The Killing Fields
Observing the remains of the Choeng Ek Killing Fields (one of many throughout Cambodia) was unbelievably horrifying. Really, there is no word to describe it.
In the midst of the lush, peaceful countryside, not a word was uttered between visitors to this site, though grief and sadness was strongly sensed.
In grasping what lay before me, my body numbed, my heart wrenched and fell heavy as I welled with tears.
Thirty five years on, pieces of clothing and fragments of bone from bodies, massacred under Pol Pot's rule in 1975 - 1979, were still surfacing from the shallow mass graves, following heavy rainfalls.
The site of the Chankiri tree, where babies and children were bashed against its trunks with their mother's made to watch, deadened me. I couldn't feel my legs.
In the midst of the lush, peaceful countryside, not a word was uttered between visitors to this site, though grief and sadness was strongly sensed.
In grasping what lay before me, my body numbed, my heart wrenched and fell heavy as I welled with tears.
Thirty five years on, pieces of clothing and fragments of bone from bodies, massacred under Pol Pot's rule in 1975 - 1979, were still surfacing from the shallow mass graves, following heavy rainfalls.
The site of the Chankiri tree, where babies and children were bashed against its trunks with their mother's made to watch, deadened me. I couldn't feel my legs.
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| Chankiri Tree in the Killing Fields of Choeung Ek |
To conserve ammunition, the Khmer Rouge practiced many methods of brutally killing their victims and the eight thousand human skulls, housed in the Choeng Ek memorial, indicate the sex, age and result of death.
Silently I prayed for their beautiful innocent souls, preconceiving that Karma must prevail.
Silently I prayed for their beautiful innocent souls, preconceiving that Karma must prevail.
A True Survivor
Following the sorrowful viewing of the killing fields, our group moved on to witness the ghostly remains of S-21.
What was once a high school in Phnom Penh, became the most brutal prison of all time under Pol Pot's rule.
Sighting the evident remains within the cells and learning the varied methods used to wreak excruciating pain and suffering to innocent victims is unimaginable.
I felt distressed and heartbroken seeing the images and learning the fate of every single person taken into this prison.
This is one of the most dismal places I have witnessed, though I'm not sorry I chose to come here.
As a vital part of Cambodia's history, these happenings need to be acknowledged with much empathy and respect paid to the victims (very few survived). The persecution these people endured in their very own country is incomprehensible.
Meeting Chum Mey, one of only a handful of survivors of S-21 will stay with me forever. Goosebumps crawled all over my skin as I shook his hand and shared a compassionate smile. His face only revealed peace and gentle kindness, despite his agonizing past.
Chum Mey lost his wife and four children during the Khmer Rouge Army regime and he himself was held and tortured in the Tuol Sleng S-21 prison.
The only reason Chum Mey survived is because his confession to being a mechanic was of vital use to the army.
What was once a high school in Phnom Penh, became the most brutal prison of all time under Pol Pot's rule.
Sighting the evident remains within the cells and learning the varied methods used to wreak excruciating pain and suffering to innocent victims is unimaginable.
I felt distressed and heartbroken seeing the images and learning the fate of every single person taken into this prison.
This is one of the most dismal places I have witnessed, though I'm not sorry I chose to come here.
As a vital part of Cambodia's history, these happenings need to be acknowledged with much empathy and respect paid to the victims (very few survived). The persecution these people endured in their very own country is incomprehensible.
Meeting Chum Mey, one of only a handful of survivors of S-21 will stay with me forever. Goosebumps crawled all over my skin as I shook his hand and shared a compassionate smile. His face only revealed peace and gentle kindness, despite his agonizing past.
Chum Mey lost his wife and four children during the Khmer Rouge Army regime and he himself was held and tortured in the Tuol Sleng S-21 prison.
The only reason Chum Mey survived is because his confession to being a mechanic was of vital use to the army.
 |
Chum Mey - one of only a handful of survivors of the torturous Tuol Sleng
Prison (S-21) under the brutal rule of Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge Army. |
Today Chum Mey sits in the grounds of the prison, consumed with distressing memories of his past. In helping to deal with his heartache and acknowledging those who lost their lives, he wrote a book.
I bought a signed copy from Chum Mey and admire his ability to forgive his torturers rather than condemn them, as forgiveness helps to live with the pain.
“I see… a pile of skulls and bones. For the
first time since my arrival, what I see before
me is too painful and I break down completely.
These are my relatives, friends and neighbours,
I keep thinking… It is a long time before I am
calm again. And then I am able, with my bare
hands, to rearrange the skulls and bones so
that they are not scattered about”
Dith Pran was a Cambodian photojournalist and survivor of the Cambodian genocide.
He was the subject of the Academy Award-winning film The Killing Fields.
Exchanging Gifts
Her face weathered with lines as deep as the memories of her past. Without doubt she has endured significant hardship due to her country's brutal pass. Maybe she has no family to care for her.
Poor dear lady shouldn't have to spend the rest of her days working on the streets of Phnom Penh. Her thin frail, bony hands slowly picked an assortment of potatoes from her bowls before placing them into a bag and handing them to her customer, simultaneously exchanging smiles and bowing their heads to one another.
Without being too intrusive, I captured her image with my iPhone and in realising this, she looked across to me and smiled, where spontaneously I smiled back. Khmer people bestow the most genuine smiles, despite poverty stricken conditions in which most of them exist. They are amazing souls, true to their Buddhist faith and beliefs.
Through the remainder of my two week trans-formative tour throughout Cambodia, I often referred to my iPhone image of her, though within mind I retained a clear impression.
For my Cambodian adventure, I mainly packed T shirts and long cotton pants for protection from the sun and mosquitoes. I decided I no longer needed most of these clothes, so I had them laundered and placed them in two carry bags along with sandals and shoes, also no longer required.
Returning to Phnom Penh at the end of my remarkable journey, experiencing the unique Khmer culture with 13 fellow travellers, I truly needed to see this lady again before flying home.
On my last morning before leaving for my mid-afternoon flight, I set out in search of her, assuming she will be at the same corner of the lane-way, where I saw her two weeks prior. My heart sank in discovering she wasn't there, so instinctively I'd walked to the end of the lane hoping to catch sight of her, where to my relief, squatting beside her precious bowls of potatoes, my gaze caught her eye.
I offered the bags of clothes to her and with hands clasped to her heart, she bowed her head, before taking a small bag and placing potatoes into it.
I indicated that I didn't want anything in return, also thinking to myself "what am I going to do with potatoes, when I have a plane to catch?" Though she insisted and I'm sure she would have been offended if I turned away her gift.
"Aw kon" (thank you) I replied, as I bowed to her and again we intuitively exchanged smiles before I departed.
With a spring in my step I was overcome with emotional jubilation, making my way back to my hotel with my small bag of potatoes in hand. My head held high, a smile from ear to ear and a peaceful heart, I was reminded "my life really is what I've made it, I am blessed".
I left the potatoes on the dresser in my hotel room, where I'm sure the room attendants appreciated them.
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