About KEAP
Khmer-Buddhist Education Project (KEAP) was founded in 1988 to assist in the challenges of Buddhist renewal in Cambodia following decades of war and social upheaval, including the near-destruction of Buddhism and all forms of religious and spiritual life in the country during the Khmer Rouge era of the 1970s.
Initially we worked with the Buddhist wats (the traditional pagoda or temple) in the Khmer refugee camps along the Thai-Cambodian border that were established in the early 1980s by our honorary founding patron, the late Ven. Maha Ghosananda. Among other activities, we organized training workshops for the displaced Khmer in preparation for their repatriation and carried this rehabilitation work to provinces in northwestern Cambodia at the time of the 1992-93 repatriation. We also donating more than 16,000 Dharma texts and audio-visual materials to wats, educational organizations, and individuals in many parts of the country.
Today, KEAP is an international humanitarian organization assisting with the education and learning needs of Cambodian monks, nuns, and laypersons and primarily providing scholarships in higher education in Buddhist studies to young men and women. We are devoted to helping create a culture of peace, reconciliation, and people-centered development in Cambodia. KEAP serves as a bridge between Buddhist and non-Buddhist donors abroad and selected local Buddhist educational initiatives Cambodia.
Khmer-Buddhist Education Project (KEAP) was founded in 1988 to assist in the challenges of Buddhist renewal in Cambodia following decades of war and social upheaval, including the near-destruction of Buddhism and all forms of religious and spiritual life in the country during the Khmer Rouge era of the 1970s.
Initially we worked with the Buddhist wats (the traditional pagoda or temple) in the Khmer refugee camps along the Thai-Cambodian border that were established in the early 1980s by our honorary founding patron, the late Ven. Maha Ghosananda. Among other activities, we organized training workshops for the displaced Khmer in preparation for their repatriation and carried this rehabilitation work to provinces in northwestern Cambodia at the time of the 1992-93 repatriation. We also donating more than 16,000 Dharma texts and audio-visual materials to wats, educational organizations, and individuals in many parts of the country.
Today, KEAP is an international humanitarian organization assisting with the education and learning needs of Cambodian monks, nuns, and laypersons and primarily providing scholarships in higher education in Buddhist studies to young men and women. We are devoted to helping create a culture of peace, reconciliation, and people-centered development in Cambodia. KEAP serves as a bridge between Buddhist and non-Buddhist donors abroad and selected local Buddhist educational initiatives Cambodia.
Please explore this website to learn more about Cambodia, its beautiful people and their Khmer-Buddhist culture, and how you can become involved in helping with Cambodia's long-term process of recovery.
After functioning ten years as a joint project of the US-based Khmer Studies Institute and American Institute of Buddhist Studies, KEAP became its own legal entity in 1999 when it registered as a not-for-profit corporation in the State of Colorado under the Colorado Nonprofit Corporation Act. KEAP acquired tax-exempt status as a 501(c)(3) non-profit charitable educational organization in 2001 (tax identification number is 84-1498749) with the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Governed by a Board of Directors and advised by an international advisory council, KEAP's founder and ad interim Executive Director is Dr. Peter Gyallay-Pap.
Board of Directors as of February, 2018:
Peter Gyallay-Pap, Chair, Crestone, Colorado
Michael Dowd, Vice-Chair, Crestone, Colorado
Bill Scheffel, Secretary, Boulder, Colorado
Paki Wright, Member, Crestone, Colorado
Please contact us through: info@keap-net.org, or by calling 719 937-7757
Origins
KEAP's honorary founding patron was the late Most Venerable Samdech Preah Maha Ghosananda, the spiritual leader of Cambodian Buddhism who passed away in March 2007. KEAP began its work in 1988 by videotaping a dhamma talk by Venerable Ghosananda and screening/field-testing the tape in the refugee camps to thousands of monks, nuns, and laypeople. Referred to by many as the "Gandhi of Cambodia" Ghosananda has led Dhammayietras (literally, pilgrimages for the truth) throughout Cambodia since 1992 on behalf of peace and reconciliation, banning landmines, and environmental protection. For his selfless efforts, he was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize four times in 1990s.
KEAP is run by a Board of Directors based in Crestone, Colorado. The Board meets four times a year. Members of the of the international advisory council include Ven. Yos Hut Khemacaro (Cambodia and France); Joseph Goldstein (USA), of the Insight Meditation Society in Barre, Massachusetts; Marcia Rose (USA), a guiding teacher of Vipassana meditation; Dr. Walter Aschmoneit (Germany), a researcher and people-centered development expert; Prof. Padmasiri De Silva, (Sri Lanka & Australia), a Theravada Buddhist scholar; and Prof. Donald K. Swearer (USA), author of numerous studies of Buddhism in Southeast Asia.
KEAP's home office is staffed by ad interim Executive Director Peter Gyallay-Pap. Our head office in Cambodia, led by acting Country Representative Ven. Som Saroun, is at the Buddhist University branch in Battambang, assisted in Phnom Penh by Field Coordinator Mr. Keo Vichith, a former monk and graduate of the Dhammayietra Center for Peace and Non-Violence.
KEAP is run by a Board of Directors based in Crestone, Colorado. The Board meets four times a year. Members of the of the international advisory council include Ven. Yos Hut Khemacaro (Cambodia and France); Joseph Goldstein (USA), of the Insight Meditation Society in Barre, Massachusetts; Marcia Rose (USA), a guiding teacher of Vipassana meditation; Dr. Walter Aschmoneit (Germany), a researcher and people-centered development expert; Prof. Padmasiri De Silva, (Sri Lanka & Australia), a Theravada Buddhist scholar; and Prof. Donald K. Swearer (USA), author of numerous studies of Buddhism in Southeast Asia.
KEAP's home office is staffed by ad interim Executive Director Peter Gyallay-Pap. Our head office in Cambodia, led by acting Country Representative Ven. Som Saroun, is at the Buddhist University branch in Battambang, assisted in Phnom Penh by Field Coordinator Mr. Keo Vichith, a former monk and graduate of the Dhammayietra Center for Peace and Non-Violence.
About KEAP's Honorary Founder
Samdech Preah Maha Ghosananda
Venerable Maha Ghosananda, frequently called the "Gandhi of Cambodia", is our honorary founding patron and his teachings and life example continue to inspire us, as they first did over thirty-five years ago. Through the peace and reconcilation walks that he led, perhaps no single individual was more responsible for ending the civil war that continued to plague Cambodia from the end of the Khmer Rouge era until the late 1990s. Maha Ghosananda was also a strong voice for interfaith dialogue and respect, traveling to every part of the world to lend his voice - often only a few cogent words! - to the cause of world peace. Learn more about Maha Ghosananda.
The byline on our header above, "Step by step, every step is a prayer, for peace!", is an ofter repeated quote by Maha Ghosananda.
The byline on our header above, "Step by step, every step is a prayer, for peace!", is an ofter repeated quote by Maha Ghosananda.
See Maha Ghosananda interviewed
by Ram Dass (a terrific exchange).