Killing Fields

Many of you will be aware of the many atrocities committed during the late 1970s in Cambodia by Pol Pot and his Khmer Rouge.  During this period of genocide, it is estimated that somewhere between a fifth and a quarter of the population of Cambodia was killed to purge the society of intellectuals and anyone with education and skills in order to start a new agrarian communist society.  The locations where the executions took place have become known collectively as the "killing fields."  On our way home from the well projects, we stopped at a mountain on which a prison was located and where many "enemies" of the regime were killed by being lined up facing the edge of cliffs near the top of the mountain and struck violently in the back of the head with bamboo poles and propelled to their deaths on the rocks below.

The former prison has been converted into a Buddhist shrine.

Here is a shot from below a cliff where many were sent to their deaths.  There are many spots like this on the mountain.

There are also a lot of holes like this near the top of the mountain opening up to open rock spaces some distance below.  Apparently these were favorites spots for Pol Pot's soldiers to do their evil. 

There were also several places where skulls and other bones from the genocide victims were placed,

There were also a lot of monkeys around waiting for a handout from visitors.

This one received a banana.

 I'm not sure what this monkey was looking at but I'm glad no one had a bamboo pole handy.

Well, Well, Well. What have we here?

On June 9, Elder Spencer left at 7:00 AM to spend a day with Elder and Sister Meinzer, the humanitarian missionaries for Cambodia who represent LDS Charities.  We were accompanied by an interpreter and a couple of local LDS Charities project employees.  LDS Charities is hoping to drill a large number of wells (I think 64 was the number) in rural areas in this region of Cambodia and the day was spent making sure that everything was in order.  We first met with the Vice-Governor of Banan District of the Battambang Province where the wells will be drilled.  A contract had to be signed which he read out loud completely. 

The Vice-Governor is the man gesturing on the right in back. He was extremely grateful that many of his people would soon have access to clean drinking water.  Many of them currently depend on lake water and, not surprisingly, there is much illness especially among the children.

It is also important for each village that receives wells to enter into an agreement with LDS Charities which must be signed by each person in the village who benefits from a well.  They must each agree to the rules of well use and the village as a whole must raise $200 per well to have in a bank account before the well is drilled.  These funds are then available when the well needs repair.  LDS Charities has found that without such funds at hand, the villagers do not repair a well that breaks and the well becomes useless. 

To pull this off, meetings are held in each village to explain the game and to get agreement.  Here is a village chief (every village has one) opening the meeting of the residents of his village before the well project was explained to them.

 The meeting was held at the local Buddhist Wat (temple).  Here is a shot of some of the villagers.  They were all so grateful as well to receive new wells that cost about $2000 each to drill.  Even though it will be hard for them, they agreed to raise the necessary $200.

In this village there is only one member family and here is a picture.  The man in the skirt (?) on the left is not in the family.  It is a grandfather with his daughter, her husband, and their children.  These wells will service mostly nonmembers although LDS Charities does try to target villages with at least some members.

It was a wonderful day full of touching experiences.

The jack fruit deserves its own post.

You can buy a jack fruit in many stands around town.  They cut it up so you don't have to buy a whole fruit. They are big.

 This is how they grow on a tree.  They are often bigger than a football (even an undeflated one.)

So this is the little piece I purchased after its bleach bath.

You take one of the "blossom" pods out and then....

pop out the seed. The blossom is nice and sweet, but no distinguishable flavor.  Just sweet.

This is what is left. The rind and sticky stuff on your hands. It has to be scrubbed off.

And these seeds. I cannot throw them away. I guess I cannot bring them back to the States with me, right?  Probably illegal. They are so smooth, like a wood bead.

We saw a video online about eating a jack fruit, if you are interested.  We are always looking for more adventures.  And then we will share.

Random pictures from Battambang.

We have so many pictures that I cannot put into a category, please enjoy some of the sites we see.

 We liked this thatched roof.  It was taken out in the country.

 These are some pictures I took from the car. The golden structures are wats. They are all over, just beautiful buildings and smaller "monuments." I will learn more and post.  After all, we are not tourists and don't have full-time to discover and learn about this interesting culture. But we have amazing experiences that tourists don't have.

I don't know how to capture the countryside. The foliage reminds me so much of Hawaii.  Lots of bougainvillea and palms. We are looking forward to see when various trees blossom.  We don't have four seasons, but we do have various blossoms and rainy season. There are lots of rice fields in this area.  It is dry right now, but apparently they will be beautiful green at some point.

This is the river that runs through Battambang. We cross it 10 times a day!  You can see that it looks more like a mud puddle.  It is usually higher. I don't know what the man on the boat is doing, but it was picturesque. I have seen families playing in the water.

Elephants everywhere. I like these white ones best. They are holding lotus flowers in their trunks.

This is a garbage can, but most people just pile plastic bags by their place. We see people rummaging through these bags to find recyclables. At first I thought there was no garbage collection, because their is trash everywhere, but people do sweep their places every morning.  There is still lots of trash everywhere.

This is a baby gecko on our wall.  I actually let it into the house. Apparently, they keep the insects in check.  You can see them everywhere, EVERYWHERE.

One day we are going to spend a Prep Day sitting in one place and taking pictures of transportation modes here. It is so interesting. Unfortunately, we usually are driving when we see things and it is difficult to capture from the car.

This cobra image is everywhere.  Since snakes are my least favorite thing, I have to get used to this.

This was beautiful as well. Note the orange blossoms in the background. I don't know what the name of that tree is, but we saw it in Hawaii as well.  Also, note the smoke. There are no burn restrictions, so often we see garbage burning, or just leaves.

Pretty random, but if what they say is true, I have just given you thousands of words.  We are so grateful to be serving here.

We love working with the young missionaries!

We spend a good portion of our time going out to meet with members and investigators with the young missionaries. (They are not young in spirit, they are so dedicated and mature! It is our honor to serve with them.  They do amazing things.) Each of these visits is precious. These pictures are from a Sunday we spent in Persat. There are only 10 members there right now. Those Elders are amazing!

This is were they meet for Church. It is the living room of the Elders.

 This is the 10th member. His name is "Lucky" (in Khmer.)  He was baptized after Church. It was a lovely event. He has lots of family support.  Then we went out visiting families.

This family was so gracious, they fed us wonderful omelets that you eat chunks of with green leaves in your fingers. We sat under the house on the left in picture 2.  I want to learn how to fix these for our family when we get home. It is so delicious. They also served us homemade soy milk.  You can see the new house they are building on the right side on the bottom picture. It is a great family and as is usual they had several visitors and guests hanging around, so we never know exactly who is part of the family.  They kind of all are.

More visits. The missionaries bless the lives of all the people they visit. As we sat visiting this older man, one of the missionaries was fixing a little plank he has over a ditch.

                                                  These are various sisters in Battambang.

  We had the sisters missionaries that are serving in Battambang over one Sunday after Church.

                                              Then, we had the Elders in Battambang over.
I am including lots of pictures of missionaries because some of the Moms are following the blog now. Thanks, wonderful Moms!! We love your daughters and sons