Monk, Hoeurn Somnieng receives a degree in business management from St. Ambrose University in Iowa, USA. (Photo: Courtesy of Life and Hope Association)Washington, D.C Tuesday, 18 May 2010
“It was a very profound experience for me. In a period of great suffering, I was kind of not knowing what to do, and I just sat and closed my eyes and focused on my breathing.”
One determined monk says he wants to use his education and experience from the US to help fund a number of projects, including a network that helps combat child trafficking.
Hoeurn Somnieng is the deputy head of Wat Damnak pagoda in Siem Reap. He studied at St. Ambrose University in Iowa in 2008. He says now he plans to return to Cambodia with a degree in business management and ideas to help his home country.
“I want to use my education to represent people in need and to represent the poor and powerless,” Hoeurn Somnieng told VOA Khmer in a recent interview. “This education gives me a louder voice.”
Hoeurn Somnieng is the founder and executive director of a junior high school, a boarding house for girls, a vocational training program, an orphanage and the Life and Hope Association.
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