Short Report

Since 4 days I am already back in Battambang, but a certain laziness (and another Aircon-induced cold) hindered me up to this point to write about the YFP-conference.
Within the main subject of the Khmer Rouge Regime and its legacy, the conference covered a broad range of sub-topics. Starting with a penal about the function of art in the process of transmitting memories and a small exhibition of Cambodian artists’ works, there was a series of art workshops throughout the 6 days. Another reoccurring unit was the Action Plan Workshop, wherein the participants were to think of a means to establish a memory culture in their own province. The results, although they were not very diverse (almost all groups planned to built either a stupa or a library), where accompanied by a great enthusiasm and determination on the participants’ side.
The great participation and eagerness for further implementation of the acquired knowledge (both sometimes a bit dimmed by a noticeable, but understandable – and self-experienced – fatigue) were heartening. What was still more unexpected and all the more welcome, was the interaction between the generations: The villagers and village chiefs - many of them survivors of KR-times, communicated with the youth on a basis of mutual respect and curiosity.
One focal point of the conference was the subject of child soldiers and how to treat former child soldiers. With a former, internationally renowned KR-child soldier called Arn Cham Pond, Nicolas Davis, a former child soldier from Liberia, now fighting against the use of CS in the Philippines and Emmanuel Jal, once a child soldier in Sudan, today a widely renowned HipHop musician, it was certainly the most internationalized subject and treated in quite some depth. [If you have the chance: Check out Emmanuel Jal, its worth it!!]