Yawp is planning a theatre outreach program in Battambang, Cambodia, for the Summer of 2009.  Yawp company members will be traveling to the ASPECA orphanage in Battambang to run a month-long theatre camp for the children.  Having already visited Cambodia during a long-term trip last year, Yawpers Demetria and Zach Fehst decided to bring Yawp overseas in an effort to widen our community of artists while doing some good. 

Our team includes a psychologist who specializes in traumatized children, two ESL (English as a Second Language) certified drama teachers, educators from LAUSD, and a documentary film crew.  Each person on the team is also a Yawp company member. 

In the coming months, we will be planning our curriculum, raising funds, and organizing cultural exchanges with the local Khmer community right here in LA…and learning to speak Khmer, of course.

Help us make this happen!

Since the definitive end of the Khmer Rouge in the late '90's,  Cambodia’s people have worked hard to move on with their lives, despite the many memories and reminders of the holocaust that occurred there between 1975 and 1979. Today, Cambodia remains deeply impoverished.  Each year, many are injured, crippled, or killed by the land mines which still litter the beautiful countryside.  The trafficking of minors for sex is a grave concern, while many other children work the streets begging for food or money for school fees. 

In spite of this, Cambodia's people are some of the kindest, gentlest souls you will ever meet.   The Khmer are peaceful, helpful, and quick to smile.  People are eager to get to know you and are don’t hesitate to extend an invitation to their village homes in the rice paddy filled countryside in order to share their lives and what little they have with you.

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