First experiences in Cambodia
It all started in January with a friend who sent me a text that went something like this, "Weird and random question, but do you want to go to Cambodia?" My reply was simple, "Why not!" Little did I know that it would change my life completely.
6 months later I was traveling with a group called Youthlinc; a humanitarian organization. We left SLC early Sunday morning with Phnom Phen as our end destination. 24 hours later, San Fran, almost missing our connection in Korea and a very drugged up me from my little friends (Dramamine) we were finally there! The wave of humidity that hit us was astonishing! Instantly, I was dying of heat; which if you know me is rare.
Cambodia is absolutely beautiful. I loved being there every moment. It is very green, lots of humidity, and rice fields everywhere. The people are some of the most welcoming, kind, caring and loving people that I have ever had the privilege of getting to meet. We were accepted and welcomed with open arms into the lives of the Chumony village and the students at Sustainable Cambodia.
Going over there, I did not know much of the history of this country. I knew that they had suffered an awful genocide starting in 1970-1976. I knew that they were a 3rd world country and are seeking to make their lives better. In 1970 a man by the name of Pol Pot came to power in Cambodia. He wanted to refine Cambodia and wipe all humanity and culture of the people. Within the first years of his rein he had doctors, teachers, authors, and anyone with any type of education killed. If you could read, you were killed. His army was young children forced to work for him for fear of their lives and families. If you or your family was in the army before hand you were also sentenced to die. Families were separated from each other and many lost family members. Some even had the unfortunate event of watching them be killed. You were forced to wear black. You owned nothing, worked hard every day with little to eat. Unfathomable conditions were forced upon the Khmae people. My heart goes out to all of the fathers, mothers, siblings and friends lost. The Khmae people are truly remarkable for surviving through these difficult times. around 1976 Vietnam came in to help intervene. Pol Pot was not charged with war crimes, he lived out his days until he was exciled and died about a year later.
We spent the first day in the killing fields and Tuol sleng (S21). The killing fields was such a humbling place to be. As the fab four (Aaron Coon, Cameron Terry, Angela Wood, and I) walked around the hollowed grounds we very skillfully listened to the audio tapes of the history of the Killing fields. It's estimated over 10,000 people lost their lives there. What I thought were just depressions in the ground were actually mass graves. The soldiers would hang loud speakers from the trees and play music to drown out the cries of the people loosing their lives. What tore at my heart the most was a tree they called the Killing Tree. Here is where they killed children, by hitting them against the tree until they were dead. Being a teacher I just couldn't comprehend that people would ever want to hurt children, let alone kill them in such a cruel manner. After seeing this I was distraught and feeling very sad and angry at those who hurt other people and children. But as I waddled around with the fab four, connected by ear buds, me sharing the love with Aaron, I realized I was surround by friends and I was truly blessed. I have parents and siblings and a newly acquired brother-in-law that love me. I'm also extremely blessed to live in a country that is free and I don't have to worry about these type of dangers. We then went onto Tuol Sleng, which is also called S21. This used to be a high school, but was turned into a torture chamber. Here I saw more destruction of peoples lives. Adults and children of all ages suffered more than I will probably ever know. I saw so much more at these places that I can not and don't want to think about. Being here made me extremely grateful for everything that I have in my life.
SCARY DRIVERS!! Holy cow. I have never experienced this type of driving, even when I was in Mexico. Cars and motos just go whenever they want. We random flipped a U-turn in the middle of the road, nbd... It was very nerve wracking for the first little while, I eventually just learned to not pay attention to how fast we were driving or what side of the road we were on. On our way we had to go to the bathroom so bad that our bus driver found a place for us to go. We are extremely fortunate that the place had 5 bathrooms to accommodate all 36 of us. However, they were squatter toilets... Basically, if you can pee in the woods you can use a squatter! Haha so for me, that wasn't too difficult. We arrived in Pursat very late, and Angela, Sarah and I headed to our rooms to go to sleep. We were going to SC and Chumony to meet the people the next day! I was so excited to meet the people and get started!
