Dear Sombath…from Shui Meng (5)

My dearest Sombath

Today is 30 August 2014, International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances – a Day to remind the world that Enforced Disappearance is an international crime and violation against human rights. It is also a Day to remember the pain and suffering this violation causes to the victims and their families.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAFor the people around the world – it may be just a small jolt to their collective memory that such awful crimes against humanity continue to happen around the world, and that there are still many families and communities whose lives are forever changed, and forever broken. They are also asked to remember that in thousand and thousand of cases, the perpetrators of the crime are state agents who are protected by the state and its broken justice system. They are servants of states which deliberately use enforced disappearances as a tool of state intimidation to silence their own citizens who are viewed as “troublesome”, “outspoken”, “civil activists”, or “politically incorrect”. Continue reading “Dear Sombath…from Shui Meng (5)”

Dear Sombath…from Bridgette See

Dear Sombath,

This is a letter that has been written many times in my mind. It’s a hard letter to write – I would much prefer to say it to you in person. I cannot remember the first time we met, but I remember we bonded over too much coffee on the balcony of Shui Meng’ sea-facing abode in Dili. There, you shared your wisdom with me, telling me about PADETC and the work it had done. Your serene smile – that classic Sombath look of equanimity – captured the gentle but determined way you viewed life. As sea breeze brought salt to our lips, you sketched out your idea of happiness: the roof of happiness must stand upon the pillars of heart, econoFour Pillarsmy, culture, and environment while supported by the foundation of education. This drove you to devote decades of your life to your fellow Lao, despite the opportunities you had been offered. You are a man of the Earth. This, the Timorese could recognise whenever you visited us in Dili. I was a privileged disciple, whose ears and mind were, thankfully, open.

Later, the one month I spent in Laos – documenting PADETC’s work – was a chance to deeply understand your philosophy. Local knowledge, you exhorted, is what will help any community develop sustainably. I saw how your face lit up with pride when you introduced your young staff and youth volunteers. These are the ones whom you have envisioned would make Laos a better place.

But it wasn’t always work you talked about. On the old swing facing the Mekong River, as we watched your neighbour trawl for fish against the setting sun, you told me about the siblings you helped to bring up. You spoke of your days at the East West Centre – where I, too, had studied briefly. There, you had met your Shui Meng, and fallen in love. Whenever the two of you were together, I would be tickled by how you two – both grey in the head – would still tease one another incessantly. Shui Meng’s chidings were often infused with more love than she realised she was showing. When my son met the two of you at Labrador Park in Singapore, he called you “Uncle Zombat” and her, “Auntie Water”. We ended our excursion with ice-cream – dry ice swirled fancily about – and promised to meet again. That still stands. We pray that our Uncle Zombat comes home so that Auntie Water will no longer cry. We love you, Sombath.

Yours most sincerely,

Bridgette, Norman & Val

Dear Sombath…from Mary Aileen Bacalso

Dear Sombath,

AFAD ConferenceI heard about your enforced disappearance six days before the passing into law of the Philippine Anti-Enforced Disappearance Act of 2012, the first ever anti-enforced disappearance law in Asia. I have worked on the issue of enforced disappearance for a couple of decades. Each case means a life stolen from the disappeared and his or her family. It means that a part of society has been forcibly taken from it, thus tearing apart its very fabric and causing devastating consequences to the disappeared that you are, your loved ones and the society where you belong. When the most-awaited enactment of the then draft anti-disappearance law came after more than 16 years of struggle for it to see the light of day, I had the ambivalent feeling of joy that we finally have this law in the Philippines, but mixed with pain because the list of desaparecidos of the world was lengthened further by your enforced disappearance.

afad-logoA few weeks before the 2013 International Day of the Disappeared, I wrote to your wife, Shui Meng about our campaign for your return, which she readily responded with an open heart.   We demonstrated in front of the Department of Foreign Affairs of the country that bestowed upon you the prestigious Ramon Magsaysay Award. We conducted a signature campaign and personally gave the signatures to the Lao Embassy in Manila. We wrote statements demanding for your return.  We sent messages to the Permanent Missions of Laos to the UN in Geneva and New York.  We heard a deafening silence. Continue reading “Dear Sombath…from Mary Aileen Bacalso”

Dear Sombath…from Shui Meng (4)

My dearest Sombath,

Angkhana, Shuimeng & EditaI am writing you to let you know that I recently participated in the “Third International Conference on Psychosocial Support in the Search for Truth and Justice for Victims of Enforced Disappearance, Torture and Extrajudicial Execution” organized by AFAD in Manila.

I had at first hesitated about participating at this conference. Some of your friends and relatives advised me that I should not attend and not speak about your disappearance because they are worried that it might harm you more, or it would make it more difficult for you to be returned safely.

However, I decided to attend the conference anyway because I believe that I am not doing anything wrong. Also I want to meet other victims and family members from Asia and Latin American who have also suffered the disappearances of their loved ones.

Sombath, at the conference, when I spoke about my feelings of pain, helplessness and despair over the last 19 months since you disappeared, I learned that these are the same feelings other victims faced. Some have to bear the pain for many more years than I have. At the conference, I also met some very brave women, for example, Edith (Edita) Burgos of the Philippines and Angkana Neelapaijit of Thailand. Edith’s son, Jonas, was disappeared 7 years ago, and Angkana’s husband, Somchai, was forcedly taken 10 years ago.

Sombath, you have been disappeared 19 months, and I already could not bear it anymore. So I asked Edith and Angkana how do they cope; how do they go on? Both women advised me that I should never give in to despair. Edith told me to take pride and be comforted that the people who are disappeared are always those who are doing good for their community and for their country, just like you, Jonas, and Somchai. It’s the people who ordered and conducted the enforced disappearances who are the bad people and the criminals. The bad people are always afraid of the good people, and they use enforced disappearance as a tool to intimidate and keep people silent. Angkana also told me her husband’s disappearance made her even stronger to work for other women who suffered the same fate. She founded the “Justice for Peace Foundation” to continue her struggle to get to the truth of what happened to Somchai and to the husbands and sons of other poor women in Thailand. Lastly Edith also reminded me we must find peace from inside us, and believe that there is a higher justice that we should place our trust in, whether we call it the justice of “God”, “Allah” or “Karma”.

So Sombath, I am writing you to let you know that thanks to Edith, Angkana and all the participants I met at the AFAD Conference in Manila, I no longer feel so isolated or desperate anymore. I share a strong sense of solidarity with all of them, and I promise you that I will continue the struggle to seek your safe return.

Sombath, please be strong and stay safe.

Love, Shui Meng

Dear Sombath…from Shui Meng (3)

My dearest Sombath

SB-MOI write with great sadness to let you know that your beloved mother passed away this morning. Her health started failing about 6 months ago. Although she was very weak, she held on, pining to see you one last time.

Your mother is one of the kindest and gentlest souls I have ever known; and it is so clear to me that she and you had a special bond. I often see how your faces light up whenever you see each other. As her first born, you definitely had a special spot in her heart; and you, as her eldest son, you saw it your duty to lighten her burden as a parent as much as you could. You often told me how hard your mother had to work on the farm, as well as take care of all of you. You spoke of her with such love and respect, telling me often about how she never complained even though life was tough. Looking back, you must have inherited many of her traits – her kindness, gentleness, patience, and how to work hard.

Sombath, your mother has to be the best mother-in-law one can ever wish for. She was a woman of few words, and it seemed that she did not even like talking very much. I have never, in all these years, heard her speak ill of anybody. Continue reading “Dear Sombath…from Shui Meng (3)”

Dear Sombath…from Flip de Haan

Dear Sombath,

The letter I write to you was provoked by an initiative on Facebook. I think this is much in your spirit since I remember you speaking enthusiastically about the use of Internet (Google maps) by young students together with village elders in projects in the rural area. I still remember your inspiring presentation on a VSO workshop in Vang Vien in 2011. Your very personal approach appealed to me and I remember your, for me unexpected, reaction to some of my critical questions. We were the only two people in the room with some grey hairs and you received my comments with the remark that you were very happy with a more critical note since you were critical at heart yourself, but the only way to get things done was to remain optimistic.

I have tried to keep that lesson in mind since I heard of your disappearance, but I must say it becomes more and more difficult as time passes. Presently I work as an agricultural advisor in the Prisons of Malawi and I hope to be able to contribute a little to the situation of people in custody here in Africa. Let me end with pronouncing the hope that you will we a free man soon and assuring you that many people keep up the spirit of your attitude toward development for the poor since you inspired them.

Yours Sincerely,

Flip de Haan,

Zomba, Malawi

Dear Sombath…from Nico Bakker

Dear Sombath,

I am not sure you know the writer Eduardo Galeano. I do think you would appreciate him. If you haven’t read anything by him, I do hope someday you ‘ll get the opportunity to read Galeano. One of my favourite books is his Book of Embraces. As Galeano says, writing is a way of embracing other people, so I am writing you.

One of the chapters in the mentioned book is called Celebration of Mistrust that goes like this:

On the first day of classes, the professor brought out an enormous flask.

“It’s full of perfume,” he told Miguel Brun and the rest of the students. “I want to measure how perceptive each one of you is. Raise your hand as soon as you perceive the scent.”

And he removed the stopper. Moments later two hands were in the air. Some five, ten, thirty—all hands were raised. Continue reading “Dear Sombath…from Nico Bakker”

Dear Sombath…from Ben Edwards

Dear Sombath,

I was talking to Shui Meng yesterday about your ideas on holistic education,”education of the heart” as the basis for building strong governance; shaping personal morality and integrity, individual and societal concepts of active citizenship, and relation of self to the natural environment, family, community and society.These ideas continue to inspire and direct my approach to education as a teacher. I am now living in Hong Kong and it is fantastic to see so many young people here engaged as active citizens and how the education system, both formal and informal, is teaching people to be informed, concerned and active in all aspects of society.

A group of my year 9 students were doing a research project about Laos recently and a large part of their presentation was about your work in education and civil society. The ideas they learnt about have motivated them to find out more, to understand how privileged they are in Hong Kong, that other countries are struggling to achieve what they often take for granted here- and they are planning more projects to follow up. We will be running a school trip to Laos in the Autumn, have set up a ‘Design for Change’ program as an after school activity at our school and they will also be raising awareness and funds for UXO victims in Laos. I hope it is some comfort to you that you continue to inspire us and that your ideas are meaningful and guiding to so many young people in their daily lives and work, well beyond the borders of Laos.

I look forward to talking to you about all this soon, showing you what the kids have done as a result of your inspiration, and discussing all the exciting projects that we have planned.

Ben Edwards

Dear Sombath…from Kearrin Sims

Dear Sombath,

I write you this letter having never met you before.

Like so many others across the world I only came to know of you after your disappearance.

I consider this a great tragedy.

However, I also see it as representative of the importance of your work and all that you have achieved.

Even in your absence your ideas and values are reverberating around the globe and inspiring and influencing a new generation of young scholars, social activists, community development workers and anyone else who feels that we need to move beyond simplistic interpretations of economic growth as representative of social progress and people’s wellbeing. Continue reading “Dear Sombath…from Kearrin Sims”

Dear Sombath…from Emi Weir

Dear Sombath,

It is Boun Easter in Australia and I am home visiting family and friends. I must admit I escaped Boun Pi Mai in Laos, it is a wonderful Lao celebration but it makes me miss my own family. Easter is such wonderful time to be home in Sydney when everyone has a long weekend and we can enjoy picnics on the boat and beaches, swim in the still warm waters.

Which makes me think about our first meeting. I was having a coffee with Shui-Meng, talking handicraft, and you came into the cafe. Shui-Meng introduced me and my tourism background, to which you were very quick to show interest. You spoke about the PADETC farm outside of Vientiane, how many of your friends who left Laos as children, loved to come back and feel the mud between their toes, and remember the agricultural lifestyle of your beautiful country. I can really appreciate how Lao people connect with the environment and even miss that when they move to the city. As an Australian I have great memories of the beach as a child, and of the bush, spending time swimming in streams, seeing lots of native animals including spiders and snakes. We spoke about this connection and how it helps make a country grow, how appreciation of where our food comes from is important and our natural resources. How as children if we experience and appreciate this, we will ensure the next generation does too, and share with them.

Every time I read about you I pray you too are experiencing some joy of the natural beauty of your country, and like me you can go home and see your family for the next festival. Shui-Meng has taught me and inspired me so much in the few years I have known her, it hurts me so much that you two are not together enjoying that natural beauty.

Emi Weir