A SHORT STORY
What follows tries to give an account of my visit to the Killing fields in Cambodia...
"I was filled with mixed emotions sitting in the cab driving through the lush green paddy fields. The sun was bright and the water reflected the tall isolated palms towering over the workers bent double tending the rice fields. The only thing they had to worry about was the burning sun and their grass hats protected them from that... it all seemed so peaceful... and normal...
Why was I going to see the place where 17 000 people where bludgeoned to death and children bayoneted after being thrown into the air to save wasting bullets . All done because there new leader Pol Pot wanted to rid his country of any thinkers any individual thought and any potential of it... Why did I want to go ?
I told myself it was a moment in history very recent history when again the human race showed just how depraved, ignorant and blind it could be. I could either chose to turn my back or face the horror of the memories by visiting this place and paying my respects by being a witness to the depravity and remembering the dead as people.
But I was also curious to see the 8000 skulls of men women and children piled into a 40 foot pagoda with glass walls built in memory to the people that where slaughtered... I was not totally innocent of being a gawper...
As we pulled up outside the site of the camp, the now usual hawkers ran over trying to sell post cards, water, gum and guides ... These guides where no more than local children, 16 years of age trying to make some money from the visiting tourists... The whole experience seemed unreal considering where we where... I had seen this behaviour many times before around the world but it seemed disrespectful to the dead in this place...
I was ready to criticise them when I had a passing thought "I can afford to feel this way, I have money and can afford everything I need... These children and adults could not, but they still respected their dead I was sure ... in fact not just there dead it was their family and friends, 2 Million people died, 1 third of the population at the hands of Pol Pots hench men, every person in Cambodia knows some one that died. But they all had to live for today and build a new future... " It helped me put my own feelings into perspective.
Entering into the Camp the Pagoda came into view it was a beautiful white building, simple and elegant, tall, built in three layers it gave no sign of what it contained... walking closer the shadows came into focus thousands of skulls stared out at me... I was silent I could not focus on anything else... I walked past not wanting to dwell for to long.
But I was drawn closer to it, curiosity getting the better of me, mixed in with the remains where personal effects and clothing for some reason this made it all very real.
I turned away and started to walk further into the camp, the sound of children's laughter could be heard clearly, they came into view playing in the grass that filled a number of hollows in the ground... walking closer small signs told you that in this hollow 200 women and children where found ... on another 300 torsos, another 150 children... After a while no signs just hollows in many places as far as the eye could see, these graves remained undisturbed...
The children still played totally oblivious to the significance of this place for me they seemed to fill the void between the dead and the living... A shout rang out it was a guard waving a stick he chased the kids away, they ran into the woods still laughing.
Around one tree a local lady was scraping the surface of the ground I walked over to see what she was doing. To my horror she was extracting teeth to show other tourists... They where young children's teeth... She showed them to her group and explained that the soldiers swung the babies by there feet into the tree,,,, I feel sick and saddened as I am writing this ... The other tourists got there cameras out and asked for there photo to be taken by the tree, one women was sorting through a pile of bones as it was taken... I was stunned how could people be so ignorant and stupid... ! "
I know this is not the first time and not the last time this will happen and some people I know are currently working to bring those guilty of genocide in Africa to justice... But until you see these places it never seem to be real... we need to remember... and be in touch with the past. Ignorance, stupidity and complacency are our enemies don,t accept them just because it is easier that way...
Steve
The Meaning of life... STORY or is this just ramblings?
OK this next email is me going off on one of my own trains of thought some of you will love it, others hate it and some just think I have lost it again... So here Goes...
I have just finished another Joe Simpson book. The guy that wrote Touching the Void. He has a great way of looking at life not just as a climber and he must read may books as he quotes from them in all of his stories... This piece of writing that follows is from the latest Simpson book, just read it and think about it.
Quote..From The Beckoning Silence by Joe Simpson, author of this piece is unknown...Simpson found it in a book he was reading...
Youth is not a time of life... it is a state of mind. It is not a matter of ripe cheeks, red lips and supple knees... it is a temper of the will, a quality of the imagination, a vigour of the emotions... it is a freshness of the deep springs of life.
Nobody grows old living a number of years, people grow old only by deserting their ideals. Years wrinkle the skin but to give up enthusiasm wrinkles the soul.
Worry, doubt, distrust, fear, and despair... these are the long, long years that bow the head and turn the growing spirit back to dust.
Whether seventy or sixteen , there is in every being's heart the love of wonder, the sweet amazement of the stars and star-like things and thoughts, the undaunted challenge of events, the unfailing child-like appetite for what is next, and the joy and game of life...
This piece of writing got me thinking about, how many people I know that have lost that spark, the enthusiasm. They worry, have doubts, distrust and fear change and as a result are facing despair and boredom. Can they be helped?
On my travels I have met many people with the child like appetite and many of my old friends and family continue to play in the game of life but in many different ways. All have different back grounds and means, some have families and others without, some single others in couples... BUT they all share something in common an energy and an imagination that becomes apparent if you are in their company for only a short time and it is infectious.
Even if they are not able to fully utilise their energy and appetite for life in their chosen way due to factors like health,money, work and family, it never diminishes, they find new ways to use it within their current life style, why because they have inner energy, use their imagination and will but most importantly have support from friends and family.
In conclusion we can all fall into this pit of despair more than once, but by rekindling the spark and regenerating the energy, we can use our imagination and will to climb out and take that first step...The key is having help and support from others.
I am not trying to help anybody here other than me by sharing a few thoughts that are evolving as I travel and think about my own life and motivators. I felt it would help me to share them with you. Feedback would be helpful...
Cheers
Steve
