Category: Letters to Sombath

Dear Sombath,

Dear Sombath,

As I prepare to leave Laos after 6.5 years of living and working here, I cannot help but reflect on my time here, my first days and weeks here. One of the very clear memories I have – as though it happened just yesterday, was my first meeting with you. This is atypical for me because I very rarely remember the first time I meet someone; more shy than people perhaps realize while sincerely in the moment, I usually am just trying to get through the moment, so I in the end draw a blank. But you and a few others I can basically count on one hand, were different. Interestingly – I also remember the first time I saw Shui Meng – you were together, sitting a couple of rows in front of me during one of those Monument Books presentation evenings. She stood up and voiced her opinion during the habitual Q&A session that follows all presentations. I just remember saying to my friend Wow – now that is a strong woman; I would definitely not want to mess with her; good for Sombath for having the confidence to be with a woman like that! Says even more about him as a man. Continue reading “Dear Sombath…from Agnieszka Kroskowska”

Dear Sombath,

Sabaidee!

I think of you every time I chop onions. This is the way it has always been. The association between you and onions reckons back to the countless weekend evenings spent preparing meals in our kitchen in Vientiane. The task of chopping onions was yours by default because the pungency of the onion juice never bothered you like it did the rest of us. You did this task cheerfully just as you approach every other task that I have seen you undertake. So it is that when I chop onions, as my eyes burn and tears stream down my face, I cannot help but whisper under my breath, “Sombath, where are you?” Of course, that question is so much more poignant now when there is such deep and disturbing uncertainty about your whereabouts. Continue reading “Dear Sombath…from Lois Foehringer”

Dear Sombath,

I’ve just completed a trip to southern Lao PDR with my 13 year old twin daughters Rachel and Carly. I wanted to show my girls the country, and the people that have made such a lasting impression on me both personally and professionally. I had hoped to see you.

Its already been 17 odd years since I first arrived to Vientiane to work with CUSO on development issues in Lao. I remember, with absolute clarity, the first week in my role as country representive to CUSO Lao PDR. With Charlie Pahlman as my mentor, I was provided with an extensive overview of the organizations and individuals who would become the network I came to rely on in our work to make a difference in Lao.

I met you that first week in the whirlwind of meetings. We drove around the dust covered streets in that yellow volkswagon bug. Charlie was driving somewhat erratically, as he always liked to make effusive points using both hands!  So many passionate people, both from Lao and around the world, many who would contribute to and influence my work in Lao. It was a fabulous time, united in the belief that we were making a difference through the work we undertook together.

Continue reading “Dear Sombath…from Lisa ter Woort”

Dear Uncle Sombath,

I think of you often and I feel like talking to you. But it’s not easy for me to really start writing to you. I don’t know where you are and I guess our postman will have difficulty getting this letter to your hands. But I am sure this letter will be safe in many hands of friendship and faith.

Your name came to my life since 10 years ago through many of my senior friends. I don’t really know who you are but I learn a lot from my senior friends, who learned a lot from you.

Since December 15, 2012, I got involved in youth active participation to raise awareness of forced disappearance situation and its impact. You are not just someone in another country, you have already become a friend, even we don’t know each other in person.

People may think I am so good for taking action to ensure you will never be forgotten. Actually, I am not giving anything. I gain more than I gave.

Continue reading “Dear Sombath…from Saksinee Emasiri (Ying)”

Dear Sombath,

I hope you are well wherever you might be now. I hope that somehow the overwhelming outpouring of support, like those I am sure will be expressed in the letters that are being written by friends and supporters somehow reach you, and that the support strengthens your will to continue fighting.

Let me tell you that a lot of people not just from your beloved Laos, but all across Asia and the world are praying for your safe return. A lot of people have also expressed support for your loved ones who suffer the most from your absence, but who have come out of this ordeal, stronger.

Continue reading “Dear Sombath…from Joseph Purugganan”

Dear Sombath,

The first time I saw your wife was at a friend’s gathering and the second was in a meeting. On both occasions, I was in awe of her. As she spoke, I sensed her strength and quiet confidence. I felt emotional hearing her speak, but I reproached myself. I thought then (and still feel) that I didn’t have the right to share her pain. I would never really understand and appreciate what she and those who personally knew you were going through.

I had reproached myself the same way when I cried while listening to a song about victims of enforced disappearance. We were then preparing for an action at our own department of foreign affairs in the Philippines and I helped translate this song composed and sung by a Filipino folk activist singer. I also told myself then that the pain I felt was nowhere near what the families and friends of victims felt.

But there is one thing I do know and understand: that abduction and enforced disappearance are cowardly acts. Their perpetrators have no principles and values; nothing on which they stand to face legitimate criticism and dissent. Nothing, but brute force which should have no place in a decent, civilized world. But they do exist and thrive.

I oftentimes doubt my small acts of protest; will they amount to anything? But unlike the cowards, human rights advocates and defenders are motivated and energized by humanity/humanness; that these principles shall prevail. Expressed in small acts of defiance against the inhumanity of enforced disappearance, I try to hold on to this fervent prayer inside me that you will be reunited with your family and community that you have loved and served.

Clarissa Militante

Dear Sombath,

I’m sitting writing this letter in Common Ground Cafe in Vientiane, where we have often sat together and talked about happiness. When I last left Laos at the end of October 2012 we had just finished making Happy Laos and the AEPF had been and gone. In my last week in Vientiane I thought many times about calling you to arrange to meet and say goodbye but thought that you were probably exhausted and needed some time to yourself, so instead I wrote you an email saying thank you for all your support while I was living in Laos. Now I regret not making that call.

I’m back in Laos after 14 months for a very short visit. It feels like everything and nothing has changed. I feel as if, since your disappearance, all the earth under my feet has shifted by a few degrees – not enough to be constantly noticeable but enough to frequently trip me up. I am so sad not to see you here but I see your inspiration all around me, especially in the many young people that I know who are directly or indirectly connected to PADETC. Continue reading “Dear Sombath…from Christina McMellon”