The Living Fields of Cambodia - Need for Educatoin for the Children of Cambodia

By Chritaine Amanpour

I lived in Cambodia for a year doing my own research on the Killing Fields and the genocide that devastated a country. One of the untold stories of genocide is that it also destroys all infrastructure and institutions of a country. In the case of Cambodia the Khmer Rouge, which means Cambodian Red for the communist party, they killed all the smartest and brightest of the country. They systematically identified and executed all doctors, dentists, scientists, authors, artists, photographers, journalists and teachers. This purging of intelligence from the population of Cambodia was intended to bring the country and its people back to Year Zero as Pol Pot refereed to it as the rebirth of Cambodian history back to an agrarian society. The educational system of Cambodia has been obliterated leaving a country of mostly illiterates and no way of rebuilding the educational foundation of the country. I worked in Siem Reap as a volunteer Teacher and shot a documentary on the need for education for the children of Cambodia entitled The Living Fields. I travelled the entire country in the Land Cruiser I shipped over from the United states and went to such places as the last Khmer Rouge strong hold in Anlong Veng, visited Pol Pot's grave, and interviewed a still living and active Khmer Rouge soldier that offered to murder two people for $10 for me. I asked him why two people and he answered in Khmer, "I need the $10 and not less to buy rice for my family." I gave him $20 dollars and asked him not kill anyone any more. The war is still not over in Cambodia.

On a side note I could have helped Christiana and her photographer during the shooting being so familiar with the country and could have prevented him from having his camera stolen in Phnom Penh. It is a repeating case of first time visitors to the city.