and taking

This project is about poverty and homelessness in Phnom Pehn, Cambodia – and anti-development. Yep, that’s right. It’s not about the usual finding poor communities in slums, outsiders ripping them down, creating affluence and teaching people to be isolated, unhappy consumers living as individuals.

Anti-development is to take the essence of Khmer society, which is collectivist and Buddhist, and actually develop ourselves along these lines, embracing minimalism, making friends with this society that has a sense of community long since lost in Western culture, and then embracing minimalism, choosing simplicity over consumerism, community over consumption. Giving to the poorest as equals and creating projects beyond identity.

Read the stories of some of the people I have been touched by and who want, and deserve, to be known. Read my early story to find how and why I started this project. Find out about the research into the issues, ideas and solutions. Read the shadow voices of some of the people I know by clicking the names in the menu. Look at the mission. Support my project, join the mailing list below to stay informed of developments and follow the ongoing stories of your new friends and community.