who we are

Son Sovath is the director of one of the schools in which Solaid operates, a position he has held for the past three years.  Before this he was a primary school teacher in the area for nine years.  He is originally from a nearby village, is married, and has three children.

Steve founded Solaid in 2008 as a means for propagating his long-held belief that a world that provides adequate health and education is a better place for everyone.  He studied medicine in Ireland, International Health and Development at Tulane, and Tropical Medicine in London, but these days mostly find him raising 3 young children in the US.

Gwenola has been with the Solaid program from its beginnings as a small language school in Kampot.  She now helps direct our education program, which has expanded from language to remedial programs in multiple subjects, and also seeks to guide students to higher education.  In addition, she has a leading role in managing Solaid's finances and fundraising.

Originally from California, Christian attended medical school at Creighton University, and is now an OBGYN resident physician at the Univ of Iowa. Before starting med school, Christian pursued a public health project in India, which instilled in him a passion for global healthcare and preventive medicine. Since then, he has led groups of medical students to volunteer in Peru and Cambodia (with Solaid). “Throughout my travels, I’ve seen that there is so much potential in even the most impoverished communities. To push forward, these communities need not just better healthcare, but also  improved infrastructure and access to education, things that Solaid can influence.”

Mark is a teacher of French in the Boston area who has taken groups of his students out to Kampot to volunteer with Solaid on a number of occasions. Seeing the great need in the area, Mark was compelled to establish a scholarship fund to assist academically promising students to continue with their education throughout high school and, hopefully, beyond.

Peter is from Colorado and is currently in a Family Medicine residency program there.  He previously attended Creighton Univ med school, at which time he volunteered with Solaid in Kampot.  His mother and father both lived through the Khmer Rouge regime in Cambodia.  From Peter: "Both of my parents experienced many hardships and horrors from the labor camps to witnessing loved ones being executed.  They often told me the stories of their experiences and suffering, and I realize that this past, along with their hard work, has given me the opportunity to succeed.  My parents experienced what it is like to be without hope, so by working with Solaid I hope to help the people in Cambodia who may be feeling as my parents once did."