Music Training Therapy Blind Youth Cambodia

Background

We have a lot of news to fill in these last three months.

Perhaps the most beautiful story is that of Tai who has been blind since early childhood and is part of a group of blind children who firstly came to study Mohori music at our school and who now live at our school as their permanent shelter.

Tai aged 15 has a wonderful singing voice and is also a talented musician. He comes from a remote village in Kampot. As with so many blind people in Cambodia, he had no chance of any kind of education or training in his birthplace, because there simply are not enough Braille teachers in Cambodia and none ever come to such isolated places as Tais' and of most rural Cambodians. Blind people are left to struggle alone, often ending up as beggars or living appalling lives. Some are regarded with shame by their families and hidden from sight. The Cambodian Ministry of Culture invited our school to participate in the ASEAN Conference "Art for All" in Thailand. Together with our Pin Peat music master and a representative from the Ministry, Thai went to Thailand and performed Mohori music and joined in the workshops for people from all over Southeast Asia. This was a very special moment, not only for our school, but for Tai and for the rights and recognition of blind people in Cambodia and everywhere. 

Our school has had to develop and adjust in order to help this group of blind students. We wanted them to be near their families and avoid them being sent to an institution or NGO in another province, not because the NGO's are not good, for they are excellent, but because the children very much need frequent contact with their families and to remain in a place that is familiar to them. We now have a special housemother to care for their needs, who works in coordination with the rest of our staff and Braille teachers. 

It has been truly beautiful to see our blind children so happy and to see our sighted children who already live at the school, take care of them and lead them by the hand around the school. Their presence enriches our lives and helps us to remember those who are hidden and forgotten by society.

Partnering to help the disabled

In these last two months we have also been partnering with Epic Arts in Kampot. They specialise in contemporary dance for disabled people, to promote their different abilities and to raise awareness and tolerance in Cambodia. They also wanted to do a traditional arts program for both disabled and non-disabled young people, but having no teacher specialists in this area, asked us to assist. We now teach their students at our school both traditional Mohori and Pin Peat music. We are very happy to be able to partner and to reach out to as many young people as possible.

Shadow Puppet Theatre Première

Do read on our Facebook page about our Shadow Puppet theatre program....we are doing our second workshop, this time about the art of performing shadow puppets, learning how to move the puppets, interpret voices and musical interludes as well as lighting techniques to create eery shadows. Find out when our première performance is on our Facebook page.

Thank you for your generous help

On behalf of all our staff and children at our school, we thank you for your belief in our work and your constant support and generosity. Please help our project for blind children, as well as all those children who receive free arts training and scholarships, to continue benefiting from our school programs. Thank You!

Links:

• official website
• Official Facebook page