Cambodians for Peace Solidarity Rally

Ongoing violence in the Oakland Cambodian Community has impacted the lives of many as friends, families, neighbors, and businesses have been victims of community violence. In response to this, a Cambodian Community 4 Peace March was held on Saturday March 31st at the  Saint Anthony Church. The march for peace symbolized unity for community members who came together and spoke with one voice to express their concerns regarding the outbreaks of violence in their communities. The event brought together community members to unite and send a message to the mayor, city council members, and local and state policy makers to show the importance of wanting to be safe in the community. 

People came out despite the rain and inclement weather to show their support and solidarity to stop community violence. Below are photos capturing this powerful and emotional event.

'Pledge for Peace" banner signed by community member and supporters

Signs for the march

CHAA's pledge for peace

march participants fill the auditorium

Center for Empowering Refugees and Immigrants (CERI)'s Chandra Pech takes the stage 

Photo by  Pysay Phinith

Making sure their voices are heard
Photo by Pysay Pinith ((photo courtesy of CERI)

Additional coverage regarding the march can be found here.

Cambodian Community Garden Opening in Oakland, CA

women from the Cambodian community picking Chinese cabbage

Farming, harvesting and growing food has been a tradition for many Southeast Asian communities for generations. Yet in urban areas like Oakland, farming and harvesting has often been a challenge for many Cambodians who were forced to leave their country in the 70's and 80's.  In the past few years, however, CHAA, along with other community partners have worked with the Cambodian community to develop small plots of land to grow produce and utilize their gardening and farming skills.

Sotheavy Tan, CHAA's Cambodian outreach staff ,showing off the garden

On March 30, the Cambodian community, CHAA advocates and community allies came together to celebrate the opening of a community garden at Lakeside Park in Oakland.  The lush green garden was full of vegetables as Cambodian women who had worked on the plot for weeks were able to collect their bounty and share the vegetables with guests.

homegrown produce

Though the garden is a small plot, community members were grateful for what the the garden provides. It gives members of  the Cambodian community the opportunity to utilize traditional gardening methods and skills, as well as connect to each other and to younger generations.

Stony, the daughter of one of the women who has been active in the garden related to the positive outcomes of having space to garden "It brings everyone together, they're helping each other, supporting each other, having fun and having conversations."

CHAA staff and friends enjoying the garden

The garden brings together older and younger generations as well, as mothers and grandmother teach younger people about farming and cultivating crops that they have grown themselves. It is a special bonding experience and though this may be a small plot of land, it symbolizes a bigger connection and experience for a community maintaing their  heritage and cultural connections.

Choun, above, proudly shows the beautiful vegetables she helped grow

Photographs taken and edited by S. Nadia Hussain

'Rhythm of the Refugee: A Cambodian Journey of Healing' Museum Exhibit

Nhep Prok and local Cambodian musicians at the museum opening

"The intense uprisings started in 1972. I spent many nights in the dugout hearing artillery shells. We started to see dead corpses in the rice fields behind our backyard. By 1973, it was no longer safe to stay in Sung Rieng. My mom put me in a helicopter to Phnom Phem".
-Sambo Ly, President of Cambodia Community Development Inc.

From 1975-1979, two million Cambodians lost their lives during the brutal oppression of the Khmer Rouge, a government led by the notorious dictator Pol Pot. This four year period was marked by political killings, starvation and forced labor. Even children were not spared from these atrocities as Cambodia fell under a regime that looked to establish a dystopian vision of a new Cambodia by orchestrating the elimination of millions of innocent people.

The upheaval of the period led to many Cambodians escaping their country to seek refuge and safety. Some Cambodian refugees were eventually settled in the United States. Oakland became a resettlement area for many of these refugees, as survivors of the war and genocidal regime faced whole new challenges as they settled down in unfamiliar surroundings. The crime and poverty in Oakland, along with issues of acculturation and transition caused many difficulties for this new Cambodian community.

Sotheavy Tan and Sambo Ly, genocide survivors and Cambodian community leaders

Yet the Cambodian community in Oakland looked to heal from these traumas. Organizations such as Cambodian Community Development Inc.  (CCDI) were established by former refugees to promote and support the community. The challenges, triumphs and history of this community is on display at the Peralta Hacienda Historical Park in Oakland, where CHAA, along with other community partners (including CCDI) worked with the museum to collect photographs and stories for the museum exhibit which featured a timeline detailing the history of ancient Cambodia, to the dark days of the Khmer Rouge, to the current Cambodian community living in Oakland.

The museum exhibit opened on Saturday, October 22 and featured performances by members of the local Cambodian Community.  The performances included 92-year-old Nhep Prok, a long time performer in Cambodia who now teaches traditional Cambodian music to younger generations. Nhep Prok and others from the community played traditional instruments for the museum opening audience, displaying an art form that the Khmer Rouge had attempted to destroy years ago.

Cambodian dancers

The performances of the day also included a traditional Cambodian dance, featuring young women in glamorous cultural clothing,  poetry performances and a hip hop performance by local rapper RJ, a young Cambodian American youth leader who uses his cultural heritage and life experience to inspire powerful lyrics and rhymes in his music.

RJ performing for the museum crowd, including Nhep Prok in front

The museum opening was a heartfelt, powerful and bittersweet celebration of both the struggles and triumphs of the Cambodian community in Oakland. The museum display is currently up at the Peralta Hacienda Historical Park where visitors are invited to visit, learn and experience these stories. 


Written by S. Nadia Hussain
Photographs by S. Nadia Hussain

Halloween at CHAA

Happy Halloween!

Halloween is the season for candy, pumpkins, costumes and well...more candy. This year CHAA held a Halloween party along with the local Cambodian Women's Community Group. Pumpkins and goodies were strewn about as Cambodian children and youth carved pumpkins, ate and enjoyed themselves.

The festivities also brought together CHAA staff, many of whom have worked very closely with Cambodian women during the last year. Awards were given out to different women in the group in recognition of their  hard work and dedication to the community. Women from different generations accepted their awards with big hugs and smiles.

It was wonderful to celebrate the collaboration between CHAA and the Cambodian Women's Group. Supporting community building is a major part of the work CHAA does and this Halloween party was a nice way to come together during the fall season to recognize the positive strides that were taken together throughout the year.

Sotheavy Tan (left), Ann Rojos - Cheatem and ED Beatrice Lee giving out awards

Written by S. Nadia Hussain
Photographs by S. Nadia Hussain