Sombath Somphone | ສົມບັດ ສົມພອນ

Dear Sombath,

I don’t remember what our first conversations were about exactly. Broadly it was upland agriculture and the RIFS project you were working on. But I clearly recall your position that if farmers were not accepting new ideas it was because those ideas were not being adequately demonstrated, or they were not appropriate for local conditions.

Having grown up in a farming family, you knew farmers are creative and practical…if there is real potential. It struck me this was not an abstract ideal for you, but the reality of your own experience combined with an unshakable confidence in Lao farmers to make rational decisions for themselves.

In those years we often met in airports. Flight times were very unreliable, and the waiting could stretch for hours. In addition to our own travel, we were often meeting our spouses. We often joked about establishing an association for oppressed husbands…but we first needed their permission to hold the inaugural meeting!

Continue reading “Dear Sombath…from Randall Arnst”

Dear Sombath,

The first time we met I knew you were someone special. Your passion for improving peoples lives in Laos was infectious. It inspired me, caught me up and guided me in the way of living life with purpose and meaning.

You gave me an opportunity to give back. To give without expectation, to empower and motivate, to help those in need help themselves.

Through the process I learned that I was the one in need. You knew that. You knew the better the heart, the better the work. You helped me fill an emptiness and guided me on the path of my own recovery through giving. I contributed, healed and evolved, you¹ve done that for many. Continue reading “Dear Sombath…from Mark Sloneker”

Dear Sombath,

I want to write to you and remind you about something that happened almost ten years ago. It was nearly midnight, on the last day of the year of 2004, and I was sitting alone in my office in Bangkok. We had all been dealing with the then all-consuming emergency, the tsunami, that had happened a few days earlier. The whole office had been working day and night, but now I had decided to send everybody home, to celebrate the arrival of the New Year. I had to stay in the office, since there were telephone conferences every day with our HQ, to inform each other about the progress of the rescue and emergency activities.

I had just finished the telephone conference with New York. A snow storm was coming in the NY area, and they all had to head home, it was midday in the US. They all wished me Happy New Year, but added that they expected a full written report of the planned activities, as well as a complete Draft Programme Proposal, due in New York the day after! I nearly cried, but wished them all a Happy New Year.

That was the moment when the phone rang again, and it was you, Sombath, from Laos! Calling me to say that Shui-Meng and you were thinking about me, and wanted to hear if everything was all right, and of course to wish me a Happy New Year. I started to cry again, this time of pure joy, that a kind and familiar voice was approaching me and thinking about me. Thank you for that call!. And, the report was written and sent in, in time.

Inese Zalitis

(former Representative UNICEF, Thailand)

Dear Sombath,

I’m sure you have found, like me that sometimes you meet someone and don’t spend a huge amount of time with them and yet they are significant in your life. This is how I feel about you. We have only ever been together for meetings and conferences but your calm, quiet, reflective presence always had a strong influence on me.

When I think of Laos, I think of you, and of Charlie Pahlman. When I think of aid and development and how to assess its impact, especially how successful a project is and what and who is impacted, I think of you, and again, also of Charlie. The two of you are my mentors in development work because you always remain positive and encouraging and convinced that if people are listened to and able to contribute to their future that good decisions can be made. Continue reading “Dear Sombath…from Margie Law”

Greetings Sombath,

My authors, colleagues and friends from across the developed and developing countries have been emailing me their Seasons Greetings over the past two weeks. Many of them, who are our mutual friends, have mentioned you in their emails.

They remember last Christmas, as 2012 was drawing to a close, how concerned we were when we heard the news that you had been missing for two weeks.

This Christmas, we all remember with even deeper concern that you are now missing for more than a year.

During the past year we all missed our dialogues with you, and your gentle, modest wisdom that came with our conversations.

At the same time time we were inspired by Shui-Meng’s efforts at making sure you are not forgotten.

All of us hope that Shui-Meng will be assured by the long-memory that has always been kept by the international community in development.

We all also hope that 2014 will see us picking up with you our various conversations that were paused at the end of 2012.

S.Y. Chin

Publisher, Southbound