Breakdancer Tiny Toones Cambodia

Tiny Toones Cambodia uses breakdancing, Hip-Hop music, and the contemporary arts as creative tools to empower the youth of Cambodia to live healthier lives free of HIV and drugs, build a more promising future by furthering their educational opportunities, and become positive role models for their community.
Tiny Toones welcomes all youth to participate in its programs, regardless of gender, social-economic status, physical handicaps, family background, or other personal disadvantages. The education, health, and arts curriculum of Tiny Toones consists of free daily classes in English and Khmer to supplement the children's public schooling, and the integration of HIV education and drug prevention in a fun, child-friendly approach through fun games, skits, and performances. Peer mentors are available around the clock to provide positive support and to teach the Hip-Hop arts, including breakdancing, rapping, djing, and traditional Khmer painting.
Tiny Toones Cambodia was founded by Tuy “KK” Sobil, born in the Thai refugee camps in 1977, and raised in Long Beach before being deported to Cambodia in 2004. He witnessed that the underprivileged youth of Phnom Penh faced many of the same gang and drug related pressures that he did in the U.S. While KK was on outreach in Phnom Penh at his former job, educating youth about HIV prevention and drug harm reduction, word spread that KK was a very talented breakdancer when he was younger. Nine kids approached him to be their dance teacher, but he turned them down at first, since he had stopped dancing over ten years ago. He soon learned that the children lacked positive role models and were very at-risk to choosing a life style of hardship. Fearing that they otherwise might repeat his own mistakes, he opened up his own home to serve as a youth centre with breakdancing as the main activity. KK funded much of the early program out of his pocket, by continuing to work at his full time job; however, he spent the entirety of his evenings, weekends, and holidays mentoring his students.
The mission of Tiny Toones Cambodia is to provide a safe, positive environment for at-risk youth to channel their energy and creativity into the arts and education, empowering them to build self-confidence in their daily lives, aim for better employment possibilities, and feel supported pursuing their dream

Siem Reap Location

The sights of Siem Reap are every bit as charming as the sites of Angkor Wat are impressive. Top left, the North Korean bodyguards charged with keeping King Norodom Sihanouk safe from harm enjoy a game of kickfeather with local teen-agers outside the Royal Villa. Below, a basket maker gets her wares ready for market. The Siem Reap River, top right, provides recreation, washing facilities and water for local livestock as well as a romantic view for local restaurants. Below, a young man shows off the morning’s hatch at the Crocodile Farm and below him, a toddler clings to the back of her mother’s bicycle, protected from the sun by a traditional Khmer krama scarf.

Town Lights Up After Dark

Time was when Siem Reap’s Bar Only One was exactly that. It’s still there and still a nice place to down a drink but has lost its claim to being your sole choice.
Affluent Cambodians like to hang out at the Kulen Hotel disco, regarded as the top night spot in town even by Khmers who can’t afford to go there. That’s where you might see Cambodia’s answer to line dancing, with delicate hand movements reminiscent of classical Khmer dance.
On the other side of the river but not far away—nothing’s very far away in Siem Reap—is the Beer Garden of the Bayon Hotel. Manager Chareon Chansin has put together a Thai-Khmer-Chinese-Western menu. And from there, you are not far from Martinis. Yes, that’s a sister organization to the bar in Phnom Penh. It’s not the place for a soothing nightcap but definitely right if you want to raise a little hell.
Just don’t complain if you have a raging hangover when the moto driver comes to collect you for a pre-dawn run out to the Bayon for a sunrise experience.

Friendly Little Town Has World Class Heritage

For all its name celebrates a bloody battle and its recent history has been turbulent, today’s Siem Reap is a peaceful, peaceable place.
Siem Reap is small enough to walk around, safe enough to be out after dark, close enough to world-famous monuments to draw travelers from everywhere—and big-hearted enough to welcome everyone.
The name means the Defeat of Siam—today’s Thailand—and refers to a centuries-old bloodbath, commemorated in stone in the celebrated bas relief carvings of the monuments. Visiting the 100-or-so temples studding the forests around Siem Reap is still the main reason for being in the town, but tourists on temple-overload or with a couple of extra days to relax can find plenty to do in the area.
One of the popular hangout spots for Siem Reap teen-agers is the field of lotus that stretch for hectares between the town and the ferry landing on the Tonle Sap lakeshore. There, youngsters gather in early mornings for a before-school social break.
At the other end of the day, Siem Reap families like to take a mat and climb to the top of Phnom Krom, the hill overlooking the ferry landing, and picnic while watching the sun set over the lake.
Siem Reap is quietly proud of its international renown. While there are still plenty of families clinging to the ragged edge of subsistence, many of the town’s young people have found prestige jobs at major hotels.
Private schools are thriving as Cambodians eagerly study English and other foreign languages, classes to qualify as licensed guides are packed and all residents will happily tell visitors how their town was once at the center of one of the world’s great civilizations.