DCCAM’s group of volunteers made their way to the village through a series of deep forests. We came across a small hut with a thatched roof. At the foot of the house we saw a grandma and her dog who greeted us kindly with a smile and welcomed us into her house. One of our volunteers, Eang Sochea, took the initiative and conducted the interview. Grandma’s name is Chann Thei, and she is 73 years old. She is currently living in Bak Nim village, Chres commune, Chum Kiri district, Kampot province. Grandma opened up about her dark past during the Khmer Rouge, saying that she was accused of stealing gold even when she did not and was on the verge of getting killed. As she is an only girl in her family, she did not get to study and only worked her whole life. Her mother was taken to Koh Thom in Takeo and was severely overworked. Grandma said she witnessed aerial bombings firsthand. She recalled when a bomb almost hit her when she was trying to save a baby under a tent. Luckily she was able to survive the bombings and lived on.
She also emphasized the hardships she has gone through such as not getting enough food and only eating rice with corn. Even when she begged for food from the chief in the village, they refused to give her anything and they even scolded her saying that they would rather give the food to the dogs. During the Khmer Rouge period, she did typical work such as digging dirt and building dams. In the Mlech village she did all this work because she was still young.
