I’m not sure one’s every really ready to
visit Choeung Ek (“the Killing Fields”). And I’m not exactly sure what to say about it,
but it’s an experience that cannot go unmentioned.
In April 1975, after a civil war spanning
several years, the Khmer Rouge (“Red Khmer” because of its communist roots)
took over Phnom Penh overthrowing the Cambodian government. There was
celebration in the streets because the people thought the war was over.
However, it was the beginning of four years of forced labour, starvation, brutal
torture and execution of over 2,000,000 people. Choeung Ek is the most well-known of about 300 killing
fields in Cambodia. Those who threatened or appeared to threaten (eg they spoke
another language, wore glasses or were educated) Pol Pot’s utopic agrarian
society were often tortured or simply killed. In Phnom Penh, truckloads were
transported from S21 prison where they were tortured, to this place to die.
Wandering around the Killing Fields in the
bright sun a couple of weeks ago, bits of cloth and bone underfoot exposed by
the recent rains, I considered the horror of the events of that place, and came
to the conclusion that it exists because of the absolute power possessed by and
paranoia of (pretty much) one man.
This week, I was struck by the ongoing trauma experienced by many Cambodians following the Khmer Rouge era. Sue
Taylor, a fellow Kiwi who has been with Hagar for several years building
capacity in counseling and case work took the Hagar expats through Informed
Trauma Training. This training will be given to all Hagar staff, including
finance, HR, and the drivers that take the kids to Hagar’s school, to help us
understand the needs of our clients, the work of our counselors, caseworkers
and others who work directly with our clients, and the vicarious trauma that they can experience as a result of that work.
In the training we talked about the trauma
Cambodians experienced during the war and Khmer Rouge era as a result of constant
fear and suspicion, loss of loved ones and exposure to extreme acts of violence. Sue talked about the mother of one of our clients who does not know
what it is to be affectionate, to take care of her children. She was a teenager
during the Khmer Rouge era and was told she must work hard, and work hard she
has ever since – to the detriment of her family.
I realized that there are many forms of
trauma affecting the lives of some of our clients - their own personal trauma, but also
that of their families and their nation.
- Karen
The (now empty) Killing Fields. There are other sections of the area that have not been excavated out of respect.
At our training at the women's shelter. I gained a huge appreciation for the work that Sue and others do with our clients at Hagar.
