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From there we went to Toung Sleng prison where the people were first taken. 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 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. 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. 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:
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