Born amidst conflict during the Cambodian coup of 1997, Adana was raised by activist parents fighting human trafficking in Southeast Asia. She spent her childhood surrounded by bodyguards, overwhelmed by death threats and kidnap letters, often having to find refuge in Laos. Growing up with survivors of sexual exploitation made her prematurely aware of some of the most brutal consequences of a despotic genocide, with her family's social work molding her education and pushing Adana to be deeply involved, from the red light district of Phnom Penh to traveling the world and raising awareness in conferences.
She pursued studies in law and political science in France until she was 21 years old when, suddenly, cancer forced her to endure aggressive chemotherapy and a journey of self-reflection. A battle she won, along with the discovery of a newborn talent: art. Her paintings – address topics such as consciousness, death, trauma, ethics, and human evolution. After her successful recovery, she landed her debut exhibition in New York followed by thirteen more exhibitions all over the world including Paris, Sydney, Brussels, and Bangkok.
Her collaboration with the CEO of the national Bark of Cambodia (a woman), has changed the perception of Khmer Art as 150 000 dollars were raised by selling their artwork exhibition. The money was granted to three local NGO's.
In Cambodia, Adana threw herself enthusiastically into humanitarian work facing emergency during the COVID-19 pandemic. She organized the distribution of food to help people in need by implementing specific conduits with Generation C. She has launched several digital campaigns to promote women’s international day thanks to the support of the European Union and Danchurch Aid. She has been strongly backed up by the Cambodian people for her effort to advocate worthy causes in the course of many lectures, interviews and artistic events aimed at sensitizing people to issues in social psychology.
Adana was shortlisted for the women of the future awards southeast Asia in the category art and culture. She got the support of the minister of Women’s Affairs and of the General Secretary of the Council for the development of Cambodia.
Pierre Legros started a PhD in parasitology at EPHE in Paris. He just enrolled for a year. At a very early age, he committed himself to humanitarian aid first, in Africa where he worked for Pasteur Institute and the Institute for research in development (IRD). He then moved on to Asia to work with doctors without borders (MSF) and action contre la faim, an organization struggling to fight off starvation.
Realizing that the so-called ‘’big’’ organizations were curtailed in their willingness to act, he co-founded with his ex wife (Somaly Mam) AFESIP Cambodia, an organization whose aim is to combat sex trafficking of women and children. Given its success, he worked at spreading and opening similar structures in Vietnam, Laos, Thailand, Switzerland, France and Spain. With a scientific background and an urge to prove more efficient in the struggle against human trafficking he founded a research center ‘’an observatory on human trafficking’’ linked to more than 20 universities and international researchers.
He has co-founded another organization Article 4, in Cambodia and in France, focusing on the psychosocial reintegration of women in difficulty with a view to implement the results of psychosocial research.
Pierre Legros has been rewarded in the United States and in Europe for his work on women’s and children’s plight. He has become an international consultant for the United Nations and different other International organizations.
In 2008, he embarked in a new career as an entrepreneur creating multiple private corporations in Cambodia. He is currently the director of a private medical establishment.
