Great Inspiration, Great Tragedy
The last 24 hours have been filled with first a look at something that provided me with great inspiration followed by witnessing something truly horrific. Much worse that any word can describe. I can't tell you how many times in the last day that I have thought about how lucky and fortunate I am.
After leaving Saigon, we went to Chau Doc and had a quiet evening with the highlight being the motorbike ride up a large hill that displayed some great views of the surrounding area. After that, just a quiet night playing some poker before getting on a boat very early the following morning to head to Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Surprisingly, Phnom Penh is a very cosmopolitan city situated along the river. The riverfront area is very scenic with many restaurants, etc. The Cambodian people have been extremely friendly. In general, they are very eager to interact, and not because they want to sell you something. It comes across as very genuine. After a day of just walking around town, our group headed out for some drinks for our tour leaders birthday. Matt had mentioned how happy he was to celebrate in Phnom Penh because it was his favorite place in SE Asia. I can understand why. He than brought us for dinner to a place that was purely inspirational.
We went to a restaurant, Veiyo Tonle. It was started by a man Neth, who has dedicated his life to rescuing Cambodian children and giving them hope. He has adopted 26 Cambodian children from bad situations and fed, clothed, and educated them. The restaurant is completely non-profit with all of the money being used to carry out his mission of supporting the children. Some of the older children work at the restaurant. It is amazing to see the big smiles and how grateful they are for what they have. And they still have significantly less than any of us. The average Cambodian earns about $1 per day. Your salary isn't so bad, huh? One girl, 14 years old was rescued by Neth for the sum of $50 just before her parents were about to sell her off for prostitution. Neth started his mission 3 years ago and Matt has been very involved in volunteering to help. These kids are truly a treat to be around. I even went back today to make a donation, eat lunch and recover from what I witnessed earlier in the day.
I would suggest that you take a look at the website for the organization, The New Cambodian Children's Life Association (NCCLA) The web address is www.ncclaorphanage.org. You can even make a donation, a little money goes a long way as they estimate it costs roughly $700 per year for one child.
As for today, a whole different story. Between 1975 and 1979, Cambodia underwent a mass genocide led by their leader Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge. During that time, it is estimated that roughly 3 million Cambodians died either by execution, starvation or other diseases. There were only 7 million people in the entire nation. This mass genocide is the reason why over 50% of the population in Cambodia are under 18 years old. First stop was the Tuol Sleng Prison (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuol_Sleng_Genocide_Museum). The Tuol Sleng prison is a converted high school that was used as one of the many prisons during this mass genocide. Prisoners were held here and tortured before being brought to the killing fields for execution. The torture tactics were used to gather information to round up other people. Mostly, they were looking for educated people. It was horribly disturbing to witness. After that, we went to the Killing Fields where the people were executed. There was one building that had the skulls from people that were executed. I was speechless and stunned.
Our tour guide was fantastic and had personal experience from the period. He lost family members, including his brother. He was also from the same hometown as Pol Pot. He was born during the regime. What a different way to grow up.
Overall, my experience in Cambodia has been fantastic. The tour leader and the group have been great. I have truly enjoyed my experience. Did I mention the kids at the restaurant/orphanage?
Tomorrow, we leave early for a short flight to Siem Reap and Angkor Wat, where we will spend a few days. I am truly excited about this as I was most excited about this part of the trip.
Bye for now. Hope all is well back home.
After leaving Saigon, we went to Chau Doc and had a quiet evening with the highlight being the motorbike ride up a large hill that displayed some great views of the surrounding area. After that, just a quiet night playing some poker before getting on a boat very early the following morning to head to Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Surprisingly, Phnom Penh is a very cosmopolitan city situated along the river. The riverfront area is very scenic with many restaurants, etc. The Cambodian people have been extremely friendly. In general, they are very eager to interact, and not because they want to sell you something. It comes across as very genuine. After a day of just walking around town, our group headed out for some drinks for our tour leaders birthday. Matt had mentioned how happy he was to celebrate in Phnom Penh because it was his favorite place in SE Asia. I can understand why. He than brought us for dinner to a place that was purely inspirational.
We went to a restaurant, Veiyo Tonle. It was started by a man Neth, who has dedicated his life to rescuing Cambodian children and giving them hope. He has adopted 26 Cambodian children from bad situations and fed, clothed, and educated them. The restaurant is completely non-profit with all of the money being used to carry out his mission of supporting the children. Some of the older children work at the restaurant. It is amazing to see the big smiles and how grateful they are for what they have. And they still have significantly less than any of us. The average Cambodian earns about $1 per day. Your salary isn't so bad, huh? One girl, 14 years old was rescued by Neth for the sum of $50 just before her parents were about to sell her off for prostitution. Neth started his mission 3 years ago and Matt has been very involved in volunteering to help. These kids are truly a treat to be around. I even went back today to make a donation, eat lunch and recover from what I witnessed earlier in the day.
I would suggest that you take a look at the website for the organization, The New Cambodian Children's Life Association (NCCLA) The web address is www.ncclaorphanage.org. You can even make a donation, a little money goes a long way as they estimate it costs roughly $700 per year for one child.
As for today, a whole different story. Between 1975 and 1979, Cambodia underwent a mass genocide led by their leader Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge. During that time, it is estimated that roughly 3 million Cambodians died either by execution, starvation or other diseases. There were only 7 million people in the entire nation. This mass genocide is the reason why over 50% of the population in Cambodia are under 18 years old. First stop was the Tuol Sleng Prison (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuol_Sleng_Genocide_Museum). The Tuol Sleng prison is a converted high school that was used as one of the many prisons during this mass genocide. Prisoners were held here and tortured before being brought to the killing fields for execution. The torture tactics were used to gather information to round up other people. Mostly, they were looking for educated people. It was horribly disturbing to witness. After that, we went to the Killing Fields where the people were executed. There was one building that had the skulls from people that were executed. I was speechless and stunned.
Our tour guide was fantastic and had personal experience from the period. He lost family members, including his brother. He was also from the same hometown as Pol Pot. He was born during the regime. What a different way to grow up.
Overall, my experience in Cambodia has been fantastic. The tour leader and the group have been great. I have truly enjoyed my experience. Did I mention the kids at the restaurant/orphanage?
Tomorrow, we leave early for a short flight to Siem Reap and Angkor Wat, where we will spend a few days. I am truly excited about this as I was most excited about this part of the trip.
Bye for now. Hope all is well back home.
posted by hkalin @ 2:04 AM
1 Comments:
At 1:36 PM,
Anonymous said…
Wow! What an amazing experence.
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