What does a modern circus, child protection services and a public school have in common?  

Well come and hear about Phare Ponleu Selpak (PPS - www.phareps.org) which was created in 1994 by nine young Cambodians who returned to their country after a childhood spent in the refugee camps at the Thai border. They wanted to help to rebuild their country through social and educative actions and, importantly, the recognition of Khmer art and culture. The organisation gradually gathered more and more children living in difficult situations, such as streets kids, trafficked children and orphans, and helped them to reintegrate into society through the medium of culture and arts. The artistic training offered has been found to aid concentration, communication and creative thinking skills, thus vastly improving the choices available to children as they reach adulthood.

Phare Ponleu Selpak (PPS) is a not-for-profit Cambodian association working with vulnerable children, young adults and their families through 3 interweaving fields of intervention:
1. art schools (performing arts namely theatre, dance and modern circus, as well as visual & applied arts), 2. social support (family and child protection services) and
3. educational programmes (kindergarten, public school, library, after-care).

The school is based in Battambang and is registered as a charity. Performances are shown daily at Phare The Cambodian Circus tent in Siem Reap which is run as a social business, incorporating also the gallery Romeet in Phnom Penh.

Our speakers will be Mr Dara Hout, CEO of Phare Performing Social Enterprise (PPSE) along with two Phare artists, Mr Mann Nem (19) and his sister Ms Kunthea Nem (17). Mr Huot will present about Phare Ponleu Selpak (PPS) and engage about the organisation’s amazing journey and mission. The circus artists Mann and Kunthea will hopefully be able to perform and exchange with the audience about how they’ve become artists for Phare, thus showcasing PPS’ work.

Mann and Kunthea Nem were born in a very big family of 12 siblings. The family was an ex refugees family, the same story as many facilities who live nearby Phare Ponleu Selpak school. The NEM family living conditions have greatly improved and their livelihood have been transform thanks to the artistic careers and income made by 7 of the siblings who are performers in Phare. One of them was sent on a 5 years scholarship to Montreal, Canada. He just graduated and has been hired by Cirque Du Soleil for their upcoming new production. Mann and Kunthea specialize in acrobatics, juggling, balancing and partner hand to hand balancing. We hope they will be able to present a short act on the story of Hanuman and the Mermaid in Cambodian version of Ramayana in the event in Hong Kong."

Regards
Merrin Pearse
HK Green Drinks