Improving Educational Opportunities

She went on to star in amateur theatre as part of the MIT players, including playing roles in Greek drama. When Chelly was 17, she met her future husband Judson, just after he had returned from WWII in Europe, as a handsome, decorated war veteran. The two were married in 1949, and after her husband received a doctorate in aeronautical engineering from MIT, they eventually settled in Lexington, Massachusetts where they raised two sons. During her time in Lexington, Chelly was an accomplished ceramics artist and maker of one-ofa-kind jewelry and stuffed animals. She was a founding partner of The Village Artisans, a gift store established in 1968 established in 1968 by twelve creative women artists. Chelly and Jud spent 54 happy years together. One of the highlights was their trip on safari to Kenya and Tanzania in 1974. Chelly was honored to receive recognition as Massachusetts M.S. Chapter Volunteer of the Year in 1991, for her work with others afflicted with the disease. She herself had been diagnosed with M.S. while in her early 40s. After her husband passed away in 2003, Chelly moved to be close to her family in Maryland. In the last couple of years of her life she lived at a group home in Potomac, Maryland, where she was cared for by an extremely caring staff, including Nan Nop.

She spent the better part of her life assisting others in getting along better, starting with her time as an occupational therapist, and continuing through her important work volunteering for the Massachusetts M.S. Society. My Mom was an accomplished amateur actress, a creative artist, and a successful businesswoman. She was a lifelong passionate reader of books, including from our town library. She also was an enthusiast for new experiences. She went up on an open cockpit biplane ride on an early date with my Dad in 1947, and they spent time on safari in the 1970s. My Mom taught me how to ride a horse as well as how to sail on the Charles River in Boston. She never let a diagnosis of multiple sclerosis slow her down in accomplishing her goals, and she remained an optimistic person through her final illness. The idea for a project in Cambodia was inspired by the remarkable story of Nan Nop, who was one of my Mom’s last caretakers (see the film "Nan's Story" on our website). Based on what Nan told me her own life story growing up in the shadow of the Khmer Rouge, I said I would try to make a modest effort to improve the education of children in her home village. Our first commitment was in buying books for hundreds of children, followed by construction of The Chelly Library, dedicated in 2016 at the local high school. We have been able to do much more in the time since, thanks to the donations of so many people. I know that had my Mom lived on, she would have been delighted to travel to Cambodia herself. I am hopeful that her spirit lives on through the efforts of the foundation named in her honor

I was born in 1974. At that time, the Khmer Rouge were active in my country. When

my Mom tells me about the "killing fields," she refers to the people in charge of running

things were killing a lot of babies, and a lot of people. In approximately a three year

period almost a quarter of my country's population died. It makes me wonder how I

survived.

I remember after the time of the killing fields for every family that came back to the

village, no one had anything to eat or drink, or clothes to wear. It was the most difficult

time. There's really nothing I can compare it to, it was so very bad.

I remember my late Dad working in the city, far away, trying to make some money to

take care of his family. One time I went to visit my Dad in the city for one week. When I

saw my Dad I was so happy. But my Dad and I were sleeping on the sidewalk the

whole week I visited him. I asked him if that was how he slept every day. He said yes,

and I was so sad. He sent me back home.

When I was in school I never had any school supplies, not even one pen or pencil.

There were no books. We used chalk boards that we wrote on with charcoal and then

erased. We had no furniture at the school. We all sat on mats that we made at home

and brought to the school. I remember for a school uniform, I only had one shirt and

one skirt to wear everyday for the whole school year. School was from 7 am to noon

everyday, and I never had any food to eat for breakfast. So every time when I got home

my Mother would make me something to eat since I would be starving.

The school in my village today looks just like the school that I used to study in when I

was a little girl. One day as I was sitting in my classroom, my Mom came and told me

that we had to go to my Aunt's house, to go get some rice from her home in another

village. I told my Mom that we would have to walk all day to get there. My Mom said

yes, but that we would have to go. So we walked all day in the heat of the day and then

the rain came. I was so hungry on that day. Two days later, I was very sick, and I do

not know how or why it happened. Two weeks later, I went back to school. I remember

that around that time my hair started falling out every day, until I was almost bald.

In 1989 I was in fifth grade. One day, we all were in the classroom and we heard

booming and shouting only a few miles away. Our teachers told us that everyone had

to go home quickly. So I ran to my village, and even though one of the soldiers tried to

stop me he couldn’t catch me. I kept running until I got to my home, but it turned out

that no one else was at my village. A soldier grabbed me and put me on his shoulder

and carried me for a mile. He put me down and told me to run this way, and go all the

way to another village and you will see your parents there. I got to the village where the

soldier had told me to go, and I saw my Mom and was so very happy that day.

That night everyone from my village had to sleep in the rice fields. Two or three days

later I went back to school. My classmates and I had to walk a long way every day. I'm

so lucky that I was not walking in front -- the student in front of me was killed by

stepping on a land mine. Some of us also were hurt by shrapnel, and I still have marks

on my body showing my own injury. It was very scary and very sad. There are many

more sad stories like that. That is the reason that to this day I don't like fireworks -- they

sound like war, and they remind me of the sound of that mine exploding.

In 1993 I moved to the city to live with my Aunt. I was very lucky that my first job was to

work for an American newspaper reporter. His name was David and his wife was Sala.

I worked for them for one year before they had to move back to the United States.

Before they moved they introduced me to their friend, Mr. David Miller, who worked for 

the U.S. Embassy. I worked for him for one year before he too had to move back to the

U.S.

My third job was working for Mr. Joshua Charap, who worked for the International

Monetary Fund. I worked for him for two years in Cambodia, and then he and his wife

sponsored me to come to work for him in America. I came to work for him in

Washington, D.C. from 1998 to 2000. After that, he had to move to another country.

Fortunately, around that time I met my husband, so I decided to stay in the D.C. area. I

worked for a time as a dental assistant.

Since I came to the USA my dream has been to help my family and the children of my

village. They need clean water. And children need an education. So I saved my

money and I was able to buy three water pumps for my village, and to give scholarships

to four members of my family for them to get a good education.

I was working as a professional caregiver when I met Chelly Baron, after she came to

live in a residential house in Potomac, Maryland in which I worked. Miss Chelly passed

away in December 2012, at age 83. Afterward, her son Jason said that he had become

inspired by the organization "Room to Read," which builds libraries and schools in

villages around the world, and that he wished to help do something for my village. After

he learned that Room to Read did not presently operate in Kampot Province, Jason

decided that we should proceed with a similar project on our own. We sould start with

seeing what school supplies were needed, and maybe one day build a library for the

children of my village.

In January 2015, with Jason's encouragement, I travelled back to my village with

enough money from an initial donation of $1000 to supply approximately 500 children

with school supplies at the Prey Kha Jey Primary School in my village in levels one

through six, equivalent to grades one through six in elementary school in the U.S.

These supplies included a class book, a pen, and a pencil for each student, along with 

100 story books, rulers, dictionaries, and assorted other items (including a football, a

couple of volleyballs, and a net).

Jason and I then made a commitment to building a small free-standing library at the

Hun Sen Chum Kiri High School, and to ensure that the library was staffed by at least

one part-time librarian. We also believed that to truly make a difference in the lives of

children, some type of scholarship might be offered to select students who wish to

continue their education at a college or university in Phnom Penh. It costs

approximately $500 a year to go to university.

My brother Ess, who lived in Phnom Penh at the time, pledged his assistance with

building the library, and he organized a construction crew to start to build the library in

the Fall of 2015.

In January 2016, I accompanied Jason to Cambodia for the dedication of The Chelly

Library. About 1000 students were at the school to welcome Jason, my brother Ess,

and myself. It was so overwhelming. When we looked at the childrens' faces they were

so happy -- they knew that the library at their school might help give them a chance for

a better education, and a better chance in finding a good job and having a better life.

We told everyone gathered that if they wished to learn English in a special class that the

Chelly Foundation would be offering the class for free. Since we had only signed up

one English teacher, we tried to provide lessons to hundreds of students. In the time

sense, we were able to offer free English classes to a smaller number of students, but

many students still have benefited from what we have been doing, We need more

English teachers so that all the children can learn. I know that many, many students

have a dream to go to study at a university in Phnom Penh, but from my village few can

afford to do so without a scholarship from The Chelly Foundation.

I accompanied Jason again in 2018 to re-dedicate the Chelly Library, once it had

expanded to have an outside seating area. We also wished to meet as many of the 10

Chelly Scholars that had been funded by The Chelly Foundation with four-year 

scholarships. During our trip, we sponsored a large bread feast at the local primary

school, and took over a dozen students to a dentist in Phnom Penh.

In the five years since we started the program, the Chelly Foundation has offered 25

scholarships to young women and men from my village and surrounding villages. We

have built three water and sanitation facilities at local schools, we have given away

dozens of bicycles, we have given out school supplies, we have built a playground, we

have offered English classes including with teachers from English-speaking countries,

and we have sponsored field trips to Angkor Wat and to local cultural events for high

school students. These are only some of the activities we have been doing.

Now my dream is to continue to help more children both in my village and in the area

around my village, to build more libraries, to increase the teaching of English to the

children, and to provide more clean water and sanitary facilities for them.

I am so enormously grateful for any donation that you can possibly afford to make to

improve the lives of students in my home village and in surrounding villages in the

Chum Kiri district of Kampot Province.

The Chelly Foundation has owed an enormous debt to Ess for his incredible dedication and hard work over the years in improving the lives of hundreds if not thousands of children in his village and surrounding villages. The children have benefited from the construction of The Chelly Library, as well as Chelly House (a place for international visitors), several sanitation facilities and clean water projects, a school playground, and the improvement of several parcels of land dedicated to farming coconuts and mangoes. In addition, during the first five years of the charity facilitated the selection of 25 students for scholarships to universities in Phnom Penh, as well as the giving away of dozens of bicycles to needy students, organization of several bread feasts at local schools, organizing field trips to cultural arts centers and to Angkor Wat for both students and seniors, and overseeing a free English program in the local high school. In November 2019, Ess was able to obtain a visa to the United States, and now resides in Maryland near his sister Nan. The Chelly Foundation continues to rely on Ess to exercise oversight of all of our activities, both in Chum Kiri as well as in Phnom Penh, a role he enthusiastically embraces. We are so very grateful to Ess' continued dedication to the work of The Chelly Foundation.

The distance from the school was so far that he could not go back and forth in the middle of the day, and had to drink water along the road in the village. In 2002 Samorn graduated from high school, but could not afford to study at a university. Luckily for him, after taking a job as a security guard, he was able to pass to pass the exam to be a state English teacher and to end up working in the high school in the village of Snay Ang Chet. For the past few years Samorn has been working for The Chelly Foundation, including as an assistant to Ess. He also has pursued his education to get a Master's degree in English, supported in his final year by The Chelly Foundation. Samorn writes: "I feel so much appreciated and so hopeful in life. The Chelly Foundation is dedicated to the education of the students in Chumkiri. It plays a needed role in changing the live of students in my part of Cambodia. I see The Chelly Foundation working as a kind of father, mother, and a doctor too! Jason and Ess and Nan always care about the scholars' lives, and what they will do after their graduation. I appreciate being part of all of these generous activities, aimed at making childrens' lives better and giving them the dignity they deserve." 

She makes sure that the scholarships we support are paid for. She also facilitates other activities of our foundation, including buying books for The Chelly Library. With Ess now residing in the United States, we have relied on Sochann and are appreciative of all of her efforts. The picture below includes Sochann with our recent graduates, on the day she arranged for pictures to be taken.