Founders - Veasna Chea

I would like to dedicate this page to my brother, MG. Lay Bun Song, Ministry of Defense, who passed away on 01 April 2004.

Hello & Welcome

My name is Veasna Chea, and this is my husband Peter Leth. While we are both currently studying for an M.A. at the School for International Training, in Brattleboro, VT, we also work here in Phnom Penh full-time. I am a lawyer with the Public Interest Legal Advocacy Project (PILAP), while Peter is a nutrition consultant with UNICEF. In November 2001, we helped Fred Lipp set up CASF, beginning with just two young girls. I volunteered as the Director of Cambodian Programs while Peter assisted with school and university enrollments, overseeing monthly finances, and other tasks.

The foundation started when Fred Lipp visited Cambodia for the first time in April 2001. He wished to be able to do something to help Cambodian people who struggle to survive after the “killing fields” regime of the Khmer Rouge, and a long period of internal conflict which lasted until the 1990s.

Through a friend of a friend, Fred one day appeared in my office, the Cambodia office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. Fred asked, “If I am able to do something to help, what problem should I address?” I took a long time to think and then responded, “Let me tell you about my life history.” I expressed to Fred my concerns about different issues that Cambodian people have faced. I told him about my mother and my struggle against cultural beliefs (in Cambodia there is less priority for the education of girls than boys, and this difference is exacerbated by extreme poverty). I added, “my dream is be able to help other poor girls with high potential to pursue an education.”

Fred listened carefully to my story. His heart melted with compassion and, with his eyes sparkling, he said “I want to make your dream happen. We could work together to start a project to help poor smart girls be able to stay as long as they want in school.” The project started immediately with two girls, Ey Arun (pictured left, with Veasna) and Chhan Mom.

Both Peter and I worked on a volunteer basis to run the Cambodian projects until September 2003. At that time, CASF supported 200 students. From 2001 to 2003, we set up projects in six different Cambodian provinces. This included a working system of Cambodian village-based projects with Educational Counselors who manage and implement the program locally.

We can only sustain our programn with your help.

My Story

Please let me share with you my personal story. My name, Chea Veasna, means “good fortune.” My journey through life, though, has not always been fortunate. So many tears have fallen from my mother’s and my eyes, tears of both excitement and difficulty.

I am now a lawyer, have studied abroad, and have worked for many organizations. Now, my question is: How could it be possible?

Please walk with me through a short story of my life and the honored people who have helped me to achieve my goals. Most importantly, they have enabled me to help and represent other Cambodian people’s voices.

• My widowed mother, Chrea Kim Thay, survived the brutal Khmer Rouge regime with 8 children. I am the youngest. My father was killed when I was two years old. Four of my siblings could not pursue their education because they needed to do farming and fishing to support us, the younger ones. At age 12, I finished primary school in Prek Po Village, Kampong Cham Province. All girls in the village stopped studying at that level. My mother made the decision to send me to study secondary school in Phnom Penh City.
  
  
• I moved to live in the city with my sister. We lived in my father’s second cousin's house (an extra abandoned home that they owned). My mother found them by chance on the boat after separation during the Khmer Rouge regime. They helped my mother’s dream become possible.
  
  
• My older bothers and sisters and my youngest aunt ( Chrea Kim Pov) and uncle have tried to help despite their difficulties.
  
  
• My French Godfather (Mr. Claude Colapinto), who has a small business in France, passed through Cambodia as a tourist and financially supported my study. I met him at the French Cultural Center. He helped me finish law school at the time when my mother got older and sold many pieces of our land for my education. He provided me a monthly scholarship (200 francs) through an organization called “Enfants De Mekong.” I felt warm inside after I met him because he helped me gain psychological strength and financial security. He wrote to me often saying how proud he was of me. He always said, “I help you because I see that you are bright and I know that some day you can help other Cambodians and I would like you to help them as much as you can.”
  
  
• Phyllis Cox, an American lawyer whom I met at the Cambodian municipal court, is also very important to me. She is my dear friend, my teacher, my student and my colleague. I taught her Khmer language while she taught me English and gave me $5 weekly. She took me to a restaurant for the first time in my life in 1996.
  
  
• Derm Whelan, a Canadian Legal Advisor to the Cambodian National Election Committee, whom I worked with as a legal assistant in 1998, also helped me become who I am today. His family sponsored me to study English in Edmonton, Canada for one year. His wife, Shirley, a wonderful person who took care of me throughout the year, was also a very important person to me.
  
  
• Francesca Marotta and Maryse Allie, my supervisor and colleague at the UN, who provided me the opportunity to explore my skills as a project manager and human rights activist. I will always be grateful to them. They are wonderful people.
  
  
• The School for International Training in Brattleboro, VT provided me a scholarship to study for an M.A. in conflict transformation (PIM 63). I am grateful to the donors, faculty, staff and student peers that provided support to me during my stay on campus. They are helping me become who I am today.

Final Words

As a young girl in poor Prek Por Village, if my mom suggested I not go to school, I probably would have stopped. Also, if my French Godfather did not help me I would not have been able to finish law school. Without help from SIT my knowledge would be limited.

I now understand that I am as good and as fortunate as my name says, compared to all my girlfriends who had to stop going to school at the primary level. Most importantly, I have now noticed an attitude change in my village. My mother, who was criticized and blamed because she decided to send us (girls) to school in the city, now is respected by the community. She has become the educational counselor when other mothers need to discuss higher education possibilities for their girls.

However, many girls still drop out of school as a result of just not having a small amount of money. Globalization of free trade is now drawing Cambodian girls to sweatshop factories in the city. These are our major competitors.

I can feel how sensitive the girls' fortune is. Poverty has stopped girls from getting an education. We cannot help all Cambodian girls, but I believe we can help some who will grow healthy and be able to help others and participate in the development of their community.

I hope more and more people will help me to continue to fulfill my dream.

In 2004, Sodary Chap succeeded me as Program Director, after assisting me in my work.

Thank you for your help. I share in your happiness and hope for a better future for these Cambodian children!

Sincerely,
VEASNA CHEA