It all began in heavy silence, broken only by the sound of footsteps in the mud and anxious whispers. After the initial distribution of food and an urgent assessment of needs in the two largest camps for internally displaced persons (IDPs), the Phare Ponleu Selpak team in Battambang decided that more was needed than just material aid.

In the early 2000s, as Phare Ponleu Selpak sought to create a space for Cambodian children to learn and develop through the arts, the French