| Glimpses
Of Cambodia |
| The Killing
Fields Near Phomn Penh |
| Written And Photographed
by David Lavoie |
| July 2005
Some fifteen
kilometres from Phomn Penh down several dusty dirt roads we arrived at
Cheung Ek. This was one of the infamous Khmer Rouge “killing fields”
There was one in each of Cambodia’s 18 states. In them uncounted people
died. Chung Ek alone claimed 17,000 including nine westerners who tried
to help Cambodians. There are no words adequate to describe this visit,
one we felt we had to make. The area is small, a few acres and now pocked
with depressions where mass graves have been found. Many of these are now
flooded; some are filled with lush grass and wild flowers. Everywhere flit
beautiful butterflies, the souls of the dead, something I have seen nowhere
else here. Many of the pits are identified with a simple wooden plaque. |
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“893 women
and children” “256 females 15 – 20”. The people were sometimes
diplomats, professionals, government officials but often they were simply
peasants too, killed perhaps only to empty the land they were working for
someone else. They were beaten to death for the most part with clubs or
garden hoes.
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Human bones and
scraps of clothing are lying still on the ground. In the centre of the
area is a very tall pagoda like structure filled inside with exhumed human
skulls, about 4000 of them.
From there
we went to Toung Sleng prison where the people were first taken. |
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| The only
escape from here was too the killing fields which, given the conditions
under which the prisoners were forced to live for the two or three remaining
months of their lives, must have been almost a relief. Manacled, chained,
tortured, endlessly interrogated, raped; what the people brought here experienced
was beyond hell. Each was meticulously photographed on arrival and the
stark black and white photographs of terrified people line the walls. Some
are small children no more that nine or ten. Why were they there? What
were the Khmer Rouge trying to do, terrorize the whole population into
slavish submission? These photographs are among the worse things I have
ever seen.
Outside one
young western man, in shorts, muscle shirt and sandals, a tanned “all
American boy” was being sick in the grass. I can write no more. Some
of the men responsible for this unspeakable hell are now government officials.
Cambodians |
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Offshore
Resources Gallery
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| A word
here about Cambodians. Cambodians are small, attractive, smiling people
who are very warm and friendly. They speak softly and gently. Life is still
very hard for the average Cambodian especially in the countryside; many
work for less that a dollar a day. Teachers earn $25 or $30 per month.
There are few social services. If you are injured, ill, crippled, very
old or very young or orphaned, there is nothing for you. Hence the proliferation
of beggars which is overwhelming because there are so many and so many
of them are so obviously in need. People in the towns are better off than
those in the countryside where 85% of Cambodians live. There the diet is
simple, rice and a few vegetables, maybe occasionally a few shreds of fish
or chicken for protein. Some families go days with little, or no, food
at all. Although there are many sellers, they are not pushy. A gentle refusal
usually discourages their efforts. As for the beggars they are hard to
resist. Many are soldiers wounded in the war, blind or crippled. We saw
several small bands playing traditional music for instance but composed
entirely of blind men. Another common injury is to miss a leg, or both
which is frequent because Cambodia still has 80,000 unexploded landmines!
Often the bands had a simple hand-written sign announcing that they were
playing “Land Mine Music”. Many beggars are children who are hard
to resist. |
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| Usually
these children are controlled by an adult who immediately takes whatever
you give them. It is easy to criticise this if you are ignorant of
the extreme poverty with which these people live. Better than money, as
Lonely Planet wisely advises is to bring food. A small loaf of French bread
given to one of these children will bring a beaming, joyful smile that
will break your heart.
Finally
…Friends
What is
there to say about Cambodia and a people who have suffered, and still suffer
so much? Sale of children for both the purposes of labour and for sexual
exploitation is a huge problem, but it is a result of extreme poverty about
which the Cambodian government is trying to do something. There are other
glimmers of hope. |
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Offshore
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| Ten years
ago a group of back-packers set up a shelter for the street children of
Phomn Penh. They quickly realized that this was no solution since the
children stayed only a few weeks and left. What was needed to keep them
was work and money. Since one of the back-packers was a cook they decided
to open a small restaurant which they called “Friends”. There they
trained the street kids to cook, clean and wait on tables. In ten years
this fabulous place has prospered beyond all expectation. Now virtually
ALL the staff of these first rate restaurants are trained by Friends,
and Friends is run by young Cambodians. I have never been in a more pleasant
restaurant where people help one another constantly and patiently and there
are so many brilliant smiles. They have even printed a wonderful cook book
of Cambodian food called The Best of Friends. A cynic would say these young
people have been trained into servitude. A realist would say they have
been saved from the degradation of the street, that they are happy and
proud of what they are, and that they are a tremendous success story.
Check out their
website at www.streetfriends.org
The following
are the previous articles David wrote for the magazine:
To contact David
Click Here
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If you
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