Yesterday, I heard about a reality so repulsive
it set my teeth on edge.
Everything inside of me raged.
All the junk in the world makes me cringe.
I am a huge adocate for justice,
and learning of the four year nightmare that
swept the country of Cambodia awakened
a mess of emotions in me that all too often
consume my thoughts.
I know we're supposed to love everyone.
But just to shoot straight, I don't love the people that did this.
That's just something the Lord is gonna have
to work out in me, because everything inside
of me screams for the innocent victims.
In 1970, the Cambodian War began.
There was an uprising against the government
by a Communist regime known as the Khmer Rouge,
led by Pol Pot.
Their desire was to turn the country back
to a pure, agrarian society through social
engineering, a fancy way of saying that the government
would brainwash those within society so that they would
fit their idea of what their culture should look like.
Anyone that did not fit the mold or defied the regime
were put to death immediately.
In 1975, the government of Lon Nol fell
and the Khmer Rouge took complete power over the country.
They forced everyone from their homes,
promising them they would return in a few days.
Eventually, however, everyone was forced into different
villages and labor camps.
Because the Khmer Rouge's main objective was to
be entirely self-sufficient
(therefore they stopped accepting imports),
all those who were educated were the primary targets.
Instantly, they were put to death.
Victims were killed mostly with land instruments,
such as shovels and hoes, and even knives,
so as not to waste bullets.
The people of Cambodia were forced to work
the rice fields (known as the Killing Fields).
Many died due to starvation, as
they were living off of one tin of rice per person
for every two days, appr. 180 grams.
It is estimated that as many as 3,000,000
people were killed at the hands of the Khmer Rouge.
The population at the time was a mere 8,000,000.
In 1979, after the liberation from the Vietnamese,
Pol Pot and a remnant of the Khmer Rouge fled to the
borders of Thailand. He stayed there until his death in 1998.
I'll never understand why this stuff happens.
It makes me sick.
I picked up a book while at the Killing Fields.
It is a memoir telling written by a girl who was
five at the time it all began.
I highly recommend it.
Here's just a hint of it (bear in mind she's six):
"I eat the rice slowly, and even pick up one grain if I drop it on the ground."
"Hunger, there is always hunger. We have eaten everything that is edible, from rotten leaves on the ground to the roots we dig up. Rats, turtles, and snakes caught in our traps are not wasted as we cook and eat their brains, tails, hides and blood. When no animals are caught, we roam the fields for grasshopppers, beetles and crickets. In Phnom Penh, I would have thrown up if someone told me I would have to eat those things. Now, when the only alternative is to starve, I fight others for the dead animal lying in the road."
"For lack of anything else to do when my body gets too sick to work in the garden, I often watch the villagers dispose of the corpses. I see them dig a hole underneath the hut of the dead family and cringe as they push the bodies into the hole. The dead families are buried together in one grave. There were times when such scenes terrified me, but I have seen the ritual performed so many times that I now feel nothing."
She's freaking six years old.
I seriously just want to punch something
every other page.
Why the hell is this a reality that
actual human beings had to endure?
I need Jesus.
These are the skulls of victims that are held within a 17 story building that commemorates
all who died.
First sign as you begin to walk through. None of the builings actually remain, because
as soon as the Khmer Rouge fled, angry villagers came through and tore everything apart.
Even children were not spared, because that would leave a chance for family members
to return and seek revenge.
This is a painting of the living conditions of those within the camps.
Just a glimpse of the millions of victims.
