The owner of the hotel we were staying at recommended I don’t, but I also think that maybe it’s good for children to understand the history and culture of a region as well as educating them, hopefully ensuring something like this cannot happen again in the future.
I would also hope that they have a greater appreciation for the simple things in life and where they are fortunate enough to live.
I can only hope I did the right thing, as none of us are truly ever sure that we are always doing the right thing as parents. We can only do our best and I did put much deliberation into the decision.
Now, this place is certainly not for the faint hearted. I hired a guide to make sure I fully understood the experience and place I was visiting.
As he spoke, I felt tears welling and even as I write this, I can feel the same emotions emerging.
It is unimaginable that people can treat each other this way. The immense brutality of the Khmer Rouge is truly incomprehensible.
There was no discrimination between men, women and children and to see the spots where small children were killed (I won’t explain how - I can’t bring myself to do that), is sickening. This was happening as I was a small child, playing with my toys in Melbourne. These children could have been my friends had I had the misfortune of being born in Cambodia at that time.
It’s interesting that I struggled to connect with the Cambodian people more so than Laotians and Vietnamese and after visiting this place I now understand why. It is a country still trying to get over this fairly recent past. The sadness is still there, just under the surface. Don’t forget this brutality was inflicted upon them by their own people. I can’t imagine how that must feel. How a country recovers from this? They are doing well, but I feel (and it’s only my opinion of course) they still need some more time to really reconcile this. This happened in our lifetime (well, mine anyway), not generations ago.
As you walk around the 80 odd mass graves, you still see clothing and bones rising out of the ground as the rains and soil movements bring these to the surface.
There are 300 odd “killing fields” around the country.
One thing I couldn’t help notice here were the 100’s/1000’s of dragonflies swarming in the sky not too far above our heads. They provided some form of peace to this place.
I think I have already mentioned in a previous blog my love of these wonderous creatures, but i thought it apt to include it here again.
Dragonflies have many different symbolic meanings depending on which culture you look at, however one I remember is that they are the spirits or souls of the dead. Whether you believe this or not, it does provide a form of hope, yes, I think that’s the right word. Hope that these souls are now in peace after the brutality they suffered.
Other symbolic interpretations of Dragonflies are self realisation, and predominantly a time of and for change. They are also seen to represent living in the moment as they have such a short life and accomplish so much.
Let’s pray that humanity becomes wiser and more gentle as time moves forward.
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