The wind rushed past us as we felt the hot air hit us directly in our face. We arrived at a house surrounded by coconut trees. One thing that has caught our attention was how the villager’s house has no walls. It was only a roof, signifying the poor livelihood that the old man has been living in.
His name is Om Savuth, and he is 61 years old. He is a farmer. In 1971, he went to Boeung Thom Primary School in Kandal province. In 1975, the Khmer Rouge regime began and he remembers being transferred by Angkar to the children’s unit in village 25 in Kampong Speu province. He worked there for the entire duration of the regime. After Cambodia’s liberation, he studied for a short period of time in a pagoda as he was unsure what to do. One day, he decided he wanted to become a soldier and volunteered. He was immediately sent out to guard the Samlout Tasanh area up until 1984. He then came to live at Thippadei Mountain in Battambang province for about 10 years. He was transferred to different places, such as Phnom Voal and Traeng Troyeung mountain, but in 2001, he was placed permanently in Bak Nim village, Kampot province. He resigned from being a soldier in 2011 and he continues living here with his wife to the present day.
