“Love & Legacy” is an essay series that explores how different cultures commemorate loss and death, transforming mourning into celebration and legacy, and turning that legacy into activism. We invite you to carry the legacy forward by honoring someone special through donations or bequests to WILPF US, helping to sustain our work. For more information about leaving a legacy at WILPF, please contact plannedgiving@wilpfus.org.
Pchum Ben is a fifteen-day Cambodian holiday honoring ancestors. The festival culminates on the fifteenth day of the tenth month in the Khmer calendar, coinciding with the end of Buddhist Lent. The name combines “Pchum,” meaning “gather,” with “Ben,” referring to balls of food traditionally made from meat or rice. The first fourteen days are known as “Kan Ben” or “Dak Ben.”
Pchum Ben originated during the reign of King Jayavarman VII (1181-1218), who transformed Cambodian culture by elevating Buddhist monks to positions of reverence and introducing new Buddhist teachings. According to these teachings, a monk possessed the power to descend into hell, emerge unharmed, and communicate with deceased ancestors. The monk would return bearing news of suffering spirits and instructions for alleviating their woes. King Jayavarman VII established Pchum Ben as a sacred time to fulfill these spiritual obligations, and the festival has evolved into the celebration observed today.
During the first fourteen days of Pchum Ben, families offer food to monks, light candles, and donate money, believing these acts of merit will offset sins committed by deceased relatives. Celebrants perform these rituals to bless wandering spirits—ancestors who may have become hungry ghosts, known as preta. These offerings aim to absolve the dead of their sins and liberate them from suffering in the afterlife. The traditional food offering consists of rice balls called “bay ben.”
Today, Pchum Ben remains one of Cambodia’s most sacred Buddhist holidays, strengthening familial bonds and honoring ancestors through profound acts of generosity and remembrance.
Activist Legacies: Spotlight on Kek Galabru
Born in Cambodia on October 4, 1942, Kek Galabru (known as Pung Chhiv Kek in Khmer) earned her medical degree in France in 1968. She practiced medicine and conducted research while accompanying her diplomat husband on international postings. During Cambodia’s brutal civil war between the Khmer Republic and Khmer Rouge, Kek Galabru played a pivotal role in negotiations between the warring factions. Her intervention contributed to the Paris Peace Accords of 1991, which brought a United Nations mission to Cambodia to supervise free and fair elections.
A year later, Dr. Galabru founded the Cambodian League for the Promotion and Defense of Human Rights, known by its French acronym LICADHO. In 1993, LICADHO conducted voter education campaigns for Cambodia’s national elections. In a PBS interview, Galabru explained that LICADHO “published almost five hundred thousand booklets of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights to distribute to people, and a million one-page leaflets showing that you could vote by secret ballot.” This proved crucial, as the Cambodian People’s Party was employing intimidation tactics to manipulate the election. LICADHO also promotes human rights by monitoring violations and disseminating information, with particular emphasis on women’s and children’s rights.
In the same PBS interview, Dr. Galabru discussed critical issues, including child labor, child prostitution, and LICADHO’s efforts to improve inhumane prison conditions. According to LICADHO’s website, the organization has developed an in-house team of prison monitors, doctors and medical professionals, lawyers and paralegals, and social workers to meet the ever-changing demands of communities and provide more holistic services to clients.
LICADHO has also strengthened its networks to include Indigenous communities, women activists, land activists, unions and partner organisations to support their advocacy efforts and work.” Learn more about their work at licadho-cambodia.org.
Kek Galabru has been instrumental in transforming Cambodia’s human rights and democratic landscape. Her impact and that of her organization have been felt worldwide. Despite grave threats against her and her family, she continues to oppose injustice and inequality.
“Love & Legacy” is an essay series exploring how cultures commemorate loss and death, turn mourning into celebration and legacy, and legacy into activism. We invite you to carry the legacy forward: honor someone special by donating in memoriam or making a bequest to WILPF US to sustain our work. Contact plannedgiving@wilpfus.org to learn about leaving a legacy at WILPF.
