More Than a Number Project

I am currently working on a project led by Light of Cambodian Children. More Than a Number is the first-ever effort to collect Khmer refugee transit photos and survival stories.  The exhibit will open on April 17, 2010 at the American Textile History Museum.


"More Than a Number is first-ever effort to collect photographs, transit numbers, and stories from Cambodians who fled the brutal and torturous Khmer Rouge regime’s 1975-1979 genocide.  The photos symbolize the moment in each refugee’s life when the years in filthy refugee camps and holding centers were over, and they were accepted for asylum in a new country.  They could finally glimpse a hopeful future in the United States, France, Canada, or Australia.  Ironically, although these transit photos were taken for the purpose of documenting refugees leaving the holding centers, the photos are also eerily reminiscent of those gloomy and strange photos taken at Tuol Sleng Prison prior to the execution of roughly 21,000 women, children, and men.  More Than a Number was chosen as the title for this historic project as it captures succinctly the fact that the people shown in the photos were beyond resilient.  They were and are extraordinary, dynamic human beings who rose out of the ashes and made something of themselves and their children in their new lands."


The exhibit will highlight Cambodian life before, during, and after the genocide. Featuring artwork by Rachel Faller and Khmer artists, Chanthou Oeur and Yary Livan, transit number photos and stories collected from Cambodian American individuals, survivor video testimonies by Socheata Poeuv of Khmer Legacies Project, dance costumes, textiles, and more. 


If you are in the Lowell, MA area, I hope you can view this exhibit.
Exhibition Dates: April 17-July 25, 2010
American Textile History Museum (athm.org)
491 Dutton Street, Lowell, MA 01852


More Than a Number” is a project of Light of Cambodian Children, Inc., with collaboration from the American Textile History Museum, Middlesex Community College Electronic Imaging Class, Voices of Cambodian Children, Lowell National Historical Park, Angkor Dance Troupe, Khmer Legacies Project, Cultural Organization of Lowell, Lowell Community Health Center,Amara Boutique and Fashion, and the New England Quilt Museum.

Funding is provided by the Theodore Edson Parker Foundation, Richard & Nancy Donahue Charitable Foundations Trust, Mass Humanities, Lowell Cultural Council, Massachusetts Cultural Council, Enterprise Bank, Tephtida Restaurant, Hannaford Supermarket, Community Teamwork, Inc., The Elephant Walk Restaurant Group, Minuteman Press, and by individual support.

Featured in Bristol Press for More Than a Number project

The project I am currently working on received some press. I was interviewed by the Bristol Press of Connecticut, my former hometown last week. The article was featured on Sunday's paper. Read the article below. (I will blog about the exhibition in my next post.)

Bristol family featured in Cambodian exhibit

Bristol family featured in Cambodian exhibit - The Bristol Press: Bristol, Conn., and surrounding areas (BristolPress.com)

Sunday, March 28, 2010 10:38 PM EDT

By Freesia Singngam
Staff Writer

A family of Cambodian refugees that came to Bristol after the Khmer Rouge genocide is being featured in an upcoming exhibit at the American Textile History Museum in Lowell, Mass. 

The name of the exhibit is "More Than a Number," and it’s a Light of Cambodian Children project. Its goal is to show that Cambodian refugees are "More Than a Number," said Sopheap Theam, a 1998 graduate of Bristol Eastern High School and member of the committee putting the exhibit together.

Theam came to the United States with her family in 1984 sponsored by Zion Lutheran Church in Bristol. She grew up in Bristol and moved away after she graduated from college. She still has family members in the area, who are active at Zion Lutheran, but she moved to Lowell, where her mother lives.

Theam’s interest in her family history peaked recently when she went to Cambodia with her family.

Now 30, she was able to see where she was born, which her parents described to her as "a jungle" when she was growing up.

"It’s very humbling to know where I could have been and what my parents went through," she said.

She said Cambodian refugee parents don’t often tell their children what they went through during the Khmer Rouge regime.

"They kept quiet," she said. "We should know what they went through."

She also saw old photos of her family, some where they’re wearing the numbers they received in prison during the Khmer Rouge regime. Pol Pot and his Khmer Rouge ruled Cambodia from 1975 to 1979, a time with mass starvation, executions and forced labor. About 2 million Cambodians died in the "killing fields" of the Cambodian genocide.

"The Khmer Rouge identified prisoners with these numbers," Theap said. "This was their death number. We realized that that’s all we were given, was a number."

Theam and members of her family managed to survive the regime, but after 1979, they were forced out of refugee camps. That was when several churches stepped in and sponsored Cambodian families to come to America.

Theam and her family came to Bristol in 1984. Theam noted that her family’s sponsor from Zion Lutheran, Shirley Dickau, is still at the church, and part of her family is still there.

Dickau said the church started sponsoring families in 1975 and continued to do so until 1990. In all, the church helped about 200 people from Cambodia, Vietnam and Laos come to the United States. They were "a joy for us to sponsor," she said.

Theam’s family’s story of life during the Khmer Rouge and coming to America, along with photographs, will be featured in "More Than a Number."

She said the vision for "More Than a Number" came from Kowith Kret, a Cambodian refugee who now lives in Lowell. Kret is a family friend of Theam’s. The executive director of Light of Cambodian Children is Sayon Soeun, who is Theam’s brother-in-law. Soeun was sponsored by a church in Middletown.

"More Than a Number" will run at the American Textile History Museum, on 491 Dutton St., Lowell, Mass., from April 17 to July 25. Theam said the project committee hopes it will encourage more Cambodians to share their stories, and she asks that Cambodians in Bristol and in Connecticut to submit their stories to the project.

She said this project has been active for 5 years – starting with a grassroots campaign. The committee wants the exhibit to travel the United States and the world to spread its message.

More information on the exhibit and the Light of Cambodian Children can be found athttp://reaksmey.org/ or by e-mailing info@reaksmey.org.

Discovery

I'm back. I took a long hiatus from blogging. 2009 was a year of major changes...and most importantly major discoveries for me. The best of 2009 was my travels to my homeland, Cambodia. It was my first trip ever....and below are the highlights of the trip.

I went with my older sister, her husband, and mom. Here we are in front of Angkor Thom.

Bayon...the faces where carved everywhere. It was truly amazing.

This is the famous temple, Ta Prohm, in Tomb Raider. The trees very nearly destroyed it.

My most memorable part of the trip was riding the elephant in Mondulkiri....this is right at Bou Sra waterfalls,
...and picnicking by the waterfalls with local hill tribe, Phnong. We dressed in their clothes.

Notice what I am pointing to, this temple was erected in the 1100's. Did my ancestors saw dinosaurs back then? This is clearly a stegasaurus carving that I found at Ta Prohm temple.

Here is our gang in front of Angkor Wat. To the left of Mom is her brother. Tom, in yellow, is a my long time friend from high school. I invited him on our adventure travels....and he absolutely loved it!

Mom and I are posing in the garden courtyard of the National Museum in Phnom Penh.

We gave out school supplies to orphans at a school in Siem Reap.

...and here I am at last. Standing in the exact location where I was born a 7 month premie during the Pol Pot/Khmer Rouge era. Behind me is the pond. 30 years later, everything is pretty much the same, minus a few sugar canes....and the fact that the land is no longer my mom's. I am so grateful to have survived and lived a fulfilling life. Remind me never to complain about my life again....or to take life for granted.