Raw Edges...

Tonight is the end of day 5 of Cambodia so far. All I knew about Cambodia before getting here was that something bad happened once upon a time, and that once as a child I saw a clip on the television showing wooden huts full of skulls.

I have never fully associated Cambodia with anything. No full story, no culture, not even a certain kind of food. All I knew was that for some reason I associated the word "genocide" with this country.

Coming here, as well as reading a book called "First They Killed My Father" by Loung Ung, has opened my eyes so much. Simply visiting two places (the killing fields and the genocide museum) has taught me things that I feel I should have grown up knowing. It is weird to think of such horrific things happening anywhere in the world, and especially in such a peaceful place as present day Cambodia. Our experience, for example, at the genocide museum was such a contrasting scene. After walking through rooms where a thousands of people were brought to be tortured and then murdered, we would exit outside into a beautiful courtyard full of sunlight and palm trees.

Also with the killing fields, the scenery defied the story. Walking on small dirt paths we would wander past small wooden signs talking about what happened in a nearby spot when the horrors that happened were occurring there. Looking to the sides of the paths there were numerous large holes, overtaken by grass and flowers. It was hard to imagine those holes were mass graves only 31 years ago. The centerpiece of the killing fields is a large monument, filled with the human remains of about 17 000 people, all of which were found at the site we were walking around. The monument is there as a reminder of what has happened, an honor to the people whose lives were taken, and a stark reminder of what should never occur again.

Seeing that really makes you grateful to be alive. It really makes you thankful to live in Canada.

I don't really want to describe all the things that I have seen, as really it is just learned through visiting very public places, and reading very public things. I do recommend everyone brushes up on their Cambodian history, especially those who don't know anything about it. There are tons of books on the subject as well as a few movies.