Looking through the lens of a young Novuth
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| Kheav Novuth |
One day last month, whilst I was tying loose ends with
my activities, sorting things out with teaching materials, with numerous
resources I wanted to give away, mainly to teachers from remote villages,
Novuth who helped to sort them out with Voleak and I, told me that he
wanted to share with me the ‘inconceivable’ things that he - as a small boy -
his family and the people he lived with in Kampong Thom, had experienced during
the Khmer Rouge Regime. Of course, I gladly agreed to hear and to write about
his story –
Looking through the lens of a young Novuth ...
A Glimpse of yesterday - during
the Khmer Rouge Regime
Before the Khmer Rouge forces entered Phnom Penh,
young Kheav Novuth lived peacefully with his family; his parents, and 5
siblings - 3 sisters and 2 brothers - in one of the many labyrinth alleys
tucked away in a community bursting with joy, in a community tucked away
at the ‘Ph’sar’ - at the Old Market in Phnom Penh, where life took a hold
of itself, where children played, where produce, clothing, jewelry, nick knacks
were sold from the hundred stalls that dotted the lanes, that lay inside
and outside the narrow alleys. It was a time of freedom, a time for
anyone to come and go as s/he pleased …
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| Translating welcome sign to Khmer |
However, on April 17, 1975 when the Khmer Rouge came
into power, it took control of Cambodia, of his life …
And, the life of the Cambodian people changed forever, turning the
country upside down, into a huge
detention centre!
7 year old Novuth, together with his family and many
others were rounded off, like cattle, to walk approximately 185 kilometres,
north from Phnom Penh, to the ‘Grand Port’ - to the Kampong Thom banks
of Stoueng Sen River that borders the Tonlé Sap Lake and
branches out to the Tonlé Sap River, south, toward Phnom Penh. Aside
from Mondolkiri province, Kampong Thom is Cambodia’s largest province by area.
Novuth sadly reflecting on the evacuation period ‘During
the evacuation period in Phnom Penh and other cities into the countryside to
undertake agriculture work, thousands of people died’.
Despite the 3 years he and his family
endured under the rule of the Khmer Rouge, a stroke of luck came Novuth’s
way, ‘my family and I, we all moved together to
the same detention camp where we stayed together in Kampong Thom
during the 3 year rule. However, despite this stroke of luck, we
were separated and we only saw each other periodically … maybe once every 6
months or once a year.’
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| End product |
'Because we came from the city, we were called the New
People .' 'Each day was different for
us. Each day we worked with different people, with different adults in
the rice fields. There were days however, we, children who were 7 years
and under, were instructed to work in the forest to collect 30 kilos of
buffalo dung to fertilize the rice fields. . We did this from the
crack of dawn to evening . If however, we returned to the camp with not enough
dung, we were either punished, sent back to the forest, or we were assigned to
another job until the Khmer Rouge soldiers were satisfied.
‘
As for the older children, children who were 12 years old and up,
they stayed in the villages to take care of babies and to keep an
‘eye’ on the adults to report unusual activities.’
Reflecting on the past, Novuth claimed that ‘Group
1's main job, the adult group’s job, was to work in the rice
fields, take care of livestock: buffalos and ox and, to create fish ponds.’ He went on to describe the horror of his 3
years at the camp, ‘in my
camp, every adult was expected to grow and harvest
rice throughout the year -rain or shine. My people were forced to work
more than 12 hours a day without rest or enough food to eat.’
Further, ‘The "new
people" were treated as forced labourers. We constantly moved, were forced
to do the hardest physical labour, and worked in the most inhospitable,
fever-ridden parts of the country, such as forests, upland areas, and swamps.
The "New people" were segregated from the "Old
People," enjoyed little or no privacy, and received the smallest rice
rations. I think that we, the "new people" suffered the
most.
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| Methodically reviewing the Khmer version The Road to Prosperity 'my education - my life' |
Added to the horror, Novuth explained that
‘life got
much worse throughout the 3 year period. People were killed for numerous
reasons; if they were educated, had a profession, wore glasses, broke the
rules, stole food, to name a few, they were automatically shot.’ Food
was scarce, and increasingly got scarce throughout the 3 years … Food was
closely supervised by the guard’s’. We had very little rice
to eat. The Khmer Rouge told the people that there wasn’t enough rice for
us to eat. Later, we found out that the rice we grew and harvested
was sent to China.'
Food and Visitation Privileges
‘As a boy, I remember that we were allowed to have
seasonal food at different times of the year, which was a real luxury for
us. In the dry season we had papaya, morning glory, water lily, and,
in the rainy season, we had pumpkin, gourd, corn. But we
always had a tiny portion of rice.’ ‘What’s
more, every 6 months - everyone, children and adults got together to
make pumpkin or sticky rice desert with tiny portions of refined sugar.
However, the Khmer Rouge kept the palm sugar for themselves and did
not share it with anyone.’
‘We were also allowed to see our family. Though we
were separated for long periods, once every 6 months my older sister had
permission to receive me for a short visit. Once a year, I
was allowed to visit with one other member of my family; my mother, my brothers
or one of my sisters. After being in the detention camp for almost
a year, my father became very ill, and I was given permission to live with my
father until he got well again.’
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| Presenting at the 2016 Annual Congress Conference |
Today - a New Life ...
After the fall of the Khmer Rouge Regime, Novuth and
his family (except for his younger sister) settled in Kampong Cham, Novuth’s father’s birthplace. Novuth sadly recollects his younger sister’s last days
before starvation took her life. ‘My sister developed a high fever before
we moved to Kampong Cham and she didn’t make it to see the next day.’ His father however, who
recovered from his illness, returned to his old profession as a pharmacist and
passed away ‘at a ripe old age of 65 considering
the traumatic experience my father went through’. His mother
who previously worked as a seller in one of the many Ph’sar’s stalls in Phnom
Penh had set up a produce shop near their family home. Equally welcoming a new life for
the rest of his siblings, a fresh start awaited them - they had the
luxury to attend school. At 16, Novuth (not his
real age, no identity proof of his real age) completed grade 8. In
1986, his father proud of his son’s achievement sent him to receive a higher
education where Novuth completed grade 10.
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| Novuth and I holding an updated Khmer Grade 2 Reading Training Workshop with Cluster Chiefs |
In 1989 Novuth moved to Sen Monorom, Mondolkiri provinve
to work as a primary teacher at the only small country school in Sen Monorom
Town. Between late 1989 - 1990, the school sent Novuth to
study at the New Stung Treng Primary Teachers’ College Centre . Novuth
explains,
‘I had 3 years of study, because I had grade
10. However, if I had had a grade 12 education, than I would
have done a 2 year teaching programme. ‘ Novuth with a smile and energized by his own achievement, by
today’s transformation in education,
Novuth proudly boasts,
‘Stung Treng Teacher’s College has
come a long way since I went there. Since my 15 years of generation,
there are now 15 different teaching programmes, which is a good thing,
especially for the Bunong Inservice Teachers who can now attend teachers
college with a grade 9 high school certificate.’
Onwards and upwards, built in 1960, Novuth taught
grade 4 for 3 years in the only ‘little’ country school in Sen Monorom Town.
At that time, Novuth mentioned that he was surprised to find that
some of his students were older than the teachers, that they were older than
him. He also mentioned that Sen Monorom School changed its name to
Hun Sen Sen Monorom School after the fall of the Khmer Rouge. Hun Sen Sen
Moronorm Primary School is now the largest school in Mondolkiri province
boasting over 1,000 students, with many classes each composed of 4 of the same
grade. E.g. there are 4 grades 1 classes etc…
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| Novuth, as per usual came to the rescue and translated all my charts for my workshop |
Novuth quickly worked through the education
ranks and between 1994 to 2009 he worked at the DOE as a
cluster chief for Sen Monorom district where new schools were being built in
the vicinity. In 2009 Novuth transferred to the POE who’s
building, at that time, was still part of the Hun Sen Sen Momorom Primary
School. Whilst there, he again rose ranks very quickly and
eventually became the Primary Deputy Officer in the Primary Wing of the POE
education complex that now exists today.
Today, Novuth happily lives with his wife, who too is
from Kampong Cham, and with his 3 daughters, ages 19, 15, 9.
Though his wife is also a teacher by trade, she has opted to be a full time
mother. As part of her full day job as a mother, every morning she and Novuth set up shop; a
breakfast stall at Hun Sen Sen Monorom School to sell breakfast to school children.
Asked how he felt about life today in the beautiful
hills of Mondolkiri? Novuth replied ‘I’m very happy, because I enjoy my job;
I also like the temperate climate of Mondolkiri. Most importantly, my immediate family
and extended family are all here in Mondolkiri with me. For the Khmer New
Year, like every other year, my whole family celebrates it in Kampong
Cham. ‘It’s a tradition that we want to keep!’
Today marks 41 years of
Cambodia liberation ... On that liberation note, A very Happy and a Prosperous Khmer New Year to all you!
A quick word from me …
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| A wonderful friend ... |
Kheav Novuth, one of my partners, a ‘rare’ opportunity
to work with someone of his caliber for near 3 years, I found myself
extremely lucky to have shared our different skills from the
Khmer/Western point of view, (with him) and, together, to have this rare chance to build the
capacity of teachers, school directors,
cluster chiefs and POE staffs. Though, he was both a
partner and a colleague, Novuth was also a mentor who helped me cope with
some of the challenges that I would not have been able to cope with on my
own was he not there for me; I had the opportunity to learn as much as I could
from him; the ins and outs of the culture , the challenges I was
experiencing with my work. Most importantly, Novuth was always by my side
when I delivered training workshops, and, batted for me during some ‘sensitive’
political issues that sometimes I ended up in the middle of a ‘struggle’
between what VSO wanted and what the POE wanted. Novuth always went
the extra mile for me! (See post: December 23, 2015 - Going the
Extra Mile).
It was truly a pleasure to work with Novuth – he
opened his heart and gave his friendship!
More later ... :)
