By Michael Lafleur, mlafleur@lowellsun.com
Lowell Sun (Lowell, Mass., USA)
LOWELL -- At 5 feet 1 inch tall, Duey Kol would seem more inclined for the delicate and complicated traditional Cambodian dances she used to perform as a girl in Chelsea.
But last month, Kol found herself shooting an M-16 semi-automatic rifle and flying in a helicopter with rangers from the Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks in California as they searched for illegal marijuana plantations.
Kol said she was a natural.
"That was interesting," she said. "I was glad to have a knack for those things if I ever go into law enforcement."
It turns out the 26-year-old Kol, a special-events assistant for the Lowell National Historical Park, happens to be the only native speaker of Khmer in the entire U.S. national park system.
The folks at Sequoia and Kings Canyon were in need of someone with just those skills to serve as translator for visiting rangers from a budding national park in Cambodia known as the Samlaut Protected Area.
Administrators for the two national jewels signed an agreement to become "sister parks" in October 2006, launching a five-year partnership and exchange program that is being partially funded by the Maddox Jolie Pitt Foundation, named for the adopted Cambodian son of actors Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt.
From Oct. 4 through Oct. 22, Kol spent almost every waking moment in the company of two visiting Cambodian rangers, Chan Sochet, 30, a Pailin border policeman, and Buo Sin, 39, chief ranger for the Pailin military police.
In addition to practicing the use of high-powered weapons and various other law-enforcement tools -- including handcuffs and tasers -- and learning how to spot marijuana plants from the air, the trio spent time tracking wildlife, learning about wildlife and plant conservation, preparing and setting controlled forest fires and developing potential park-interpretation programs.
Kol said they also were able to participate in some ground-based law-enforcement patrols, even participating in an arrest.
"It was my first detailed assignment," she said. "That's what they typically call it. It was as much a learning experience for me as it was for them. For me, it was just to get a chance to see what the rest of the park system looks like. It was great."
Park officials there were so happy to have found her they offered her a job, she said. Kol declined.
"It was an excursion, but in Lowell I still have a lot more work I want to do, and I'm happy here," she said.
A 2003 graduate of Simmons College in Boston with degrees in sociology and management, Kol now is pursuing a master's degree in community social psychology at UMass Lowell. She lives in Lowell's Belvidere section.
Kol is a former director of the acclaimed Angkor Dance Troupe of Lowell.
She also spent about five years as a dancer with a competing company based at the Reaching Out to Chelsea Adolescents community center in Chelsea, following in the footsteps of her mother, also a traditional dancer.
The Samlaut Protected Area -- a nearly 150,000-acre expanse in northwest Cambodia, on the border with Thailand -- was set aside in 1993 by royal decree to protect natural and watershed resources from illegal timber and wildlife poaching as well as over-development.
"It's the last forest in Cambodia," Kol said.
In partnership with the Cambodian government, the Maddox Jolie Pitt Foundation supports a 30-ranger team in the war-torn Khmer Rouge region where Samlaut is situated. Samlaut and Sequoia and Kings Canyon share similar features, both being situated in valuable watersheds and containing largely forested areas.
But last month, Kol found herself shooting an M-16 semi-automatic rifle and flying in a helicopter with rangers from the Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks in California as they searched for illegal marijuana plantations.
Kol said she was a natural.
"That was interesting," she said. "I was glad to have a knack for those things if I ever go into law enforcement."
It turns out the 26-year-old Kol, a special-events assistant for the Lowell National Historical Park, happens to be the only native speaker of Khmer in the entire U.S. national park system.
The folks at Sequoia and Kings Canyon were in need of someone with just those skills to serve as translator for visiting rangers from a budding national park in Cambodia known as the Samlaut Protected Area.
Administrators for the two national jewels signed an agreement to become "sister parks" in October 2006, launching a five-year partnership and exchange program that is being partially funded by the Maddox Jolie Pitt Foundation, named for the adopted Cambodian son of actors Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt.
From Oct. 4 through Oct. 22, Kol spent almost every waking moment in the company of two visiting Cambodian rangers, Chan Sochet, 30, a Pailin border policeman, and Buo Sin, 39, chief ranger for the Pailin military police.
In addition to practicing the use of high-powered weapons and various other law-enforcement tools -- including handcuffs and tasers -- and learning how to spot marijuana plants from the air, the trio spent time tracking wildlife, learning about wildlife and plant conservation, preparing and setting controlled forest fires and developing potential park-interpretation programs.
Kol said they also were able to participate in some ground-based law-enforcement patrols, even participating in an arrest.
"It was my first detailed assignment," she said. "That's what they typically call it. It was as much a learning experience for me as it was for them. For me, it was just to get a chance to see what the rest of the park system looks like. It was great."
Park officials there were so happy to have found her they offered her a job, she said. Kol declined.
"It was an excursion, but in Lowell I still have a lot more work I want to do, and I'm happy here," she said.
A 2003 graduate of Simmons College in Boston with degrees in sociology and management, Kol now is pursuing a master's degree in community social psychology at UMass Lowell. She lives in Lowell's Belvidere section.
Kol is a former director of the acclaimed Angkor Dance Troupe of Lowell.
She also spent about five years as a dancer with a competing company based at the Reaching Out to Chelsea Adolescents community center in Chelsea, following in the footsteps of her mother, also a traditional dancer.
The Samlaut Protected Area -- a nearly 150,000-acre expanse in northwest Cambodia, on the border with Thailand -- was set aside in 1993 by royal decree to protect natural and watershed resources from illegal timber and wildlife poaching as well as over-development.
"It's the last forest in Cambodia," Kol said.
In partnership with the Cambodian government, the Maddox Jolie Pitt Foundation supports a 30-ranger team in the war-torn Khmer Rouge region where Samlaut is situated. Samlaut and Sequoia and Kings Canyon share similar features, both being situated in valuable watersheds and containing largely forested areas.
8 comments:
Do you want to know the real achievment?
We currently have a Khmer-woman military pilot (flying a real combat); however, she does not like the media and divulging her nature of the job. She just simply want to do her job and serve her country (U.S.).
Also, there are a few Cambodian-born G-man (FBI agent)who are currently working in a new field office in Phnom Penh, and various places throughout the U.S. These dedicate men are deserved to be call real patriotic to their country (U.S.); further, these men are professional. And I applaus their hard work and dedication to our country.
What is your point? We also have a few good people. The bottom line is, after 30 years, you are generally still a poor slob living on welfare in roach infested government housing and all over the US.
6:45 AM: With all due respect to your fucking clueless idea, you sound as if you're fucking KKK criminal White trash who is like a fucking blood sucker infested in a big pond waiting to suck out the blood from the refugees and immigrants and new arrivals.
You're fucking pathetic KKK White trash. You and you people are fucking fortunate that I'm not sitting on the OPEC board, or you'll be kneeling and begging for cheaper oil prices.
I believe I made my point clear for a White trash like you.
What is with the rubbish, 7:20? Are you saying that I lied? If so, let's hear you success story in the US then.
I can speak on the behalf of all refugees and immigrants who are quite successful, I don't need to divulge my personal success or details to a trash like you.
The fact of the matter is White trash is fucking pathetic; also, I can imagine if you people have to learn a second language, then you'll be fucked.
I could smell a pathetic shit loser like you thousands miles away.
Same here, moron!
Fuck all your nonsense bullshit!ROCK N ROLL KICK ASS!"ANANIKUM AMERICA RULERS!"
Anakikum America sounds fine, but not the imperialistic Americans' presumptuous attitude.
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