Today was a particularly moving day of the Big Experience, in that we learnt a quantity of information about the genocidal nature of the reign of political leader Pol Pot and his Khmer Rouge. We began the day by traveling to the Killing Fields, the location in which over one million Khmer people were brutally executed by the Khmer Rouge. The dark atmosphere and gloomy nature of the Killing Fields was a truly confronting experience that has ultimately altered the way that many of us view the fundamental values of human life. The inhumanity of the methods of execution and the sheer confrontation of the remainders of the bodies that were buried in mass burial sites was an eye-opening experience for all of us.
Whilst wandering around the Killing Fields, we not only learnt about the methods of execution, the structure of organisation of the Killing Fields area and the cruel treatment of the victims, we also reflected on our own lives and how it contrasts with the treatment of the victims of this devastating era.
After a brief period of reflection, we traveled via bus to S – 21, a prison site that was redeveloped from a high-school that ultimately housed over 20 000 prisoners over the course of its establishment and existence. Only 7 prisoners of the 20 000 kept in S – 21 survived, and we were fortunate enough to have one of them there today. The methods of torture that we learnt about and the nature of the cells in the prison was extremely confronting, especially paired with detailed images of the prisoners tied up and being tortured.
We ended the day with a relaxing boat ride along the majestic Mekong. This was a lovely contrast to the atmosphere of the sites of the Khmer Rouge. Back at the hotel, we had a powerful group discussion about the Khmer Rouge and how it relates to us today – also discussing our individual perspectives and opinions on the locations we visited today. This is something we will remember for a long time.
TPC & Olivia
