Nuon Phaly

1998 Ramon Magsaysay Awardee for Community Leadership from Cambodia. A survivor of the killing fields under the Khmer Rouge, Nuon Phaly and her family fled to a refugee camp on the Thai border. When she failed to qualify for asylum in another country, she joined a research project to document the experiences of her fellow camp members. This led her to meet many women who were traumatized by memories of war, torture, and family separation. Since no one seemed to be addressing this particular need, she began to do so herself. Nuon and her husband opened their small house in the camp as a center for refugees suffering from depression. Nuon reestablished her center in Cambodia which she called The Future Light Orphanage that boasts several classrooms, dormitories and workrooms. The center provides livelihood training, mental health counseling, education, medical and clothing assistance to more than two hundred orphans.