HUGE HASH RUN ON ON

Siem Reap is about to be invaded by hordes of Hash House Harriers this weekend,  with about 130 hardcore runners arriving via Kuala Lumpur as part of the Solstice Hash on Tour. Organisers are also hoping for a strong turnout from Angkor Hashers.

The Solstice mob, with a slogan of “We fly to run,” travel regularly to Air Asia destinations due to deals with that airline.

This is what they say about themselves on their website: “Latching onto this symbiotic complement between the need for hash travels and the availability cum proliferation of budget flights, a group of like-minded hashers banded together to form the Solstice Hash On Tour (S.H.O.T.) which, as its name implies, hashes twice a year on the weekends nearest to the winter and summer solstices, and always in a different, exotic location.”

Today the itinerary lists a welcome party and final registration at Victoria Angkor Resort and Spa. Cost is $15.

Tomorrow, Saturday June 22 will see buses leaving the hotel at 1430 for the run. Fee is $15, but Cambodian-based hashers need only pay $5, as the hotel will subsidise $10.

On Sunday June 23, a fun run (read: pub crawl) kicks off from the rear car park of the Victoria Angkor Resort and Spa at 10.30am. Then it’s back to the hotel for brunch at 12.30pm.

 

NEW HEAD AT JAY PRITZKER ACADEMY

In a press release, Jeanette DiBella announces that she is “proud to announce that she has recently been selected as the chief educational officer at the Jay Pritzker Academy in Siem Reap.”

The press release states that she is, “An education expert who currently works as the principal of the esteemed Providence St Mel School in Chicago, Illinois. She has received numerous awards for her work in improving urban and public education in the US.  She has also co-authored a book with the late education scholar Michael Pressley from the Michigan State University, titled Providence St. Mel School: How a School That Works for African American Students Works.”

The Jay Pritzker Academy was founded in Siem Reap in 2006 by Daniel and Karen Pritzker. Daniel Pritzker is a musician and filmmaker, and the son of Jay Pritzker who, together with his brother Donald Pritzker, created the Hyatt Hotel chain in 1957.

It seems that DiBella will remain based in Chicago, and hopes to visit Cambodia “more frequently.”

At present 421 students attend the institution, and 15 expat teachers and 14 Cambodian teachers and aides make up the faculty.

There is also some bizarre and malicious scuttlebutt on the worldwide web at large about recent shake-ups at the academy, but hey, let’s not go there.

SCHOOL FAIR SUCCESS

The owners, or alleged owners, or owner partners or whatever, of the International School of Siem Reap (ISSR) are apparently still slugging it out in court. But in the meantime, the ISSR School Fair was successfully held last Saturday to raise funds for a new school in poverty stricken Kantoo Village. Last year’s fair raised $500, but last Saturday that figure was well and truly trumped, with $1,200 being raised.

PHOTO FEST GUEST CURATORS

Organisers of the Angkor Photo Festival to be held in Siem Reap in November have named the Guest Curators for this year.

Shahidul Alam and Jean François Leroy have the honours – and the experience because they head two leading world photography festivals.

Shahidul Alam is Bangladeshi photographer and writer, and is the founder and director of Chobi Mela, a biennial international photography festival in Dhaka.

Jean-François Leroy has, since 1989, been the director of Visa pour l’Image, a major annual photojournalism festival in Perpignan, France.

They will select and present a slide-show showcase of work and photographers.