Phare Ponleu Selpak,

in association with

Amrita Performing Arts and Sovannah Phum Khmer Arts Association,

would like to invite you to a circus performance

on Thursday April 7, 2005 at 19.30

at the Theatre of the  Royal University of Fine Arts

(Old Stadium Campus)

Entrance fee adult 12USD, children 6USD

All funds raised during the performance will be used for immediate relief interventions for the villagers and to rebuild the houses and facilities damaged by the blast.

In addition to the entrance fee, the audience will be welcome to donate additional funds for PPS or the village.

PPS has a policy of total transparency on the use of collected funds. Detailed use of funds will be reported on our website: http://jinja.apsara.org/phare

For additional information, please feel free to call Jean-Philippe Monteiro at 012 561 005

Dear All,

Phare Ponleu Selpak (PPS) is an art association located in Battambang. Its goal is to bring back to school vulnerable children living in extreme marginal situations as well as victims of human trafficking and AIDS orphans. Sustainability of the project is partly ensured through circus and theatre performances, including for development purposes (such as awareness theatre shows on HIV/AIDS on the Battambang-Phnom Penh train and other similar projects). The team is reaching highly professional level as they are also invited in many circus festivals in Europe.

As detailed in the Cambodia Daily article attached, 2 days ago, there was a fire in an ammunition depot located around 1 km from Phare Ponleu Selpak (PPS). Blasts occurred for about 4 hours and seriously damaged the different PPS buildings. PPS is not only facing own damages but also providing shelter for villagers who lived closer to the ammunition depot and who are left homeless since the blasts (49 village houses have been destroyed).

Although fund raising for PPS has so far been reasonably promising, there is no or very few relief action undertaken for the rest of the village. For this reason, PPS has decided to organize a circus performance in Phnom Penh in order to collect funds for the villagers and rebuild houses before the rain.