One of the reasons why I chose to stay in Cambodia for a few days longer than the conference was so that I could visit Chrark Teak, a small, rural community about 2 hours from Phnom Penh. In all honesty, I know very little about this place, except for the fact that a woman from Ft. Collins, Colorado has invested a great deal of time and money over the last few years to improve this community by building a school.
In November of 2007 I attended an IB meeting in Denver with some fellow teachers. The most impressive part of the meeting was the guest speakers. An author and Cambodian-American, Luong Ung, spoke about her books: First they Killed my Father, and Lucky Child, both books were written about her experiences of growing up during the time of the Khmer Rouge. The second person to speak was Kari Grossman. Her son, Grady, was adopted from Cambodia. She also wrote a book, Bones that Float, that tells of her experiences in finding Grady's birth-mother, who was still living in Cambodia. In finding her, she learned about where her son would have grown up if he had stayed in Cambodia- he would have lived in Chrark Teak. Kari decided to essentially adopt the community, build a school, and is currently working to guide the community to improve their standard of living by engaging in sustainable development activities. Until I visited the community, I really had no idea what that actually meant.
Driving north from Phnom Penh, we go through several small communities: The land is flat, except for the old capital Phnom Oudong. The land is green, with rice paddies and farmland. Scattered throughout are tall palm trees that look like they could be found in a Dr. Seuss book. Huts and houses are on either side of the road..some very lavish with a car or two parked underneath, while others look like they would fall down in a pile of rubble if you just approached them.
We cross a river and I notice a sign that reads: Phnom Aural Wildlife Sanctuary. I look around the sign and it is the same thing: houses, rice paddies, and random trees. Ox carts, trucks, and cars are loaded down with large tree trunks: trees cut down from the nearby forest. These will be used to make charcoal, the widely used fuel of not just rural households but most restaurants and homes in Phnom Penh. About 15 minutes later we arrive at the school, a typical single-story, pale yellow building amid a field of dust and grass.
There are many things about this area that reveal itself after a few hours of conversation. One is that it is illegal to go into the forest and cut down trees. The sad part about this is that every year more and more trees are taken out of the forest and used for charcoal. The forest once extended to the sign that I saw on the way in to the school. That was less than 10 years ago! Most of the community didn't even really exist. People have moved in from other places because they have been kicked off their land and out of their homes by people who are wealthier and more powerful. Even if it is illegal, lines of carts, like the ones in the photo here, go into the forest and cut down trees.
Theirs is a life from one day to the next: what do I need TODAY? When outsiders have tried to convince people not to log the forest, because the forest won't last forever and animals live there, it doesn't matter. That is TOMORROW. Their needs are real and they are immediate.
While in Chrark Teak, I sat in on 2 community meetings. I didn't really understand the importance of these meetings until I had sat through one and was half-way through the second. You may think nothing of them. community meetings..they happen all the time. But that's the trick of it! In Cambodia they don't! Here is a group of representatives from the larger community. They have come together to discuss problems and upcoming projects. They are writing a proposal for an agricultural area that they intend to build. AS A COMMUNITY they are doing this. Again, you may think: "so!?" Keep reading.
This year is the 30-year anniversary of the Khmer Rouge being removed from power: 1979. The worst of their rule was the 4 years preceding this: 1975-1979. During this time people were forced to leave the cities and flee to the countryside. The leaders of the Khmer Rouge wanted to return the country to a simpler time. They idealized the lives of the poor farmers and forced city-dwellers, people who were educated professionals living in nice houses, wearing nice clothes and jewelry, to leave their lives and go to re-education camps in the countryside. Here they would learn about farming.
Perhaps that was the intention, but that is not what happened. People fled and were forced to hide or be killed. Fancy clothes were taken and in their place people were given all-black pants and shirts. People worked day and night. Their only personal property was their bowl and their spoon. Food was rationed, until it was no longer provided. People starved. People did what they could to protect themselves and their families...and then they did what they had to to protect themselves. Everyone was watched, no one was trusted. Spirits were broken.
Thirty years later, people still have scars. Some are visible, but the invisible ones are the ones that are hardest to overcome. In a land where people worry only about TODAY, a person will do whatever is necessary in order to provide for his family and make it another day. It is in this environment, under these conditions, that in a small community outside of Phnom Penh, people are gathering to talk about how they can work TOGETHER, TRUST EACH OTHER, and LOOK TOWARD THE FUTURE in order to make their lives more livable and give their children better opportunities than they had.
It was an honor for me to be a part of these meetings, and to hear these people, some men and some women, talk about what they needed from each other and from outsiders. It was on honor to hear that 3 of the 4 women who spoke had never spoken at a meeting before. Thank you for trusting me and trusting each other enough to take a risk and share your ideas. It means more to me than you know and I honor you for that.
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