Cambodia is a country that I have been amazed by. It definitely wins the nicest people award! Considering the poverty in the country and amount of recent upheaval its been through you never see anyone that isn't smiling. All the kids are so happy and so keen to learn its ridiculous, we've had hundreds of them running up to us in the streets just to say hello and practice their English without any hidden motive to sell you something (which always makes a change). Hannah and I were bowled over with how much they will go out of their way to help you and make sure that you enjoy your time in their country.
This was all put massively into perspective when we went and visited S-21 prison and The Killing Fields while we were in Phnom Penh. From a population of only 7 million, 2 million were slaughtered during the regime of Pol Pot. Whilst this statistic is horrendous in itself the main problems that the country is still dealing with is that it was 2 million of the most well educated people living in the country. The regime targeted doctors, lawyers, lecturers, anyone with a profession that could be a threat to their total domination over the country. Now the country is faced with the problem of having to train up enough young people to deal with the ongoing AIDs and Dengue Fever epidemics that are still killing thousands of Cambodians.
S-21 use to be a school that was quickly turned into a concentration camp when the regime entered Phnom Penh. Even the old monkey bar poles were used a torture instruments. Its not the only one of its kind but it saw one of the largest numbers of prisoners go in and never come out of it. Instead, the prisoners were taken here, brutally tortured before being taken to the Killing Fields, where they're throats were cut using the sharp edge of a palm tree leaf. This is no way to guarantee death so once they were kicked into the pit the soldiers would pour acid on them to make sure that they were dead and get rid of the smell. As if thats not bad enough the women were raped before being murdered and the children were killed by smashing their heads against a nearby tree or throwing them in the air and shooting them like clay pigeons.
You can still see the remains of bones and clothes coming up through the ground. When it rains the movement if the earth brings up fresh remains.
To commemorate the dead and remind people of what happened the current government have created a massive monument, a kind of mass grave, at the entrance. Its full of all the skulls and bones that they have found by excavating the pits.
Its a very moving day trip to both the prison and to the fields. How all of this went on only 30 years ago and no one really knows about it at home I have no idea.
You notice the effects of this period in Cambodian history every day that you walk around, the people are all so young because basically an entire generation is missing. Everyone that you speak to you are left wondering which members of their family were taken from them and what they have experienced in their lives.
Fortunately now Cambodia definitely feels like a country on the road to recovery and I would encourage anyone that goes there to do what they can to help. We took some toys to an orphanage and were careful to stay at hotels that were linked with the Child Safe Foundation which means that a portion of the money that you spend goes towards helping out the kids in any way necessary. There are loads of other little schemes set up all over the country that try to give back as much as possible to those that need it most, so by participating in as many of those as possible and not buying from kids on the street it doesn't take a lot to give them a hand.
This was all put massively into perspective when we went and visited S-21 prison and The Killing Fields while we were in Phnom Penh. From a population of only 7 million, 2 million were slaughtered during the regime of Pol Pot. Whilst this statistic is horrendous in itself the main problems that the country is still dealing with is that it was 2 million of the most well educated people living in the country. The regime targeted doctors, lawyers, lecturers, anyone with a profession that could be a threat to their total domination over the country. Now the country is faced with the problem of having to train up enough young people to deal with the ongoing AIDs and Dengue Fever epidemics that are still killing thousands of Cambodians.
S-21 use to be a school that was quickly turned into a concentration camp when the regime entered Phnom Penh. Even the old monkey bar poles were used a torture instruments. Its not the only one of its kind but it saw one of the largest numbers of prisoners go in and never come out of it. Instead, the prisoners were taken here, brutally tortured before being taken to the Killing Fields, where they're throats were cut using the sharp edge of a palm tree leaf. This is no way to guarantee death so once they were kicked into the pit the soldiers would pour acid on them to make sure that they were dead and get rid of the smell. As if thats not bad enough the women were raped before being murdered and the children were killed by smashing their heads against a nearby tree or throwing them in the air and shooting them like clay pigeons.
You can still see the remains of bones and clothes coming up through the ground. When it rains the movement if the earth brings up fresh remains.
To commemorate the dead and remind people of what happened the current government have created a massive monument, a kind of mass grave, at the entrance. Its full of all the skulls and bones that they have found by excavating the pits.
Its a very moving day trip to both the prison and to the fields. How all of this went on only 30 years ago and no one really knows about it at home I have no idea.
You notice the effects of this period in Cambodian history every day that you walk around, the people are all so young because basically an entire generation is missing. Everyone that you speak to you are left wondering which members of their family were taken from them and what they have experienced in their lives.
Fortunately now Cambodia definitely feels like a country on the road to recovery and I would encourage anyone that goes there to do what they can to help. We took some toys to an orphanage and were careful to stay at hotels that were linked with the Child Safe Foundation which means that a portion of the money that you spend goes towards helping out the kids in any way necessary. There are loads of other little schemes set up all over the country that try to give back as much as possible to those that need it most, so by participating in as many of those as possible and not buying from kids on the street it doesn't take a lot to give them a hand.
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