Hello My Fellow Travelers - today is the end of day 9 (Monday) and my story becomes more serious. The true reason for this trip became very much apparent this afternoon. So here we go...
This morning we awoke and had a leisurely breakfast. The omelets chef perfected my eggs over easy and I enjoyed a healthy order of French Toast! Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. We headed off to the airport and boarded our flight to Phnom Penh. We all watched our luggage board the bus (not to make the mistake of leaving one behind again) and plucked them from the bus as we arrived at the airport. Siem Reap - is a posh international airport very well appointed. Because our plane was a larger airbus we departed out of the international lounge (nice). What's not so nice however is that this airport is privatized. We'll discuss this more later on.
I've always wanted to have my luggage wrapped up at one of those plastic wrapping (security) stations and as it was so cheap ($3) and I wanted to protect my luggage from getting dirty - I said why not. So in less than 3 minutes I had the safety and security of mummified backpack - it was kind'a neat -but awkward to lug around!
The flight to Phnom Penh was uneventful and I was fortunate to have been assigned my favourite isle seat (just in case...). Upon arrival in Phnom Pehn we were met by a new driver and 2 minivans to transport us to the hotel - the Golden Gate Hotel (not my favourite - but it’s a roof over our head with AC).
I took the time to find a local paper. The feature articles in both the Mekong Daily and Cambodia Daily papers was about a murder of a Cambodian journalist and his son (on Friday) and the attack on a Minister of the CPP party (Cambodian Peoples Party). Now the CPP is the ruling party and as mentioned before there is an upcoming election this July 27th. The journalist that was killed worked for a local paper and was a member of the Sam Rainsy Party (SRP). It is believe that the killing of the journalist was an attempt to silence the (free/open) voice of the opposition party and similar attacks have been wielded against some of the other parties (i.e. the Funcinpec Party, the Human Rights Party and the League for Democracy Party). I mention these simply because I have saw signs for these parties throughout my trip and they are reported as being the major opposition parties to the CPP - (particularly the SRP).
The attack on the CPP Minister (acid was thrown on him) was believed to be in retaliation for the murders. No one has been arrested on either incident at this point and I suspect they never will.
What struck me the most about these political attacks is the commentary of a few others - particularly around the notion of a free vote. Voting is supposed to be by secret ballot (much in the way we enjoy our vote at home). However my understanding of the process is not so secret - in some situations it is by show of hands (in remote areas). It is believed that the CPP is a highly corrupted party with many ex-Khamer Rouge members holding key posts in the current government. There is a great deal of nepotism also within the government. So even if the CPP party were to loose the election, there are concerns that the balance of power would not change.
I spoke earlier about the privatization of the airport but a number of other key industries and historical places (i.e. The Killing Field Museum, Angkor) are also privatized. This in and of itself is not bad but the monies collected (multi-millions) do not go back to the people. It is believed that it is washed through the government. The government staff (Ministers) reportedly make only 40K/yr - but it is a widely held belief that they make a good income under the table from these private industries. There is a huge gap between the very few rich and the many poor and this gap is widening daily – especially with the oil prices so high and rice becoming scare. Just to give you perspective, the average income here in Cambodia is approx. $500/yr. A litre of gas is 5700 Riels for regular and about 5750 – 5850 Riels for super or diesel fuel. (4000 Riels = 1 US Dollar). That’s pretty high for people making $500/yr. As a result there is a lot of trading. When things get desperate, people sell or trade their animals for food such as rice. But when that runs out, what next?
Before you start to worry - we are safe!!!!!!
Most of you know that I am not a politically minded person. However actually meeting people who were afraid to speak their mind openly for fear of their lives was a stark contrast to life in Canada where I sometimes feel we pander to everyone under the guise of political correctness.
After lunch we went on a tour of the Genocide Museum and learned more about the rule of the Pol Pot Regime (a key leader of the Khmer Rouge). There were two key edicts that Pol Pot held (1) "Wrong Killings is better than Wrong Keepings" - which is a translation from Khmer indicating it is better to kill someone in error than to allow some one who is contrary to the regime to go free in error. The other one (2) is "You cannot kill the grass without killing the root". This phrase was equally gruesome. The Khmer Rouge killed (massacred) one in five Cambodians throughout their reign. When the Khmer Rouge came into a village they separated families and killed the majority of the educated people (doctors, teachers, lawyers, elders and religious leaders etc) and children (babies). The educated people killings were to reduce the likelihood for uprising and the baybies because they were of no use to the regime. When they massacred the father, they would also kill the entire family (from the children through to the elders).
We followed the tour as it led from building to building with atrocity after atrocity. I made the mistake early on (before seeing all the images) of trying on one of the leg shackles that the prisoners were made to were. Why I say it was a mistake is because while it was done out of sheer curiosity, it was in retrospect it was very disrespectfully of the many men and women who actually wore them and were chained to their beds, tortured and later driven to their deaths at the killing fields.
Today we took that journey and visited the fields (after the Genocide Museum). Most befittingly a storm cloud came over us as we got to the monument housing the skulls of many of the victims. As we waited for it to pass, we were able to listen to stories from our guide Mr. Kim about the loss of his family members and the ongoing corruption in today’s government. We learned that after 5 years of promise from the UN - none of the (mere) 5 people expected of committing the war crimes have yet to be prosecuted. Supposedly the money set aside to prosecute those involved is running dry. In today's paper it seems that the Germans have committed millions of dollars to help with this cause. With that said there is little hope amongst the people that there will be justice as there are too many people (at high levels) involved not to mention countries like the US, China and the UK whose hands are also dirty).
Once the rains subsided, we walked through the fields. This walk was a very somber one. The fields were so deep with corpses that many bones or clothing could be seen at the surface. It was very disturbing as we walked on these mass graves.
The Khmer (Cambodians) are genuinely good natured people and I truly hope that they will see their way to a positive hopeful future. I will be watching the elections and their results but at that point I will be safely home (surrounded by the safety and liberties that I accept as a given at home in Canada).
For everyone following my e-mails I will be signing off for the next few days. Tomorrow we head off to Kep a town in the south of Cambodia near the village where we will be house building. It is a 3 hour drive from Phnom Pehn and there is no internet available. The build begins on Wednesday and we should be complete by Friday. I expect that I will resume internet communications on Saturday when I am next in Thailand.
Enjoy the week everyone. I understand the weather will be a scorcher - as it will be here. At least you're not house building. I am really excited and looking forward to making a difference to the lives of the people and their families in need.
Talk to you soon!