Heritage Day 2000 Main Page

Cambodia Life Back Then

Cambodia is a very beautiful country. It is surrounded on the north by Thailand an Laos, on the east and southeast by Vietnam, and on the west by the Gulf Of Thailand and Thailand. It’s roughly square in shape. Cambodia covers 181,040 square kilometers in the southwestern part of Indochina Peninsula. Much of the country’s area consists of rolling plains. The forest covers about two-thirds of the country.

Biography Of My Mom

This is my mom. Her name is Samak Vorn Lorn. She is a Cambodian. She was born at Preh Venh, which is located in Cambodia. She has one mom, one dad, three older sisters, and one younger brother. In Cambodia, her family was really poor and they couldn’t afford much. The couldn’t even afford to give my mom an education. They lived near a farm, in a stick house. They got most of their food by the vegetables grown there and they got their water from the river near their house. As for a living, her and her three older sisters would go on the streets and sell vegetables, like cabbage, lettuce, pickles, etc. Her and her family also took care of animals, like cows.

As she got older, about nine years old, she had a really bad disease. Her family couldn’t afford medicine, so my mom almost died. Luckily, a lady from Komponh Tombh, came and adopted my mom and took care of her. Before my mom left, her mom gave her a necklace with their last name to remember each other, incase in the future they’ll see each other again. The lady who adopted my mom, found a cure for her disease. She was pretty rich, so she could afford the medicine. Later, when my mom felt better, that lady told my mom to work for her and do all the house jobs. My mom was also put in school for about two years. My mom still did some farming once in awhile. One day when it was that lady’s birthday, she brought my mom and her two daughters, about three years older than my mom, to Angkor Wat. The two girls really liked my mom. They bought stuffs for her and played with her. When my mom and one of those daughters lost their way in the Angkor Wat, they met this handsome guy, my dad. Both, my mom and that girl thought my dad was cute. The lady’s daughter started chatting with my dad and flirting with him. Later, he brought my mom and that girl to a big place, that’s where you go when you’re lost. Everyday, my mom would think of my dad. She also thought of her family at Preh Venh. My mom hasn’t seem her mom ever since. Her whole childhood, she’s never had much happiness.

During the war, my mom met her mom and they were separated again. They’ve seen each other for only two days. Now, my mom doesn’t even know if her family is dead or alive.

Biography of My Dad

This is my dad. His name is Chharun. He is half Cambodian and half Chinese. He was born at Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia. He has one mom, one dad, two sisters, and two brothers. His family was rich, very rich. They owned a business at Cambodia. He lived in a big mansion and had helpers and maidens to help out with the house work. He started school in grade one. He went to school and had a lot of friends. He was one of those guys. They would hang out and go to many places together. One day, a special one, him and his family, including some few friends, went the Angkor Wat. It’s a temple where the gods and goddesses statues are. That’s where you prey for good luck. That was the day my mom and dad met. He thought she was pretty. He was actually shy to talk to her because he was afraid of saying something stupid. They chatted for awhile and said good bye. He actually thought of my mom, all he remembered was her name. In his life, he had a lot of fun, unlike my mom.

When he was about 10, he was put in a special school at Siem Reap. He moved away from his family for awhile. He moved there with his dad and they lived in a normal sized house. They weren’t as rich, neither as poor. He was put their because he wanted to learn how to speak English. He was taught a lot, but he forgot sometimes. After about, three years later, he and his dad went back to Phnom Penh. He took school there again. Second, the big war. He was separated form his whole family, during that time. Later, they found each other. Their whole business was ruined. They became poor during the war. After, they found each other, but my dad’s dad died because he was an educated and skilled guy. Now, no one talks about anymore.

How the War Began

At the beginning of Cambodian New Years at Cambodia, on April 17, 1975, Vietnam invaded Cambodia. The Khmer Rouge, meaning “ Red Khmer”, a communist guerrilla group led by Pol Pot, ruled Phnom Penh. During that time, over millions of people died and half a million exiled in Thailand and elsewhere. Cities immediately evacuated, and the country was cut off from the outside world. More than two thousand years came to an end. Everywhere was empty, except for the dead bodies of people. That time, no one had the right to do anything. That’s because the Khmer Rouge took control of everybody. No one had freedom during that time. The Khmer Rouge would kill people who didn’t obey them and who bothered them. There was approximately ten and a half million persons under the Khmer Rouge regime. They banned all institutions, including stores, banks, hospitals, schools, religion, and the families. Children’s were separated from their parents and had to work in mobile groups or as soldiers. Everyone was forced to work 12-14 hours a day, everyday. People were fed one watery bowl of soup with a few grains of rice thrown in. Most people were beaten or stoned to death. Others died of starvation or disease. Seriously injured hospital patients were summarily forced to leave regardless of their condition. Babies, children, and adults were killed everywhere. They killed people if they didn’t like them, if they didn’t work hard enough, if they were educated and skilled, if they came from different ethnic groups, or if they showed sympathy when their family members were taken away to be killed.

Everyone was under Angkar, the Khmer Rouge government, commands. People were risking to do anything to survive, even to jump in a river to get to the other side or to jump over an electric fence to get to the other side. Many died from trying this. The town dwellers were put to work in forced labors battalion throughout the country. Jobs like clearing the land and grow rice. People who disobeyed Angkar, customarily received a formal warning to mend their ways. More than two warnings resulted in being given an “invitation” which meant certain death. The blood of the Khmer brothers and sisters and comrades in arms, has flown into brooks and streams all over the territory of Cambodia. The community brought to the area an access of violence, massacring people for reason or no reason, breaking children’s heads open, showing that they were masters. Together, the people, the workers, and revolutionary workers, who sacrificed their sweat, blood, bones, and flesh to the struggle to overflow the old regime, in order to build a new regime.

The Killing Fields

During the Killing Fields, people who were killed were buried in mass graves on the prison grounds. It is estimated that the total number of mass graves pits in Cambodia maybe as high as 20,000. The Khmer Rouge would kill anybody, even new born babies or sick and old adults. Before most women died, they have been raped secretly. The prisons there were protected by security guards. Many rooms were full of prisoners, but there was one room that had all the doors and windows permanently shut. That was where the prisoners were beaten. Skulls were piled high inside a big building, rooms full of them. Skulls were placed into a clear, glass panel of the memorial Stupa. Everything was destroyed, things that took years to build.

After Vietnamese invaded and liberated the Cambodian people from Khmer rouge, approximately 600,000 Cambodians fled to Thai border camps. Ten million mines were left on the ground. Cambodia became a gigantic prison farm.

Refugee Camp: A Place of Survival

A Refugee Camp is a place where survivors of the Cambodia war stay. It takes them months to get there. It is very far from Cambodia, it’s in Thailand. Though they maybe neighbors, but these survivors have to walk. On the way, people have died because of starvation or because they got sick. They also died because they had no water or because a wild animal bite them and they lost blood. It was terrible. To survive, they would eat anything that looks like food to them or drink something that is juicy. It was hard for people to walk because of the heat from the sun. On the way, people ate fruits from the trees and fish from the rivers. Otherwise, they would kill animals and cook them. Every night, people slept on the grounds and sometimes on the trees. If they got sick on the way, they would make medicine simply by mixing herbal leaves with other herbal leaves and boiling them in water, then drinking them.

When they got at the Refugee Camp, the UNHCR (United Nation High Commissioner For Refugees) took care of them. They supplied all the food and shelter. They built a fence around the camp, so that no one could get out. There were security guards 24 hours a day. The houses were made out of wood and separated into two rooms by a curtain. Six houses formed a circle and there was a fire place in the middle. When the weather got cold, the UNCHR would put a curtain around the houses. The bedroom has only one mat on the floor to sleep on. The food they ate were canned food, like soup, tuna, salmon, mushroom, sardines, fried dace with salted black beans, rambutan, mackerel, and grass jelly. Each week they would give one kilogram of rice to each person. When they received all their food, they would cook it themselves. Most people made plain rice and fried rice. The HCR gave about three litres of water each day to drink and wash themselves. The students went to school close to the Refugee Camp. They would teach stuffs, like English and French. They taught the girls how to be a nurse and the boys to be a doctor. You were also taught how to be a parent and how to respect people. The schools there were different form now. They didn’t have separate desks. Everyone in each classroom has to share one whole desk. They supplied all the pencils and papers. They also taught you how to read and write.

Not only that the Refugee Camp is a place to eat, sleep, and play, it is also a place to meet new people. This is where my mom and dad met. It started when my mom was walking and looking for a butterfly, she was chasing it, and she bumped into my dad. They started talking, until suddenly, they asked for each other’s name and remembered each other from along time ago. ( can you believe it, they remembered each other’s name ) Everyday, they would usually go outside and play together. Sometimes, they both would get together around the fire and talk until morning. They ate together and went to school together. They were in the same classroom, so they helped eachother back and forth. After about a year and a half, they decided that since they were so close, they should get married. They go married together and lived together. In 1980, the government of Canada wanted to sponsor some people from the Refugee Camp to Canada. There was one room left, so they choose my mom. She refused because she said without my dad, she wouldn’t go. Later, they choose someone else and everything was solved. in 1985, the government of Canada wanted to sponsor more people to Canada. They took my mom and dad to start a new life.

Beginning of a New Life at Canada

Our Family in 2000

Now, when my mom and dad have a talk, they always think of how poor they were when they came here to now. Back then when we needed things, we couldn’t afford them, but now we can get almost everything we want. We get to go on vacations and fun places. . It’s changed a lot for my parents. That’s because they came to Canada. Now, my parents can barely remember the past because their concentrating on the future. All I know is that life sure has changed a lot for my mom.

From a stick house to a brick house, from no education to an education, and from no money to money. Twenty-five years have changed a lot for us.