Day 1

After 6 months of planning and fundraising and 32 hours of traveling, I arrived in Cambodia late Saturday night. I was greeted by a humid, vibrant, busy city that won me over in the first ten minutes by its colors, sounds, smells, and its friendly people.

I got settled into my air conditioned (!!) hotel and got, surprising, a great and refreshing night’s sleep. Sunday morning I got up and set out to explore the intriguing Phnom Penh- but don't worry Dad, I didn't wander far from the hotel by myself. I managed to get a phone and SIM card and lunch without speaking a word of Khmer. Most people speak at least some English, but those who speak none are still very nice and try to help. In the afternoon, I had a visitor at the hotel- Sophy, the GSC Cambodia In-country coordinator, who came to move me to apartment where I will be staying during my time in Phnom Penh. Sophy is very sweet and smart. She has a degree in Food Technology and studied HIV mutation in a laboratory in Phnom Penh for 2 years before taking on this job with GSC. The apartment is a spacious 2 bedroom unit with a wonderful balcony. I will be living here alone until another GSC volunteer arrives in August, which normally would terrify me, but private security guards monitor the street and there are residents above and below me.

Today, Monday, began my orientation week in Phnom Penh and was focused on Cambodian history, especially the Genocide. We first visited Tuol Sleng prison which was a secondary school converted into a prison during the Khmer Rouge regime. The classrooms had been converted into cells and torture chambers. We walked through the rooms that were covered in pictures of the victims, as well as actual photographs taken of the prison during its use. Anyone who is not familiar with the Cambodian Genocide of the 1970s should research it because it is really worth studying. Between 2-3 million Cambodians were killed during 4 years under Pol Pot. The devastation is being felt even today, and families are still grieving. Sophy’s parents both survived the Khmer Rouge, but her grandparents and all other family members were killed. We never learn about this in American schools, and while I understand there is a lot of world history to cover, I feel that this is too significant to skip over.

After visiting the prison, we traveled 15 km south of the city to the Choeung Ek killing fields where 20,000 prisoners from Tuol Sleng were taken to be killed in mass graves. Seeing this place was very disturbing and numbing. I won’t go into much detail, but the kinds of things that these people did are just beyond sick. Some of the leaders are just now being tried by the UN but no sentence will make up for their actions. In 1980 some of the mass graves were dug up to find and count remains. Over 8,000 bodies were uncovered before efforts ceased, though only about 60% of the graves were explored. A monument was constructed at the site to house the remains in 17 tiers. The bottom tiers that were visible to us featured countless skulls that left an unsettling feeling in my stomach.

When we were still at Tuol Sleng, Sophy pointed out a man to me who was sitting on a bench in the prison courtyard and shared with me his story. He was a prisoner at Tuol Sleng and was sent to the killing fields. Standing in front of the mass grave, a Khmer Rouge soldier hit him in the back of the head and knocked him unconscious into the grave below. He laid unconscious all day and the soldiers assumed he was dead, but during the night he came to. When he realized where he was he quietly looked around to find no guards present, got out of the grave and escaped to the forest where he hid until the regime was over. He is one of 7 people to survive Tuol Sleng and today sits quietly in the courtyard and reflects.

My first day orientation day in Cambodia was jarring, yes, but has already made me appreciate this culture so much. It’s been only 31 years since the Khmer Rouge lost power and in that short time, this country has come back to life. In 1979 there was no religion, no education, no economy, no electricity, no family networks, nothing. But here they are 31 years later, alive and thriving.

I found free Wi-Fi at a coffee shop down the street close to my apartment, but it’s starting to get dark so I better be getting home. I hope everyone has a great day, and thank you again to all who helped me get here :)