepreneurial and ambitious spirit as exhibited by this young genius.

Source: EAC News and Khmer Times

A normal sunrise in Siem Reap is transformed into a special moment when the morning sun covers Angkor Wat. 

Every Sunday on this beautiful morning, Mr. Seha Chhang packs his backpack with a laptop and travels to the Siem Reap Coding Club located in YISI Center to provide enthusiastic young people with free coding classes.

In the rapidly evolving digital world of today, programming is a crucial talent that can be applied across many disciplines and areas. Thus, it is essential to teach this skill to young brains. 

Unlike other professions, teaching is unique. Providing direction and enlightenment is a divine responsibility. The experiences and impacts that teachers share with their students will have a lifelong impact on them. Additionally, they are laying the foundation for pillars of society.

Due to its importance in determining how both current and future generations will grow, this responsibility has the utmost importance. Seha Chhang believes in this, and has been teaching coding for free in Siem Reap Coding Club since last year.

According to him, many young individuals of Siem Reap from various backgrounds are enrolling in the class. This illustrates the eagerness of the younger generation to pick up coding and use it in the real world.

This program is supported by PEPY Empowering Youth, a local non-profit NGO providing personal and professional development training to rural youth in Siem Reap along with the Sabai Code and Mediapark as a technology partners. 

When The Better Cambodia asked Seha Chhang, why is it important to learn how to code? He said, as you can see, there are many factors that make coding important. You’re guaranteed to benefit from learning to code as you lay a foundation of tech skills, whether it’s just for fun or as a way to pursue your career.

He also stated, “Computers are utilized everywhere, and the world is always evolving. A fundamental understanding of computers is necessary for the majority of occupations, but if you can program them, you will have an advantage over other people. “

To create a “Digital Cambodia,” the nation as a whole needs a lot more programmers. Seha is contributing his fair share to Prime Minister Hun Sen’s initiatives to achieve this.