All the members of the Leadership Council are volunteering and do not receive any remuneration or stipends from the KF.
Head of Leadership Council and KF Founding member: Dr Son Soubert
Dr. Son Soubert co-founded with his father Samdech Son Sann the KF and supported the birth of the 2 Homes. Dr Son Soubert, with his leadership and passion, was not only instrumental in building from ground up the KF and the 2 homes to the level it is today, but he enabled the KF to go through the many challenges that pave the way of its growth. Dr Son Soubert, or “Lok Pa”, as the children affectionately call him, went to Secondary Education at the Jesuit School Saint Louis de Gonzague in Paris. He hold a Master degree from La Sorbonne University, Paris in Classics (French, Latin and Greek Literatures; Grammar and Philology). He holds as well a post diploma in Archaeology from Ecole du Louvre, Paris.
Over his professional career, he has held several high ranking political functions, from being a member of Parliament during the UNTAC, to being more recently a member of the Constitutional Council, appointed by his Majesty the King of Cambodia, while teaching at the same time as a Professor at the Faculty of Archaeology of the Royal University of Fine Arts, Phnom Penh. He also serves as an Asean Advisor to HM King Norodom Sihamoni. Dr Son Soubert has been decorated from the French Order of PalmesAcadémiques, as Chevalier for Culture. He has been nominated by the University of Lethbridge in Canada as Doctor of Laws, honoriscausa.
He is a role model and very well respected figure among Cambodians for his integrity, his values, and the position he adopted many times to seek for truth, and justice, in his motherland Cambodia.As a man of faith, both Buddhist and Catholic follower, he constantly encourages all children to focus on their study. He encourages them to pray, and to follow the principles and values of religions including Buddhism. He is a strong believer in each and every child capacities.
Leadership Council Members:
Mrs Professor Am Oeun UK-ON
Mrs. Professor Am Oeun UK-ON is the mother of 11 children, 8 daughters and 3 sons. She unfortunately lost many of her children under the PolPot regime (6 of her daughters and 1 son). In April 1994 she started to support the Khmer Foundation activities and to teach young girls sewing, embroidery and knitting techniques. She did this since the beginning, and she is still doing it today. She learned it from the school Kanta Phavi, and from her mum. She remembers well how cooking and sewing techniques were taught at school many years before, and how important it was for girls to train their minds but as well their skills and to grow a passion for something that could prove useful. Since she started to support the KF, she goes almost all Sundays and public holidays to the Sre Ampil Center, and occasionally to the Battambang one. She was 67 years old when started. She is today 87 years old. She servedhistorically as the second director of the center before the year 2000, volunteering in her position with no income received. Mme Professor Am Oeun UK-ON was a teacher at Malika School (primary school) and had Dr Son Soubert as one of her students when she was a French Teacher.
Mrs En Sophoan
Mrs En Sophoan has 3 daughters and 1 son. The youngest of her child is 35 year old today. She has been supporting the KF and its centers since the beginning in 1994. She was 40 years old at that time. She supported the organization making sure that all the basic needs were accessible to the children, from education, hygiene, to administration, and providing advice to children. She came at the same time as Mrs. Professor Am Oeun UK-ON during Sundays and Public Holidays. She was the third director of the center, succeeding to Mrs. Professor. She worked as a banker since 1967 starting with the National Bank of Cambodia. She was a friend of Dr. Son Soubert whom she met in primary school. As she loves children, she feels compassion in the dedication and tremendous efforts of Dr. Son Soubert to give birth to the KF and to develop its activities with very limited resources, and was inspired to volunteer. As a Cambodian loving her country, she was touched by poverty and misery hitting harshly small kids. Her vision is that all Khmer children should love and respect Cambodia, be able to have the love of a family and have the means to break out their poverty cycle.
MrKeatSokhun
Mr. Keat Sokhun is the loving father of 3 children, 2 boys and one girl. After the Pot regime, he flew to Australia, and restarted his life there as a simple worker. Mr. KeatSokhun started to provide his support to the KF at very early stage by end of 1992after a meeting with Samdech Son Sann. He was 45 years old then. In its early days the first orphanage started having dozens of children, and there were no buildings. He likes to remember that one could only see a wooden hut with a tree leaves serving as a roof, and no kitchen. He is proud to see how much has been done, since then. He was at the time in charge of communicating with development organizations and was able to contribute to secure funding to put the first concrete walls on the children homes. He served as an advisor to the kids, encouraging them to study, and helping them to make choices to orient them in life. He remembers well at the beginning how children, who were not used to live in a group, behave very individually, and had very difficult characters. He remembered how children were careless with their lives, having no purpose. After all the encouragement, the education and the support that they received, he witnessed their transformation and he is very proud of his contribution to the KF activities.
He is very passionate about politics, holding different key functions, and worked atPannanastra University, one of the leading Cambodian universities, as a Professor of Accounting, Business taxation and management. His vision is that if Khmer children are provided with an opportunity, ALL Cambodian children can do it/can make it. He feels that Homes KF should become one of thestandard child development modelsthat should be replicated to assist Khmer children in needs. That will surely contribute a lot to brighten Cambodia’s future.
MrKoyChhoeurn
Mr. Koy Chhoeurn’sentire family is currently living in Minnesota, USA. He is married and has 2 sons. Mr. Koy Chhoeurn was working for the US Embassy, and was among the first one to be evacuated prior to 1975. As he was one of the first political refugees arriving in the USA, he helped a lot all the Cambodian refugees/migrants arriving later in the US to settle down. He helped since the beginning the KF, being one of Samdech Son Sann’s followers. He decided to come back and settle in Cambodia in 2007, and served as a former director to the KF. He is passionate about agriculture and farming and he was the one that set up all the fruits trees, and the vegetable gardens. He liked as well to teach the kids’ agriculture and farming techniques. He retired in Pursat province, where he own lands and focus on agriculture activities, living a very modest life. As of 2013, he is almost 80 years old.
H.E. SabuBacha
H.E. Sabu Bacha is happily married, and has many children. He has been helping the KF being a member of the Board, advising the management team on various issues. The members of his family financially sponsored the building costs of the home as well a few children to access Korean university education, and supported the cost of living for a few young children.
Ms Megumi Kanematsu
Megumi Kanematsu is from Japan. She has been working with MRA/ Initiatives of Change in Europe, North and South America and Asia since 1974 on the message of ‘Be the change what we wish to see in the world.’ In Cambodia, she has been helping to organize an international meeting in 2003 called Farmers Dialogue with the local NGOs and International NGOs and Dialogue in the Asia Pacific Youth Conference in 2004. As of 2013, Megumi is currently participating in a study programme called ‘Gakudo-kai’ in Tokyo. Megumi has her BA in Pedagogy from Tamagawa University in Tokyo and her MA in Human Security from Doshisha University Graduate School Policy and Management in Kyoto, Japan. She has been very supportive to the KF, lending her time, energy and talent to guide the management team, and to support resource mobilization results.
Mr. Heng Monichenda
Mr. Heng Monichenda worked on Site2 Camp with Venerable Pin Sem, where he met Samdech Son Sann and Dr. Son Soubert. He was a former monk, very active, in charge of the Buddhist information newspaper in the Camp. He then created Buddhism for Development, a very reputable local organization supporting local communities, from which he became the president. He supported the KD as a former board member and he mainly participated to give ideas and insights on how to restructure and to improve the functioning of the KF structure.
Venerable Pin Sem
Venerable Pin Sem met Samdech Son Sann and Dr. Son Soubert in Site2. As a leader of all Buddhist monks, he was a much respected figure among all Cambodians, and became one of the founding membersof the KF. He participated to his best capacity to the KF development as a Board Member and member of the General Assembly. He provided advice and Buddhist teaching to the children.
Prince Viddhivong
Prince Viddhivong is married and a proud father of 3 children (2 girls and one boy). He was initially working for the French Embassy, in charge of Press review. He then worked for the European Union mission in Cambodia, supporting EU development projects and program arrangements, along with official visits. He supported the KF volunteering his time to support to organizational matters attached to the Home 1 and 2.