JS-CAMBODIA

Our Project News

JRS Meeting 2004
JRS meeting in Hui Hen (Thailand) will take place from the 25th of Oct~ 29th of Oct. Cambodia will send
Srun Sony
Kim Phirum
Chan Navuth
And our new lawyer Anne Peeters from the Netherlands.

School of the Rocks
Villagers called Kanya to a village in the middle of the forest between Kompong Chhnang and Kompong Speu provinces. Families, who had no land in their crowded village were offered this virgin soil to make a home and garden. When Kanya arrived she was very surprised to see that the area was near the spot where her parents died during the Pol Pot era. Incredible rock formations surround the land reminding us of the painting of The Madonna of the Rocks. Although surrounded by a beautiful landscape, there is no safe drinking water available; lack of food forces the villagers to dig forest plants, sometimes poisonous. For the children , and there are many, a roof has been built and benches installed and a school with a teacher has started.. We are helping the teacher and the children One family shelters in their house without walls a mother ,a baby and a pig! Through programs like the Food-For-Work project, we plan to help the villagers better their conditions Donations would help!!.

Banteay Prieb
New term begins for the literacy students at Banteay Prieb, who are preparing their entrance to vocational training next year.

Montagnard Refugees
348 Montagnard Refugees are now living at Site Two, which is run by JRS under the supervision of UNHCR. We started an education program for children and adults covering various subjects like, Jarai(Their local language), English, mathematics, geography, health care, Khmer, moral studies, sports, singing and special activities for the children.

Our Team News

1. Most of our Cambodian team went home for their Pchum Ben holidays. Pchum Ben celebrates the ancestors. The spirit of the ancestors come to visit seven Wats(Buddhist temple) looking for their relatives and their relatives hasten to give them food and special rice cake. The Catholic Church also celebrates Pchum Ben days as the feast of All Souls.

2. Father John Lee Daley from Korea has arrived for the Retreat. Twenty of our team will go on the 22nd of Oct~29 of Oct. Indon, Ingun, Sinja took Father Daley on a trip around Cambodia.

3. Father Vincent walked without any assistive devices on Sunday and went out for dinner with Mrs. Kep and Sophaney.

4. Yezi will stay until January working with the Montagnard Refugees.

5. Bishop Kike returned from Spain with new volunteer Alvaron.

School Opening

Thom Sras is the name of the newly opened High School in Phnom Bath, Pounnheale-Kandal Province. Local monks bought the land in 2002 and JS finished building the school complex in 2004. The Opening took place on the 6th Oct 2004. 424 local students are currently taught in two buildings by teachers. The students come from 22 villages in Kandal province, and there are 4 classes for seventh grade, 3 classes for eighth grade and 1 class for nineth grade.

The Opening ceremony was attended by the local monk, many guests, students, teachers and JS staff. The celebrations included tape cutting, candle lightning and several speeches.

It took two years of preparation to reach this meaningful day.

Land-Mine News

LAND MINE MONITOR 2004
Global Release at
Center of the Dove
CAMBODIA
10.00 am 17 th November
We hope that King Rorodom Sihanouk will came
He was the first monarch to speak for a land-mine ban.

NAIROBI SUMMIT ON A MINE FREE WORLD
29 November-3 December 2004
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4 REASONS WHY IT IS IMPORTANT

1. It is the first review conference of the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty and a landmark event in the life of the convention. Everyone involved in eradicating landmines will be represented - campaigners, mine action and victim assistance practitioners, Government officials, Foreign Ministers, military representatives, landmine survivors, UN representatives, ICRC experts, religious leaders and Nobel laureates.

2. The timing is significant: it takes place halfway between the treaty's acceptance in international law (1999) and the deadline (2009) for clearance of mined areas by the first States that joined the Convention. It takes place seven years after the treaty was established in December 1997. Also, 3 December is International Day of Disabled Persons and 10 December 2004 will be the seventh year since the award of the Nobel Peace Prize to Jody Williams and Cambodia's Tun Channareth on behalf of the ICBL.

3. The outcomes will be far-reaching: discussions and the Summit documents will chart the way forward for the full implementation and universalisation of the treaty. Jody Williams noted, "it sets… the framework of action as we move into the next five years of the life of the Mine Ban Treaty. It will help reaffirm our joint commitment to ensuring that the words of the Mine Ban Treaty continue to be transformed into concrete reality, improving the lives of landmine survivors around the world and continuing to reduce the number of people victimized by this weapon of terror.

4. It will make 'a big splash'! The Summit is a rallying point for civil society mobilization and promises to generate much media and public attention. The occasion provides an opportunity for your organisation, along with other ICBL members, to publicise our achievements to date and share our vision for our programme in order to complete the job of creating a mine-free world.
See: website www.jrs.net, www.icbl.org