Back in the 80’s, there was a made for TV movie called The Girl Who Spelled Freedom. It is based on the true story of an American family who thought they were taking in a Cambodian orphan refugee but then arrived at the airport to find they were sponsoring the entire (very large) family. The main character, Linn Yann, is a young child. The story follows her from the turbulence of war-torn Cambodia to the American classrooms and grocery stores. We watch as struggles, adapts and ultimately thrives in her new world, while never forgetting her roots. The Girl Who Spelled Freedom aired when I was 5 years old and it’s been one of my favourite movies ever since. VCRs had just come out (or at least we had just gotten one) and my dad took great pleasure in taping EVERYTHING he could off the TV. (You should see the bootleg VHS collection I grew up with…. truly amazing.) So I had my own copy of this movie and I’m pretty sure that I’ve watched it more than any other movie (tied with Back to the Future and Pippi Longstocking, of course). It was just so thought-provoking and touching. (Spoiler alert so I can explain the name: she’s in a spelling bee.) As a 5 year old, trying to comprehend a place like 1970’s Cambodia, this movie had such an impact on my life and play. I wanted more than anything to go to Cambodia and save everyone.
A bit of background information in a nutshell: The Khmer Rouge, under the Pol Pot regime, violently took over cities, forcing families to drop everything in an unexpected instant and flee to safety. But this safety did not really exist. People were forced into work camps, brought to the brink of starvation, and watched their family members being tortured and killed right in front of them, or even worse, they were separated from their families and left wondering about their fate for years. Those were the lucky ones. Others were taken as prisoners to genocide centres where they were tortured beyond imagination before eventually being executed at the killing fields. The number of casualties from just the main genocide centre, Tuol Sleng, is estimated to be over 20,000 people. There were places like this all over the country and the Khmer Rouge did not discriminate…. this horrible fate also included children and babies. To this day, there are millions of landmines unaccounted for all over the country.
Fast forward 26 years when I was blessed with the opportunity to finally travel to Cambodia. It was a trip I will never forget; Cambodia both stole and broke my heart. Peace is a very recent thing in Cambodia and these resilient people are doing the best they can to rebuild their lives. It’s a very terrible situation for children in Cambodia. Their parents are struggling so much that children often don’t stay in school past grade 2 or so. There are also many orphans. I found it very frustrating that the systems and institutions are so corrupt there, it is absolutely impossible to volunteer or help in anyway. Children are forced to work, whether it be hawking goods, begging in the street, or late night prostitution. I saw things I will never forget. Travelling to Cambodia is not for the faint of heart. Despite it all, the Cambodian people are so willing to share their world openly and teach visitors about their ways of life.
A bit of background information in a nutshell: The Khmer Rouge, under the Pol Pot regime, violently took over cities, forcing families to drop everything in an unexpected instant and flee to safety. But this safety did not really exist. People were forced into work camps, brought to the brink of starvation, and watched their family members being tortured and killed right in front of them, or even worse, they were separated from their families and left wondering about their fate for years. Those were the lucky ones. Others were taken as prisoners to genocide centres where they were tortured beyond imagination before eventually being executed at the killing fields. The number of casualties from just the main genocide centre, Tuol Sleng, is estimated to be over 20,000 people. There were places like this all over the country and the Khmer Rouge did not discriminate…. this horrible fate also included children and babies. To this day, there are millions of landmines unaccounted for all over the country.
Fast forward 26 years when I was blessed with the opportunity to finally travel to Cambodia. It was a trip I will never forget; Cambodia both stole and broke my heart. Peace is a very recent thing in Cambodia and these resilient people are doing the best they can to rebuild their lives. It’s a very terrible situation for children in Cambodia. Their parents are struggling so much that children often don’t stay in school past grade 2 or so. There are also many orphans. I found it very frustrating that the systems and institutions are so corrupt there, it is absolutely impossible to volunteer or help in anyway. Children are forced to work, whether it be hawking goods, begging in the street, or late night prostitution. I saw things I will never forget. Travelling to Cambodia is not for the faint of heart. Despite it all, the Cambodian people are so willing to share their world openly and teach visitors about their ways of life.
Here's a photographic account of our journey:
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| Some local children playing in the ruins of Beng Mealea |
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| A lady preparing a meal in one of the many floating villages that surround Tonle Sap Lake |
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| Tonle Sap Lake houses |
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| Sunrise at Angkor Wat. How we spent our Christmas morning. |
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| The delicious results of our vegan Cambodian cooking class. |
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| Getting a fish massage. They eat all the dead skin off your feet and leave you feeling baby-soft. And don't worry, they like it and do this in the wild too, should you find yourself in a pond with them. |
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| We visited Phnom Tamao Wildlife Sanctuary. This is where they take care of animals who are injured (often by landmines) and rescued (from poachers or traders). Here's the cutest baby monkey in the world. He let me scratch his head. |
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| It's dusty driving conditions in Cambodia. In the back of a tuk tuk, you must wear a mask so you don't breathe it all in. |
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| At Choeung Ek (The Killing Fields). This, our last day, was a chilling and somber one. |
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