VannyV

No drugs of course. Cokes and soft drinks were in incredibly high demand. I also smuggled basic supplies for daily life like radios, watches, cassettes and music. The people were tired of communist propaganda and wanted some that sweet funky old Cambodian music from before the war.

Education took the biggest hit. The majority of the educated were killed or starved to death. After the Vietnamese drove out the Khmer Rouge pretty much anyone who could read or write was recruited to become a teacher. For about 5 years under that communist regime no one was educated in anything except growing rice and digging canals. My father's generation was the smart generation. Authors, poets, singers, were all killed. Even now we still haven't recovered our potential in the arts. The generation that's living there now is still attempting to catch up to where we were 40 years ago.

The Rwandan Genocide featured different languages and ethnic groups. The same with Darfur. We were one united nation, same language, same people, same culture. Our genocide is stylistically closer to what Stalin did to the Russians. Racial tensions seem to erupt in a more warlike genocide while ideological differences like between communists and capitalists tend to lead towards covert and suppressive killings. I understand the nuances in each genocide. It will never stop being tragic though.

I went back in January to get information and pictures for my book. Electricity is much more widespread, more cellphones, and larger buildings. It made me happy to see schools and Buddhist temples everywhere. We have the internet and no suppression of free speech.

It was worse than the ones we see in the movies. Surprisingly, there was a funny one where I had a supervisor looking for me and I hid under a blanket to escape. I had to hide behind trees, in rice paddies, through mud, in a foxhole, and ride a bike in mud through artillery fire. I've seen people turn into a fine red and pink mist in front of me. Think you could see that in a movie?