Giving Young Voices A Stage

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Every year, PeopleStories holds its Storytelling Competition, giving young people from secondary and high schools in rural Siem Reap the opportunity to develop their confidence, creativity and communication skills.

This year's competition was particularly special.

On 28 July, thirteen finalists took to the stage at Rose Apple Square for the Grand Final. For many of the students, it was their first experience speaking in front of a large audience. More than 120 people gathered in the room to listen, encourage and celebrate them.

But this year, the audience was much bigger than the room.

For the first time, PeopleStories live-streamed the competition on Facebook, allowing families, friends and communities who could not attend in person to watch from wherever they were.

This simple change opened up a completely new opportunity for the children.

Their stories were no longer being heard by just the people sitting in the audience. They could be watched and shared by people across Cambodia and beyond. Families could see their children standing confidently on stage, speaking in Khmer and English, and celebrating something they had worked hard to achieve.

And they certainly rose to the occasion.

The four champions were:

🏆 Roun Ponleu – Secondary School Khmer Storytelling

🏆 Long Sreypov – Secondary School English Storytelling

🏆 Khon Kimmuoy – High School Khmer Storytelling

🏆 Pek Phanna – High School English Storytelling

But the real achievement was shared by all thirteen finalists.

Each student had spent weeks preparing, practising, stumbling, learning, trying again and building the courage to stand in front of an audience.

As we watched them take the microphone, we were reminded that storytelling is about much more than speaking well. It teaches young people to listen, think, organise their ideas, communicate clearly and, perhaps most importantly, believe that their voice matters.

One finalist told us that seeing their name on the finalist list immediately boosted their confidence and motivated them to do their very best.

That is exactly why opportunities like this matter. A competition may last one day. The confidence gained from standing on that stage can last much longer.

We are incredibly proud of every finalist and grateful to everyone who helped make this year's competition possible, including our judges, volunteers, project team and Rose Apple Square for sponsoring the venue.

And this year, thanks to the live stream, even more people got to hear their stories. 

Want to see these young storytellers in action? 🎤

https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7489629443242618881

Story written by: Volunteer Caroline van ‘t Hoff