In Cambodia, the Flower Festival goes back to ancient Buddhist times. It is a religious tradition of picking flowers and offering them to Buddha at the pagoda. In recent times, this tradition has become a successful method to raise funding for social purposes, while still respecting the values of original religious traditions.
DT’s Executive Director, Dr. Sam Sovannarith, has for many years dreamt about using the Flower Festival as a local fundraising event for Damnok Toek. After 26 years, it became a reality.
“Back in 2015, the Board of Directors brainstormed on possible local fundraising initiatives,” Sovannarith says. “The idea of the Flower Festival came up but never became more than an idea. I did not think much about having a Flower Festival before 2022 when the impact of the global economy and conflicts in other countries resulted in less funding being available for Cambodia. Then I thought, it is time now, and we decided to give it a try. I am so grateful for the final result, and it over exceeds any expectations of mine”.
An Idea Becomes A Reality
The first Damnok Toek Flower Festival was held at the organisation’s project site in Neak Loeung on Sunday, July 16. Old friends and former beneficiaries of Damnok Toek, partners, networks, companies, and families and friends were invited weeks in advance.
More than 400 people attended the Flower Festival, which began with Buddhist monks performing a traditional ritual of blessings before the guest of honour, PhD But Savong, arrived.
Flower Festival Welcomes Honorary Guest
He was welcomed with drums, dancing and songs; performed by children from Damnok Toek’s Non-Formal Education (NFE) program in Neak Loeung. As he walked to the stage, he received lotus flowers from guests, which he offered to Buddha at an altar prepared at the stage.
Mr. Savong is a famous speaker known nationwide for his social charity through his Dharma-based teaching. It was a special occasion for the attending guests to meet him in person and learn from his wisdom. People listened with much attention and devotion.
With reference to Damnok Toek’s program for children with disability in Neak Loeung, Mr Savong advised not to have “compassion with tears” for the children but instead to have “compassion with care“. He encouraged Damnok Toek’s staff not to underestimate their work as trivial but to serve with a pure heart and compassion.
Compassion With Care
One of the guests who joined the Flower Festival was Ms Ny Samnang. She is a mother of two children, ages 3 and 10 years. The oldest child is a Grade 2 student at DT’s NFE program in Neak Loeung. Ms. Samnang tells, that when her husband was a boy, he also attended classes with Damnok Toek in Neak Loeung. He had to walk from far every day to attend classes. His parents were very poor garbage collectors, who could hardly feed the family. Therefore, the NFE program was his only option for schooling.
He is thankful that his son gets the same opportunity because of Damnok Toek. Ms. Samnang and her husband live in poverty and would otherwise be unable to afford their children’s schooling. Ms. Samnang is a housewife who cares for the children. Her husband is a construction worker, carrying cement for the house builders. He gets paid five dollars as a day labour and earns nothing on days when there is no work. Ms. Samnang and her husband are very grateful that Damnok Toek has provided schooling for their family for two generations.
Flower Trees From the Community
The Flower Festival was a successful fundraising event. Monetary and in-kind donations were given to provide for the children in Neak Loeung under DT’s care. Even Mr Savong generously donated all financial gains from his appearance at the event back to DT.
A unique and traditional way of combining the values of the ancient Flower Festival with current fundraising trends is to give “flower trees”. Damnok Toek received many flower trees from families in Neak Loeung. These were presented on the stage with the in-kind donations. Damnok Toek is very thankful for each gift given at the Flower Festival. They will benefit poor children and children with disability in Neak Loeung.
