Thursday, February 28, 2008By Philippe Escabasse
Cambodge Soir Hebdo
Translated from French by Luc Sâr
A “sala” just saw its roof fell down. This building, which was originally used to welcome visitors to the pagoda, dating from 1928, is used by teams of traditional race boat rowers to store their boats. Foreign expatriates living in Chroy Changvar district came to the help by collecting funds.
Wat Khto, located along National Road No. 6, at about 8-kilometer from the Chroy Changvar bridge (aka Japanese bridge), serves as a shelter for traditional boats used for racing during the yearly Water Festival. Four boats are stored here, one of which, the Puor Mean Chey which includes 46 rowers, holds a good score since its construction in 1993. This boat always earned the top three places among the winners in its class, during each of the races.
However, the roof of the boat shelter, which is commonly shared with 3 others racing boats, fell down at the beginning of 2008. The shelter which was built in 1928, as indicated in an inscription in Khmer, was in fact the former “sala” for the pagoda, and it was traditionally used to welcome visitors and pilgrims. Since 1993, the building was used by the teams of boat rowers to store their boats. Local residents are interested to renovate it, and to provide help to the rowers, one of the teams captain is now directing the renovation of the building. If the tiles were to be removed and sorted, the wooden structure, the supporting columns and the roof beams must be repaired. The same goes to the stucco ornaments. The entire structure is interesting because of the quality of the ornaments consisting of sculpted Nagas, stylized leaves covering the door and window jams, and the high columns.
Benjamin Nicolle, who lives in Chroy Changvar and works for Medecin Without Borders, as well as other nearby residents, are interested in the work undertaken by the Cambodian rowers. “Their problem is mainly the funding of the works. We estimated the minimum cost for materials to buy to be at $5,000. If we can recover 60% of the tiles, there is still a lot of work left to be done for the structure. With some neighbors, we were able to pay some of the initial cost, but we are still looking for support,” he said.
For more information on this volunteer work, or if you want to provide your support, please contact Benjamin Nicolle at 012-973-915, or by email at: benicolle@gmail.com. He is also interested in other shelters of this type, and is doing research on information available about them.
Wat Khto, located along National Road No. 6, at about 8-kilometer from the Chroy Changvar bridge (aka Japanese bridge), serves as a shelter for traditional boats used for racing during the yearly Water Festival. Four boats are stored here, one of which, the Puor Mean Chey which includes 46 rowers, holds a good score since its construction in 1993. This boat always earned the top three places among the winners in its class, during each of the races.
However, the roof of the boat shelter, which is commonly shared with 3 others racing boats, fell down at the beginning of 2008. The shelter which was built in 1928, as indicated in an inscription in Khmer, was in fact the former “sala” for the pagoda, and it was traditionally used to welcome visitors and pilgrims. Since 1993, the building was used by the teams of boat rowers to store their boats. Local residents are interested to renovate it, and to provide help to the rowers, one of the teams captain is now directing the renovation of the building. If the tiles were to be removed and sorted, the wooden structure, the supporting columns and the roof beams must be repaired. The same goes to the stucco ornaments. The entire structure is interesting because of the quality of the ornaments consisting of sculpted Nagas, stylized leaves covering the door and window jams, and the high columns.
Benjamin Nicolle, who lives in Chroy Changvar and works for Medecin Without Borders, as well as other nearby residents, are interested in the work undertaken by the Cambodian rowers. “Their problem is mainly the funding of the works. We estimated the minimum cost for materials to buy to be at $5,000. If we can recover 60% of the tiles, there is still a lot of work left to be done for the structure. With some neighbors, we were able to pay some of the initial cost, but we are still looking for support,” he said.
For more information on this volunteer work, or if you want to provide your support, please contact Benjamin Nicolle at 012-973-915, or by email at: benicolle@gmail.com. He is also interested in other shelters of this type, and is doing research on information available about them.
2 comments:
please help out guys!
We are the outsider, we can help them. But the most important is those local, they need to do it, some how if can, by themselves. Or at least they need to show their appreciation on this renovation.
Post a Comment