T2 Teacher Training Center

We have been training Khmer teachers since 2012, but our new center will allow us to schedule trainings with a consistency and our presence will allow us to provide follow-up in a manner we never have had before. We are partnering with Cambodian Christian schools to support their teachers, for the work of sharing the Gospel of Christ through education. Education is so vital to the growth of the Cambodian people, and such an obvious venue for sharing the gospel and the love of Christ. Our center will be based in Siem Reap, though we will continue our longstanding relationship with the Khmer Christian school, Salaa Hope, in Battambong, and the VDP program staff in Phnom Penh.

As we develop, we will provide educational resources, bringing on Khmer staff to work in translation, and our physical site will facilitate the storage and disbursement of supplies among other things. Though we will continue to work on site at the schools, we will also provide mentoring and training at the center, and our plan is to provide workshop-style conferences as well, utilizing teams of educators from the US.

What We Do

- Trainings:  on-site and at the center, designed to meet the needs of each individual organization.

- Mentoring:  direct one-on-one teacher support, or helping schools set up their own mentoring programs.

- Collaboration:  facilitating cooperative reflection with faculty, or training leaders to serve as group facilitators.

- Leadership Support:  assisting principals with instructional leadership and teacher supervision.

- Resources: either providing or helping create teaching supplies and curriculum.

- Conferences and Teams:  bringing professionals together from within the country and without.

Vision, Mission, and Motto

• A quality Christian education for all Cambodian children.

• Providing Christian educators with resources and training support, by coming alongside educational missions in Cambodia.

• Equipping Teachers for Kingdom Education

Scripture

You shall know the truth and the truth will set you free - John 8:32

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind - Romans 12:2

The Old Generation

កុំភ្លេចខ្ញុំ (Remember Me)

From our first visit to Cambodia we have been drawn to the people. For Kirsten this has also meant using her camera. We joke that the first words she learned in Khmer were “can I take your picture -សូមថតរូបបានទេ”? The camera has opened many doors and facilitated forming relationships, which has in turn created many opportunities for ministry. One specific photograph of an old man we met on the street, Ou, has led to a project of discovery and empathy: the survivors of the Cambodian holocaust —

April 17th 1975. It’s been called “the day that Cambodia descended into hell.” It was a day that indisputably changed the course of a nation and the life of anyone who survived.

By spring 1975, Phnom Penh, the capital city of Cambodia, had swollen to an estimated population of three million people. Many had fled to the city from their rural homes as brutal Khmer Rouge forces gained control of outlying areas throughout preceding years of civil conflict. The mission of the totalitarian Khmer Rouge was to return the country to “year zero” and on the 17th of April, they took the last part of the country that stood in the way of their goal. It was on this day that Cambodia’s history transgressed from civil war to genocide.

At gun-point the entire city was emptied. Residents were forced into the countryside on foot, carrying only a few possessions, if any. Those who refused to go were killed on the spot. Men, women, and children were separated into groups. Some were interrogated; their allegiance to the regime assessed. No person could be allowed to challenge the regime, so anyone with higher education was executed, just in case. Those who spoke multiple languages, were teachers, doctors, or wore glasses, were killed first. Citizens who were allowed to live, were sent to work camps where they were forced to work the land, daily, with only one small bowl of rice-water to eat. Those who didn’t die of exhaustion, starvation, or other forms of torture, died of disease. An estimated two million people died in the horrific days that continued into January 1979.

As a photographer I like to think that the camera has been my passport into the lives of those who survived, but more accurately it’s played a secondary role to curiosity and uncharacteristic boldness. In every instance I simply asked each person, many of whom I met randomly on the street, if they wouldn't mind telling me about their life. At times, as incredible stories were shared, I was tempted to think, "Who am I to be prying into these people's lives; asking them to resurrect such painful memories?" But when I spoke with Mr. Kong Sokun (age 86) his eyes welled-up with tears as he said, "My heart is touched that someone cares to ask." In that moment it became evident that not only is there a need for us to hear, but there is perhaps an even greater need for those who survived to be heard - and seen.

History is often a distant tale when witnessed through the pages of a textbook. When we hear it from those who lived it though, it becomes part of our story as well, with the potential to serve as both a protector and guide. This work is intended to honor those who survived by providing an opportunity for their stories to be heard; for their strength to be acknowledged.

Here are a few of the 52 unyielding survivors who have shared their life history with me, a history that we will not, and should not, forget.

We are currently in the process of compiling all the pictures and stories into book form.