On the week of december 14 – 20 Cambodia took part in the volleyball world cup for disabled.

Boeung Kak is the largest natural lake in Phnom Penh, and one of the last green areas of the capital. The lakeside is home to an estimated 4,250 families and a source of income for farmers who cultivate water vegetables on the lake. The water body plays a fundamental role in the city’s drainage system, serving as a catchment for floodwaters from surrounding neighborhoods

In late January 2007 the Phnom Penh Municipality agreed to lease Boeung Kak and the surrounding land for 99 years to a private company.  More than one year later in August 2008 the land was transferred from State public to State private property, that same month the developer began to pump sand from the Mekong into the lake, the consequences of dredging such a vital part of Phnom Penh’s eco system are still unknown. The developer, Shukaku Inc, plans to fill almost all of the lake with sand to make way for an exclusive residential and commercial development project.

Lakeside residents have been offered three compensation options:

-       USD $8,500

-       Housing at Damnak Troyeung relocation site (more than 20 kilometers outside of the citycentre).

-       Onsite housing that required residents to move to Trapeang Anchanh relocation site (20 kilometers outside the city) for four years while permanent replacement housing is constructed in the Boeung Kak area.

None of the compensation offers meet the obligations of international laws regarding evictions and have been roundly condemned by civil society and deemed inadequate by those facing eviction. Yet over the past year, it is estimated that already over one thousand families around the lake have been displaced.

By the time of completion more than 4000 families will have been displaced, Amnesty International has called this the largest forced eviction since the Khmer Rouge emptied Phnom Penh in 1975.

First of a series of multi-media presentations on different walks of life in Cambodia. Here is a day with Moun who sells clay pots and vases from his ox driven cart through the streets of Phnom Penh.

“My name is Moun, I am 20 years old and I come from Kampong Chhnang. For two years now I have earned a living selling pots. I come to Phnom Penh to sell with my younger brother, my older brother, and brother-in-law. Every time we come to Phnom Penh we stay 15 to 20 days. I sell stoves, pots, jars, vases and other things. Some of it I buy, and some I make myself. We put the rice in the front of the cart to pray to the spirit that lives on the cart to take care of us and help us to sell.
200 000 riel (50 dollars) is the best I have been able to earn in a day. Every time I come I can go home with 100 or 150 dollars, maximum 150 dollars. I don’t enjoy this job if there was an easier job I would want to do it but I don’t have a good education and this job comes from my family, it is our heritage. The hardest problem is selling, and asking for water. It is hard to go inside the city; police don’t want us to go down the main roads, or to the city centre, we create traffic jams so we are only allowed in the outskirts. We never come alone; we have to have 3 or 4 carts so we can sleep. We can’t stay alone. In the daytime we can stay alone, at night we don’t dare to.
In the future, for my brothers, I would like to make this business bigger. I would like to ask everyone to come and buy my products so that I can go home quickly.”

Bonn Kathen – End of Buddhist lent.

This religious festival marks the emergence of monks from retreat. A large festival is held on the last day of this month long ceremony. The evening ceremony at the local pagoda starts off with a prayer followed by games and a theatre performance, market vendors set up stores, karaoke, and game stalls. Early the next morning villager’s head back to the pagoda bringing robes and other items to offer to the monks.

On Friday the 16th of October 2009 Siem Reap Globe Magazine Eagles beat Kampong Speu Global Giving Scorpions 3-0 in the Cambodian National Volleyball League Disabled (CNVLD) finals. Siem Reap Globe Eagles swooped to victory to become the Cellcard National Volleyball League Champions for the first time. Olympic Stadium, Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

Spy Super Model 2009, Cambodian model search, Friday 09 October 2009, Naga World Hotel, Phnom Penh, Cambodia

With funding from USAID, CARE Cambodia provides supports for people living with HIV/AIDS and orphans/vulnerable children (PLHA&OVC) in Koh Kong. Aid includes home-based care services, referral transportation support, monthly food rations, shelter assistance and capacity building for PLHA and health officials. View the  media presentations click here

New section in the “Video” menu of www.nicolasaxelrod.com with media-presentations made for Humanitarian Organizations. To view the video page click here: http://www.nicolasaxelrod.com/gallery/video/index1.html.

On the 19th of September 2009 Thai PAD supporters were expected to protest at the border temple
demanding that the Thai government take over the disputed area.
Cambodian troops and riot police were ready to prevent Thai protesters from crossing the border. They waited but Thai riot police prevented the protesters from reaching the conflict zone.

Regardless of the rise in tensions and risk of an escalation in the conflict, Cambodian tourists flocked to the temple. They picnicked on the frontline, chatted with soldiers, posed for photos with rocket launchers and guns, and received guided visits from the soldiers.

Later in the afternoon Thai soldiers wondered into the no mans land to talk with Cambodian soldiers and take photos with foreign tourists.

Watch the media presentation: Group 78 Evicted

Group 78

Was once a community of 70 families living near the Bassac River in central Phnom Penh.

- Several days before an eviction deadline set by the Phnom Penh Municipality a majority of families accepted $8000 in compensation, packed up their homes and moved out of the community. A Compensation offer condemned as inadequate by human rights groups and international organizations.

- A day before the eviction deadline, a 100 red shirt demolition workers moved in to dismantle homes belonging to residents who had accepted the compensation offer.

Friday the 17^th of July 2009.

Before dawn, armed police and military forces in full riot gear surrounded the community.

As the sun rose, some 200 red shirt demolition workers moved in to demolish what was left of Group 78.

Three of the four resisting families were left with little choice but to accepted compensation and watch their homes dismantled.

The last resisting family had their home destroyed by the authorities anyways.