SCAO Celebrates the Cambodian (Khmer) New Year

April 15, 2010 at 6:49 pm

Posted by: SCAO under Day Care Center, Day Care Phnom Penh, Non Governmental Organization, Non Profit Organization, Uncategorized
Tags: Day Care Center, Day Care Phnom Penh, Education Phnom Penh, Khemer New Year, KimiteaTevi, Leung Sakk, Moha Sangkran, Non Governmental Organization, Non Profit Organization, Pithi Srang Preah, Save Children In Asia, Wanabot

What a wonder day of celebration at the SCAO center. We welcomed the Khmer New Year with food, song, friendship and sharing. The children played games, enjoyed the meals prepared by the volunteers, and invited guests and parents joined in the festivities.

As you can see by the posted photos, fun was the order of the day.

For those interested in knowing more about our Cambodian culture, here is a cultural history of our New Year celebration.

What is Cambodian New Year ?

Khmer New Year is the greatest traditional festival and national holiday. Khmer New Year begins on April 13th or 14th, depending on the ancient horoscope, “MohaSangkran”. The majority of the Khmer populations are farmers. Farmers reap and harvest their crops from the rice fields all year long, except during April. In April, there is no rain and it is very hot. Therefore, the farmers rest from working in the rice fields and celebrate the New Year.

The first day of New Year is called “Moha Sangkran,” meaning “welcoming their new angels.” This year is the year of the Rooster (Mon), and Moha Sangkran of the New Year will begin on April 13th. The leader of Angels is named KimiteaTevi. Khmer people clean and decorate their homes and prepare fruits and drinks to welcome their New Angels. They believe that any angel who comes to their homes will stay with them and take care of their family for that whole year.

The second day of New Year is called “Wanabot,” meaning “to offer gifts to the parents, grandparents and elders.” The third day is called “Leung Sakk;” that means “the year starts to be counted up from this day.” The last ceremony is called “Pithi Srang Preah”, when elders, parents or grandparents to apologize for any mistake they have done. Khmer New Year is not just a great traditional festival. It is also a generation passing on traditions.

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2 comments so far

Eunmi & Peter

May 3rd, 2010 at 6:44 pm

Hello, everybody!

We just got back home from our holiday and it’s freezing cold in London.

Looking through the photos from SCAO over the Khmer New Year Party makes me so emotional.

We miss you guys so much and want to go back soon.

During our travel after SCAO, I was lucky to spread the word to other backpackers about our experience at SCAO, and a couple of guys said they will definitely try to go and help out.

Everytime I talked about travelling in Cambodia to others, I couldn’t help but talk about my time at SCAO, because it was so inspiring to be a small part of this amazing effort to make things better for people in Cambodia.

I would like to thank Mr Samith, Srey Lat and other staff at SCAO for their hospitality(we were treated like family).

P.S.
can you pass the word to Lion that I am sorry that I couldn’t keep promise.
I wanted to print his and our girls photos developed, but the paper ran out before I had chance to do it.
I will try to develope some more photos and will send them to the centre soon.

Thanks everybody for making my family feel at home there.
Miss you all!
SCAO

May 5th, 2010 at 10:54 pm

Dear Ruby,

Thank you for your promotion of SCAO on your blog. Please stay in touch with us. We enjoyed having you to stay at SCAO and we are happy that you are talking to your friends about us. It’s still hot here, hope you’re not too cold in London. Here it is starting to rain some days so is sometimes a little bit cooler. I will pass on the message to Lion and we look forward to receiving the photos.

Kind regards,
Samith and everyone at SCAO.

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