Emma Leslie, the granddaughter of the former Anglican bishop of Bathurst, Bishop Kenneth Leslie, was honoured by Charles Sturt University this week with an honorary doctorate for her work in Cambodia and other war-torn countries to eliminate land mines and advance human rights.
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Ms Leslie’s grandfather, who was known far and wide as The Walking Bishop, was also awarded an honorary doctorate by CSU 25 years ago.
She said her grandfather was very influential in the way she came to view the world, and she was moved to have been awarded the same honour.
Bishop Leslie visited Cambodia many times during his long life, passing away in 2010 at the age of 98.
Emma Leslie attended Kelso Public School and later Kelso High School.
She has a Bachelor of Arts in history and politics from the Australian National University, a Graduate Diploma in education from Charles Sturt University’s Bathurst campus, and a Masters in Development Studies from Deakin University.
In 2008, the 43-year-old co-founded the Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies (CPCS) with her husband Soth Plai Ngarm.
CPCS is home to a range of interconnected programs that promote the advancement of peace processes, research and learning which has worked actively in Timor Leste, Myanmar, Philippines and Sri Lanka.
“I just love it. It feels like something I was always meant to be doing,” Emma said.
Emma was one of the 1000 women from more than 150 different countries nominated for the 2005 Nobel Peace Prize.
“In 1979, I was eight years old and I remember vividly watching, on my parents’ newly acquired colour TV, images crossing the screen of emaciated humans then known as the “starving Kampucheans” who had emerged from the horror of the Khmer Rouge genocide,” Emma said in her speech.
“Of course at eight years old I did not at all understand any of the politics. All I knew, as I was asked to sit up for dinner, was a question had been planted so deeply in my psyche – why are some children born so lucky, and some into such dire circumstances?”
The University Council of CSU awarded Emma the Honorary Doctorate in recognition of her outstanding contribution as a respected and sought-after international leader in conflict resolution in the Asia-Pacific. She has also facilitated conflict analysis trainings in Eastern Europe, Africa and Asia.
She began her engagement on peace and development with the Anglican Board of Mission, the National Council of Churches in Australia and Responding to Conflict in the United Kingdom.
In 1997, she began her life and work in Cambodia with the Campaign to Ban Landmines, working on mitigating land conflict of demined lands.
She has worked as a training consultant on peace and development for the Cambodian Development Resource Institute and wrote a peace and disarmament curriculum for Cambodian high schools with the Working Group for Weapons Reduction.
“By 1997, I found myself landing in a Cambodia which was once again at war with itself over historical political divides and a military coup d’etat. Having met my husband Ngarm, a distinguished peace builder in his own right, I have been blessed now to live in Cambodia these past 18 years,” she said.
“Through my husband’s story and so many others, I have come to understand how wars, genocide, tyranny and dictatorship come about when a population can be easily manipulated.
“Without the culture or experience of questioning and critiquing, a generation of Khmer Rouge cadres followed their leaders in a response to the indiscriminate American carpet bombing of Cambodia, undertaking heinous crimes against their countrymen.
“Despite over 30 years of war today Cambodians are among the most compassionate, resilient and friendly people I have ever encountered,” she said.
“The late Cambodians Monk Maha Ghosananda often explained that the suffering of Cambodia had been deep, from deep suffering comes great compassion, from great compassion comes a peaceful heart, a peaceful heart comes a peaceful person, and so on.
“Maha always reminded us that when we experience a great trauma we must find a way to transform it to empathy, understanding and compassion.”