Cambodia story and introducing CCAMS

A Voices from the Nations production. Cambodian Christian Arts Ministry School (CCAMS) was started by Noren Vann Kim, (a survivor of the Pol Pot Regime), and an American lady, Gioia Michelotti. Former street kids, gang members, orphans, and children being used in slavery and prostitution are rescued into a loving home where they are loved, fed and sheltered and educated. Alongside the regular schooling the CCAMS family has an emphasis on the arts (music, dance, drama, visual art, and literature). In the 1970’s, under Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge some of the first people who were taken tortured and murdered were the creative people who carried the story and the heartbeat of the land. Even instruments were destroyed during this time and ultimately an estimated total of 1.7 million deaths resulted from Khmer Rouge policies. By teaching the children at CCAMS the arts, they not only give the children incredible skills and a means to express their emotions, they are also restoring something that was stolen from the nation.