By Shannon Stuart, Pharmacy Team

We have survived our first full day in Cambodia which was accompanied by 89 degrees and 77% humidity weather. It was scorching hot, but fortunately, everyone was able to do every event and the worse outcome today was some sunburn. We started out with some wonderful breakfast which included much of the same foods we eat in America and then a beautiful devotional to begin our day. Our first adventure was familiarization of the city. We walked for about 2 hours and were able to see many monuments.  We also designated a special meet up place if someone strayed away from the crowd on accident. I have attached some of the photos of the monuments for you to see them. There was an independence monument which signified independence from the French (a.k.a. meet up place). It has the lotus’s flower which carries a very strong meaning. To the Cambodian’s it means renewal which we saw throughout the whole walk. 

Another monument which is the one pictured with 2 Vietnamese soldiers and a Cambodia woman in front carrying an infant, demonstrates celebration from liberation from the Khmer Rouge. Khmer Rouge was the group of Cambodian’s who were communists and helped carry out the devastating Cambodian genocide. The monument would have been a great gift, but it signifies that the Vietnamese were happy for them, but they wanted the Cambodians to know the Vietnamese still had power (hence the guns facing outwards). Overall, the Cambodians do not appreciate this monument and during protests they may set it on fire and/or lay their shoes on it (which is a sign of disrespect). 

Next, we moved towards the Mekong river. There were many birds flying around and as well as in cages. We learned that the birds in the cages were released which signified giving life to another being and giving life to make merit. After reading about it, life is the best gift to give, but the release of the birds symbolizes forgiveness and cleansing from sin as well. Cambodian’s will release a bird in order to ask for forgiveness or cleanse their sins. I thought this was very interesting and neat to learn about. Also, the Mekong river is very large which connects to Vietnam, go through Cambodia and into the ocean, so it is fought over by many countries because it is also rich in nutrients. During dry season, instead of the river going into the ocean, it comes back into the river giving the Cambodian’s a lot of nutrients.

After Mekong river, we traveled back home. Once back, some of us went shopping, some went to nap, and some went to Beautiful Shoes where the Cambodian’s hand make your shoe of choice. I chose the shopping route, but I will be going to Beautiful Shoes tomorrow. While shopping, I was able to interact with the locals and most of them know English. I was very impressed. At 1pm, we came together again to go to lunch and then over to the market and Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum. Our transportation consisted of a vehicle called a Tuk Tuk which is a wagon pulled by a moped. See photos attached. The market had millions of items and went on forever and ever, but most were homemade from Cambodia which was very exciting to see.

The Genocide Museum was an eyeopener. It was very sad to see what the Cambodian’s went through. It contained millions and millions of photos of those executed and went through some of their individual stories. We were able to see the actual prison and cells which was a high school back in the day (see photos attached). Learning about what happened is very important in order to restore compassion and prevent it from ever happening again. The tour was led by audio of a Cambodian explaining the various items and/or photos we were seeing. It taught us that Khmer Rouge had killed off all Cambodian’s who had any type of skills and especially the very well educated. Leaving many of the uneducated led to Khmer Rouge’s ability to manipulate. They convinced people who were out of country to come back in order to “help” the country. Overall, it was a very sad, but important museum that I encourage everyone to read into.      

From the Genocide Museum we came home and went to dinner. The dinner was very interesting because before going to our tables, we had to take off our shoes and walk around a balcony where we then sat criss-cross applesauce on the floors behind the tables. It was very neat to experience this culture. At the end of dinner, we parted ways for a much needed sleep to prepare us for tomorrow. We are visiting the Killing Fields. 

In summary, we became familiar with the city, saw the Mekong River, shopped, went to a market, and then the genocide museum. Today was very educational and eventful. It was a great start to just the beginning of our wonderful journey ahead.

I hope you enjoyed this and thank you for reading.