07/16/2004

Mane Yun, the young leader of the Phnong indigenous group in eastern Cambodia, has been visiting the U.S. since early June. Mane is the first Phnong to ever study law at the University of Phnom Penh, where Refugees International is sponsoring her, and now the first to visit the U.S.

The primary purpose of Mane's visit has been to expose her to the U.S. and to wider ideas about indigenous peoples, as well as providing her with opportunities for leadership development. She has quickly become a charismatically effective Ambassador for her endangered people, numbering only about 30,000.

The Phnong are a hunter-gatherer people whose language and culture are completely different from the Cambodian majority of over twelve million people. The Phnong are threatened by cultural and linguistic absorption and by encroachment on their lands in Mondolkiri province along Cambodia's border with Vietnam.

On her visit to the U.S., Mane and I covered many miles since she touched down in early June. We have met with the Cambodian Ambassador to the U.S., Roland Eng, and with Sichan Siv, the Cambodian-American who is one of our Ambassadors to the UN, and his wife, Martha, at the World Bank. We met with RI board chair Jim Kimsey and other board members and with foundation representatives. We talked with museum and textile experts. In Minnesota, we met with American Indian representatives on land tenure and other issues.

When I first met Mane (by chance) in Mondolkiri, she spoke no more than a few words of English. After two years of law school and English studies and our trip, Mane gave a television interview in California about her people which was more interesting than the average American TV fare. In interviews Mane, wearing traditional dress, often starts the discussion with an earnest explanation of the challenges facing “my indigenous people.” The audience never wavers.

The leadership development goals of the trip have certainly been met. More importantly, from coast to coast, Mane leaves in her wake a wide circle of friends of the Phnong.

The challenge ahead is to help Mane and the Phnong implement their vision for the future. Among the concrete steps we plan to consider are:

• Expand scholarships for Phnong students and potential leaders;
• Initiate a web site for the Phnong;
• Market Phnong textiles and improve their design;
• Expand microcredit;
• Explore establishing a Phnong museum in Mondolkiri.

Having started our work with the Phnong helping those who were returning refugees, Refugees International is continuing --- in a special initiative --- to try to help the endangered group as a whole.

Lionel Rosenblatt is President Emeritus of Refugees International.