Recently I had the opportunity to visit Cambodia for a week and a half.

I wish I could say that I was motivated by my knowledge of the country, the architectura l wonders, or any other facet of the culture. The truth is that I needed to leav e Thailand in order to extend my visa and some friends were headed to Cambodia s o I tagged along. I am still unsure how I finished college and knew nothing of C ambodia, but that is also the truth. I cannot recall learning of Angkor Wat duri ng architectural history courses but surely that was covered... Did I sleep that day? I briefly researched the places I planned on visiting prior to arrival and was shocked to learn of Cambodia's recent history... history that occurred duri ng my life time. Perhaps this is my motivation: the knowledge that while I was being cared for in my Raggedy Anne and Andy decorated nursery with matching yellow and orange curt ains. . . while I chose between french toast or pancakes and watched cartoons wi th my father, people were starved, tortured, and murdered. 2 million people. Nea rly 30% of the entire country. Not only is it one the worst genocides in history , but it occurred during my life time, and I knew nothing of it though I am mode rately educated. My fortune regarding my place of birth has never before been so evident. (While Poland suffered the largest loss during the holocaust with over 3 million deaths, that accounted for less than 9% of the population of the coun try at the outbreak of the second World War. Certainly more Jews were lost durin g the Holocaust but no other country in modern history has lost 30% of its popul ation. Look around you. Count all of the people you see in increments of 4. A fe w more than every 4th person would have been murdered.) The imagery of the country is intense in all ways. It is beautiful, vibrant, and exotic. It is poor, destitute, and tragic. It is rich, excessive, and luxurious . The temples and history of an ancient culture are magnificent. They come secon d only to my experiences in Egypt and I can only imagine the wonders that are mi ssing after decades of war. The flooding was abating during my visit. Some roads were in need of repair whil e others remained flooded and we waded with our belongings over head or biked th rough, hoping not to be toppled over. During a bus ride from Siem Reap to Phnom Penh, it was evident that some of the country was still suffering from the flood s. There were boats tied to houses and stairs leading into the abyss. Most areas seemed to be dealing with the flooding reasonably well from my view at 90 kph w hich provides no insight into crops, livelihood, etc. It was evident that the ne ighbors with the dry yards were housing the community's livestock. As we neared Phnom Penh, there were miles where all that was visible for as far as the eye co uld see in both directions was water. The two lane road had been built up above the flood plain (though barely) and everything else was submerged. Occasionally the top of a roof or tips or a fence were visible. . . maybe a great tree reduce d to the size of a bush. People were huddled on the shoulder of the road, buses passing by, honking, swerving dangerously close, and entire families, men, women , children, babies, livestock, were isolated on little more than 4 or 5 feet of earth. The flood waters were receding so I am not sure how long they had been in this position. The cows and hogs looked skinny but it appeared someone had come by and thrown hay out. In stark contrast, there were intricate palaces and temples covered with gold a few miles down the road. People enjoying immense wealth had their drivers park t heir Lexus and Mercedes SUVs right on the sidewalks or where ever else they fanc ied. They wore expensive suits and large gold watches. It was beautiful and trag ic and disgusting all at once. . . Story From a 12 Year Old Girl Our tour guide for a day at Angkor Wat gave a brief history of Cambodia in our t uk-tuk as we traveled and told us how her father was murdered by the Khmer Rouge

in 1978. . . the year I was born. She was 12. Suddenly she had our attention an d we strained to understand every word as she told her story. The Khmer Rouge so ught to return Cambodia to a purely Agrarian society: Year 1 as they called it. They murdered any educated person, person with glasses, business man, member of the past military, member of the previous government, or weak/sick/disabled pers on and forced everyone else to farm. Individuals who expressed any dissension, w itnessed their entire families murdered in their last moments of life. As with a ny good-old-fashion genocide, there was ethnic cleansing and though our tour gui de's father was a good farmer and not an educated man, his skin was lighter as h e was part Vietnamese. That was all the Khmer Rouge needed. They summoned him to a meeting and, not wanting to risk his family, her father complied without stru ggle, knowing he would never return. They put him and others on a train and drov e them out of the village. There they were forced to dig a large hole. I don't h ave to tell you where this is headed. The Khmer Rouge did not have money for bul lets. Having closed all modern facilities for the sake of the new society that s hunned all things modern or advanced, they could not manufacture arms. Additiona lly, they had very little money to purchase arms or bullets with only rice as an export. The soldiers then hit the men in the head with various farm equipment, hoes and shovels, to kill them. The same men who had just dug their own graves. Our guide knew the story because one man lived on this particular day; not her f ather but one of his friends. He survived his injury and checked on her father w ho had died instantly. The man hid in the woods and subsequently escaped from th e country but returned when the Khmer Rouge fell from power to notify her family that her father had not suffered. This was the only peace the 12 year old girl ever received regarding her father's death; not a funeral or a time of mourning but a message from a friend over a year later describing his murder. I asked our guide if she understood what was happening when she was 12, if she w as fearful, if her experiences as a child did not insulate her from some of the atrocities. I have such difficulty understanding these horrors as an adult. How did a child manage? She said she didn't understand some but was very fearful. Sh e was not allowed to sleep at home with her parents and that caused her to be fr ightened but adults withheld information for fear she would say the wrong thing to the wrong person and put herself or family at risk. This fear became a realit y. She attended mandatory meetings for children. The Khmer Rouge utilized childr en to fuel their propaganda in the hopes of manipulating the older generations a nd forcing children to tell on their families. She left one meetings and people in her village asked what had been said. She relayed what she had heard as she u nderstood it and thought all was fine. The villagers, sensing doom was fast appr oaching, hid in the palm trees abandoning their farm work. She explained that if you worked hard farming and had ample food, they thought you were stealing and killed you. If you were a poor farmer and produced little, you were killed for y our laziness. Feeling they could not win, the people just hid. When captured, to rtured, and asked why they were hiding and who had told them they were in danger , they named our guide. Again, she was 12 years old! The head of their village, some sort of Khmer Rouge appointed figure, called my guide in and asked her if s he wanted to die. They threatened to murder her right then and there but sent her home with only threats. Threats I cannot imagine hearing as an adult, much less a child. She was so distraught and shamed, she hid and did not go home directly. During that time, two Khmer soldiers went to her farm looking for her. A family friend was there and spoke to the soldiers explaining they wouldn't want her, s he was just a child and did not know what she had said but that he would teach h er and promised that she would not make the same mistake under his watch. It wor ked. . . obviously. They didn't kill her. Years later, she married this man. They have three children. She is 45 now. She tells me her husband is an old man but a good man. He looked after her family when her father was murdered. She also lost her older sister and brother-in-law to t he Khmer Rouge. I did not ask any more questions as I felt I had prodded enough.

How Did it Happen? I understand how one mad-man can develop a ridiculous plan and how his madness l eads him to justify the unimaginable. I understand that crazy, sick people exist . What I have a hard time understanding is how that person then convinces millio ns of others that his plan has merit and creates a following. I understand that it has happened before and, sadly, I understand that it will happen again. It st ill astounds me. Farmers and villagers nearest Cambodian borders were the first to join the movem ent. They were uneducated people angry about the ongoing tragedies they witnesse d. The Vietnam war had great impact on these regions. The Viet Cong fled Vietnam , escaping the Americans, into Cambodia and the US responded with the secret war. Nixon and Kissinger sent B52 bombers into Cambodia and dropped 700,000 tons of b ombs. In March of 1969 the first mission, Operation Breakfast carpet bombed 48 s quare miles of Cambodian territory. Operation Lunch, Operation Dinner, Operation Snack, etc. would follow for 14 months. By April of 1970, Nixon had troops on t he ground in Cambodia. At the end of the month, Nixon finally told the American public there was an American presence in Cambodia, over a year late. The news of expanding war led to significant protests. People around the country protested including university students which resulted in the Kent State shootings, a turn ing point for US occupation in Southeast Asia. This was the first and only time in US history that Congress limited the President's power as Commander and Chief with the Cooper-Church Amendment. Unfortunately, many of Nixon (and Kissinger's ) actions were kept secret and their compliance with Congress was never absolute . Nixon ordered the attacks to be kept silent and the media was advised the atta cks were near the border. Though Congress set limits and Nixon was forced to pull back ground troops, he ignored the public and Congress and continued with B52 bo mbings and sent South Vietnamese troops into Cambodia since US troops were now r estricted. . .not exactly what Congress meant. In 1973, twice as many bombs were dropped over Cambodia than over Japan in all of WWII. Because the US was not at war with Cambodia, the number of causalities remains undetermined but most sour ces estimate approximately 500,000 Cambodians died. Kissinger later called this action a strategic mistake. War crimes were never charged. In 1970, the CIA replaced the much loved Cambodian Prime Minister/King Sihanouk with one of their liking, General Lon Nol. The Lon Nol government was controvers ial, even hated, and the General a weak leader, known to burst into tears during meetings. While the US continued bombing and invading, Cambodia experienced a c ivil war from 1970-75 between the new, US supported government and the resistanc e, the Khmer Rouge. The ousted, favorite King joined forces with the Khmer Rouge briefly(monarchy and communism joining forces - desperate times) and the suppor t for the Khmer Rouge grew. Ultimately the government fell to the Khmer Rouge which had grown from a small g uerrilla organization. After the atrocities committed by the Americans and their influence over Cambodia's own government, the small insurgency was now large an d motivated. Why would the Cambodians trust a government installed by the US? Th e same US who bombed them for years? The leaders of the Khmer Rouge convinced th e people of Cambodia that 1) the current administration was not able to protect the people, 2) technology led only to evil such as planes with bombs, and 3) if everyone farmed, the people of Cambodia would have food for everyone and would l ive a great time of prosperity and happiness. Though the occupation lasted only four years, the effects lasted decades and are still plaguing the country today. In border towns, the Khmer Rouge remained active as late as 2003. The Vietnamese are ultimately responsible for ending the occupation - not becaus e they were concerned with genocide but they were tired of the Khmer Rouge attac ks. The Khmer Rouge continued to torment Cambodia during the 1980s as they were funded by the US through a Ronald Reagan initiative. Reagan pledged 100 million

US dollars a year to the Khmer Rouge for continued fighting in Cambodia. Make no mistake: this is the same as the US supporting the Nazi party after their defea t in WWII. But the US was not alone. The Khmer Rouge remained the representative s of Cambodia until 1990 for the United Nations. The Western world accepted the purveyors of genocide as a legitimate political party. Really, I couldn't even b egin to make this stuff up! I am not an expert on foreign policy. I am just a de signer. It doesn't take an expert to realize something here is wrong. Landmines One of the continued threats to the Cambodian people is the presence of landmine s. The temples of Angkor Wat were heavily mined but foreign entities concerned a bout architectural history are working to put these ancient temples back togethe r. Until recently, tourist visiting the temples had to carefully stay on marked paths. The areas closest to the borders have not received as much attention as t hey are farming communities. These areas were also heavily minded by the Khmer R ouge, the US, and the Vietnamese. Mines did on occasion kill a soldiers but the usual victim was then and is now a poor farmer and his family. Though locals kne w the land was minded, their options were to sit and watch their family die from starvation or farm their land and risk their sons. Frequently hunger drove them to the later. Recently, Western organizations have entered Cambodia to set up training and fun ding for landmine removal but Cambodians began this dangerous work long ago. Tho ugh a landmine is a cheap device, if following Western protocol for removal, it can cost over $500 to remove each mine. Frequently, Western safety protocols are not followed for this very reason. There remains much work to be done as an est imated four to six million devices are remaining. As a result of the mines, there are amputees, burn victims, and shrapnel victims throughout Cambodia. They are evident throughout the country which has one of t he highest rates of amputees in the world. Organizations exist to help the victi ms but the number of victims far exceeds the benefits available. I visited the Landmine Museum in Siem Reap. It is a small informative museum (th e building designed by students of Texas A&M) set up by Aki Ra, a man who was fo rced to lay landmines as a child for the Khmer Rouge but who has since devoted h is life as an adult to removing the mines. CNN named him one of the world's hero es in 2010. Behind the museum is a school and center for victims of landmines. I t is a small facility and can only help 20 or so students at a time. These child ren are provided prosthesis, an education, and a future. In one part of the muse um, the older children have told their stories through narrative and art. It is a powerful place. I chatted with a young man that worked at my guest house. His employer sponsors his English classes. He told me his father has a similar job locating and deacti vating mines. He repeatedly said My father is a very good man. Though he is young, he understands his father's sacrifice and his country's struggles. He himself i s no stranger to sacrifice having left school to work so that his younger siblin gs may gain a proper education. A common sacrifice for an oldest child. While th is seems an extraordinary sacrifice from such a young person, the Khmer Rouge de stroyed a good portion of a generation, creating one of the youngest countries i n the world. Grown up burdens fall on the shoulders of children frequently here. Children: A Passive Genocide Continues I attended a concert hosted by a Swiss doctor, Dr. Beat Richner, who is the head of the five pediatric hospitals in Cambodia - Kantha Bopha. He worked in Cambod ia during the Vietnam War as a Red Cross doctor but was evacuated when the Khmer Rouge came to power. He was invited to return to Cambodia and start a pediatric

hospital in the early 90s. He has been in Cambodia ever since, fighting corrupt ion and opposition, in order to provide medical care for children. He plays the cello in concerts which he provides every Saturday evening. The concerts alone r aise 5 million dollars annually. The hospitals' operating budget is 90% donation s. 50% of the budget is allotted for medicines. 3% of the budget goes to adminis trative costs including marketing. The services are free to all children and exp ectant mothers of Cambodia. I watched the Rugby World Cup in Cambodia and a commercial advertised an upcomin g sports show featuring heroes. . . it struck me as odd that an athlete was cons idered a hero. I do not know that I have met many heroes or if they really exist in this era but I am fairly certain this doctor from Switzerland is a real live modern day hero. Stunningly, there is great opposition in the international community regarding t hese pediatric hospitals. During review and inspections the hospitals were deter mined to have the highest healing rate and the lowest operating cost. This is an outstanding achievement in an area of the world with so few resources. Many Cambodians remain sick from the labor camps that existed during the Khmer R ouge era. 65% of the country has tuberculosis and they have discovered that moth ers pass TB to children while breast feeding so new generations continue to be i nfected. Without proper medical care, these subsequent results from the previous occupation are an ongoing passive genocide. Every year dengue fever is an ongoing epidemic for the children of Cambodia. Rem arkably, the western press covers bird flu that sometimes originates in the area which may affect a dozen or so kids a year but rarely dengue which affects thou sands. (The mosquitoes cannot cross the Pacific.) The countryside is dominated by Cambodian vernacular architecture: wooden struct ures with thatch roofs built on stilts above the flood plains. There is no kitch en inside these simple structures so most cooking is done in a fire-pit outside. Small children frequently fall into these fires and, until recently, 100% of th ese children died as their was no burn treatment available. The list of issues f acing Cambodian children goes on and on. The World Health Organization (WHO) sets standards and protocols for medicine in developing countries. I am no expert on this subject but it is puzzling to me h ow a Western organization based in Switzerland has the influence to govern medic al practices of other countries. Pharmaceutical companies and countries looking to offer aid and medicines, listen to the WHO's recommendations so the organizat ion has an incredible amount of power. Dr. Richner, though awarded a hero in his country and noted throughout southeast Asia as one of the most positively influ ential people in recent history, is constantly battling the WHO regarding his ho spitals. The WHO has two main credos that are in stark contrast to the successful pediatr ic hospitals in Cambodia: first, the medical resources need to reflect the econo mic reality of the country and second, the families must pay for the cost of tre atment in order to take responsibility for their health. Certainly there is more policy and dogma but these are the two points that create constant conflict bet ween Dr. Beat Richner and the WHO (and UNICEF). 80% of Cambodian families have a n income of less than $.50 per day. According to the WHO's policies, 80% of Camb odians should automatically be denied all Western medicine as none is affordable to them. Period. When faced with paying for treatment prior to the pediatric ho spitals creation, families would sell their farm equipment, livestock, and land to pay for medical care for their children. The family is then without a livelih ood. 40% of all poverty through loss of land in Cambodia is attributed to the co st of medicine according to the WHO. In cases of tuberculous, dengue fever, and

the other diseases that ravage Cambodia, the WHO's policies mandate that 80% of the population simply perish. In most countries of Southeast Asia, Japanese brai n-stem encephalitis vaccinations are mandatory, yet from 1998 to the present, th e WHO has issued a blockade of the vaccine to Cambodia as it is deemed too expen sive for Cambodians. Testing blood in a lab prior to transfusion is an expensive process requiring a multitude of Western equipment and procedures. The WHO (as well as UNICEF) maint ains this is beyond the scope of what should be offered in a country such as Cam bodia and sticks with a policy of poor medicine for poor people in poor countries according to Dr. Richner. Dengue fever in the severe hemorrhagic stages can only be treated with blood transfusions. Mothers frequently need transfusion after d elivering a child. Surgery frequently requires a blood transfusion. Without test ing the blood first, transfusions could pass along HIV and hepatitis as well as other diseases. On average, untested blood in Cambodia would infect 30 children with HIV and 24 with Hepatitis every day. Would you accept a blood transfusion t hat had not been tested? The labs in the pediatric hospital meet Western standar ds and all blood is tested for safety prior to transfusion. The WHO says that th is level of medical care is inappropriate for the Cambodian people because it is out of line with the economic reality of the country. I believe that translates to death sentences. I imagine the directors of the WHO had noble intentions when writing the guideli nes for medicine practiced in developing countries. Some say that the government of Cambodia should be offering free medicine to its people: that by westerners donating money to private organizations, the government is allowed the freedom t o remain corrupt and refuse service to its people. But the government of Cambodi a is former Khmer Rouge. . . how many years do you think they would allow the pe ople of Cambodia to suffer and die before they decided to take action? The Ameri can Ambassador estimated that $500 million for healthcare is lost to corruption each year in Cambodia. The money exists but will likely never reach the people. Government doctors are paid very little and often work in private clinics to sup plement their income. Medicine and supplies frequently find their way to the pri vate sector and are never made available in the government run hospitals. It is naive to think that the Western donations are the deciding factor in the governm ent policies and tragic to create policies that enable only the wealthy to have medicine and the remainder sentenced to death. That is the result of the WHO's ( and UNICEF's) policies. Trafficking and Adoption Health organizations are not alone with their misguided policies. A Haitian film -maker showed her documentary, followed by a Q&A, on the child trade in Nepal. T he film was shown in Cambodia as the two countries suffer from similar problems and the film maker hoped to spend some time in Southeast Asia researching a new piece. The film showed several families who had been tricked into sending their child off to school for a good education. After paying handsomely for the child' s future, the child was taken to orphanages and sold in adoption. These children were adopted by European families and lived Western lives with bright futures. Some facts revealed during the film: 60% of orphans in Nepal still have parents, many are sold into sex slavery and forced labor, there is immense profit for th ose orchestrating the adoptions. (Obviously there were no interviews with those sold into sex slavery.) During the Q&A, the film maker did confess that she could not include many of th e families she initially interviewed as they willingly sold their children for p rofit or because they were unable to support them so gave them freely. A large p ortion of the 60% with parents, do not have parents that want them or can suppor t them and are not stolen as the film portrays. She also revealed that she based h er film off of an UNESCO directive and it was not her own research. UNESCO is co

ncerned about child trafficking as are many Western organizations. Many of these children end up in the West. UNESCO's position has been to encourage government s to ban international adoptions and encourage governments to support united fam ilies or domestic adoptions. Unfortunately, these positions are damaging to all legitimate orphans as well as to all of the orphans whose parents would rather s ell them than raise them. It is a romantic notion to think that all parents want to raise their children and if only life were a bit easier, a bit less costly, would they be able to achieve that goal. (Take the American welfare system as an example.) These are not areas of the world were pregnancy prevention is a reali ty and there are many unwanted children. Sex trafficking, which appears to be th e issue these organizations are most trying to cripple, never took place through legitimate adoption and has always existed on the black market. These trades wi ll still exist and will not be affected by the new policies. The only result is that Westerners seeking legitimate adoptions will now be prevented. Of the child ren the film maker interviewed, none wished to return to their homes even knowin g how desperately their parents wished for their return. I asked the film maker what would happen to the remaining orphans, even if we we re to only consider the 40% categorized as legitimate orphans, now that only dom estic adoptions were available in these developing countries. She admitted that the only adoptions that take place in Nepal and other developing countries were those of forced labor. She explained that in Nepal, they do not have a word for a doption; once you no longer have your mother and father, you cannot get a new one. The concept does not exist. The adopted children, if they are lucky enough to be adopted, will work in a family's home . . . similar to a slave. There are few h ouseholds in these countries that have the financial means to feed another child . Those that can have class prejudice. Understandably, UNESCO wishes to take action against the atrocities of sex traff icking but these mandates have only succeeding in abandoning a generation of chi ldren to forced labor and the sex trade has not been hindered. Further, the poli cy prevents international adoption without offering any alternative, essentially abandoning orphans of developing countries. By removing Westerners from the equ ation, there is less chance of Westerners having knowledge of these problems whi ch leads to the out of sight out of mind issues that plague these countries all ready. Western influence has long been attributed to the problem of sex trafficking. De sperate poor communities do desperate things. . . Dr. Beat Richner from the pedi atric hospital attributes the spread of HIV to the United Nation peace keeping t roops that arrived in 1990. Prior to their arrival, there were an estimated 1500 prostitutes. By the time they departed (only three years later), the number had swelled to more than 20,000 and included children. Once the troops withdrew, th e numbers fell by approximately 3,000. It is now estimated that 50% of prostitut es are HIV positive. Cambodia has adopted the same moratorium on international adoption. Sex traffick ing is still rampant in Cambodia and is a leading contributor to their tourism. UNICEF estimates there are 33,000 Cambodian children active in the sex trade. Chi ld sex tourism was forbidden in the hotels I visited and plainly disclosed that t he prostitutes must be over the age of 16. There are middle aged white men weari ng shorts, black socks, and carrying out-of-place briefcases . . . they have tha t mustache. . . do I really allow my mind to make those connections? After resea rching the issue, it is not outrageous that I drew those conclusions. One of the primary reasons the Cambodian government has failed to crack down on sex traffi cking is the Western Pedophiles contribute a significant amount to the tourist i ndustry in this struggling country. Cambodia reaps the largest share of the bill ion dollar sex trade in Southeast Asia. It would result in a loss to the nationa l economy.

 What is my motivation? I clearly don't have the answers. I don't write policy. I am not a politician. I write because I believe that there are people out there much brighter than myself that may have answers to these issues. I believe that with knowledge and information, we can stop blindly following international orga nizations and design solutions and policies that will actually help the innocent . I believe that some of you (most of you) have more money than me and may want to give to worthwhile causes. I knew very little about these issues and therefor e assume that many also know little about these issues. After WWII the United Na tions created a separate country for the Jewish people. I realize that Cambodia is not in the Western world but the US, while possibly with good intentions, tra umatized the people, destroyed a government, perpetrated war crimes, created may hem so that a vicious, murderous dictator could take power, and then financially supported the organization committing the genocide of innocent people. . . we c ould do more. The people of Cambodia have very little voice. I have a voice. One that rambles on and, maybe, in this case, is able to ramble for a bit of good. I would like this information to be passed along. To everyone. For people to res earch for themselves if they feel so inclined and add to what I have started. I hope people familiarize themselves with the policies of UNICEF, UNESCO, the WHO or any organization before donating and to think about the repercussions of the policies they support. Think critically and ask questions! Some action is NOT be tter than NO action. As a disclaimer: there is much corruption in Cambodia. We were stopped and bribe d by police on several occasions. Corruption exists within the government and is visible. Mafia exists and contributes to severe atrocities. (I heard that mafia will cut off limbs and force people to beg as if they are land mine victims. . . regardless of the cause, there is still an innocent person maimed and left wit h no resources.) Truthful information is hard to obtain. I have asked questions, read, and researched. I am limited to what has been published and data changes frequently. I believe my impressions are most likely more conservative than the truth. I recommend publications by Dr. Beat Richner who is a Westerner who has b een on the ground working in Cambodia for two decades free of government influen ce (he is jaded and bitter but a wealth of information). I have read the UNESCO directives on adoption and some simple critical thinking lead me to find errors in their policies. I have read a great deal of information published by the WHO but little is published regarding their specific policies. I recommend a memoir, First They Killed My Father by Loung Ung that describes the Khmer Rouge occupatio n. What I can best offer is my experiences with the Cambodian people. I asked qu estions and listened to their stories. I learned that they feel they must vote f or the current administration because the government can watch them from satellit es during voting and will know if they don't. I hope that this can begin a dialog that may lead to awareness and possibly even improvement for the people of Camb odia. Thank you for reading, Nadia