From 1975-1979, 25% of Cambodia’s population was systematically murdered at the hands of their very own government.
Meet Sreymam (SUH-ray-mom)
She owns a little café in Battambang. I’ve spent my Cambodian afternoons with her; shopping for new napkin holders, taking orders, proposing new marketing ideas, or talking about life over fresh fruit smoothies.
Today, Sreymam is a small business owner. She is a mother. She is a friend.
She is a survivor.
This is her story.
When she was only 5 years old, the bloodthirsty and power-hungry Khmer Rouge took over Cambodia’s government. Even though Sreymam was small, no time could erase the hunger and fear she faced as a child. Due to the terrorizing regime, there was a famine as terrible as any deathly plague that left her little belly desperate for more grains of rice each day. The first day I met Sreymam, she told me how her entire family had one single handful of rice to survive on each day—one single handful combined.
She was one of the lucky ones. Until the regime was over, she was able to seek refuge in neighboring Thailand. She did not become one of countless child soldiers whose responsibility it was to plant hidden land mines and carry weapons as big as their whole bodies with orders to kill or be killed.
Her father wasn’t as fortunate. He was brutally murdered without cause, along with hundreds of thousands others who were taken to killing fields where they were forced into backbreaking labor before either dying of starvation, being tortured, or simply shot dead.
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At age 16, Sreymam was married. At age 22, with 3 small children running around the house, her first husband died.
Eventually, as her children grew, she still found time to pursue her passion of dance—and made it all the way to dancing for the king of Cambodia.
Her second husband, years later, turned out to be nothing like the man she thought he was. Now a single mother of 4, her life revolves around providing for her family in what, on the outside, may look like an unassuming role.
Today, she credits God for her happiness and joy, and for sustaining her in business so she can take care of her family. She thanks God for sending the missionary into her life several years ago that introduced her to the One who brings her joy amongst the still-settling dust from the horrific events of the 1970s.
Below, Sreymam agreed to tell some of her story on camera.
Please take a moment to educate yourself on the horrific genocide that took place fewer than 50 years ago. My dear friend and teammate, Paige Deur, has written a brief, brilliant, and personal account, including a picture of the actual killing caves used during the Khmer Rouge: See more at http://paigedeur.theworldrace.org/post/they-live-side-by-side-shedding-light-on-the-cambodian-genocide
