Sombath Somphone is an award-winning community development worker. Born in Laos, Sombath founded the Participatory Development Training Centre (www.padetc.org) to promote education for sustainable development.

A key insight of Somphone’s work is that culture and community-oriented learning have much to offer to the pursuit of sustainable development. As he states, ‘it is only through consciously rooting our young in their culture, traditions, and values that we can expect them to know and respect the past, understand the present, and value and protect the future’.

PADETC seeks to provide a framework for development and education that combines ‘indigenous wisdom, traditional knowledge, and cultural values appropriate to the local area’ with scientific practices.

On the evening of 15 December 2012, while driving to his home in Vientiane,  Sombath Somphone was abducted at a police checkpoint. He has not been seen since. 

This award-winning documentary tells the story of Sombath’s development work, and the circumstances that surround his enforced disappearance. It situates Sombath’s abduction in the context of Laos’ history, and its contemporary political environment. Directed by Rann Quinn, 2018 (52min).

For more information see www.sombath.org | Contact: kearrin.sims@jcu.edu.au

FREE SCREENING | Monday 9 July 2018 | 5:30-6:30pm | The Cairns Institute D3.054

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