GENOCIDE EDUCATION PROJECT
The Teaching of “A History of Democratic Kampuchea (1975-1979)”
Democratic Kampuchea Textbook Distribution and Public Education Forum Between Teachers, Students and Parents
Pong Ror Commune, Chhlong District, Kratie Province
November 14, 2010
On November 14, the Documentation Center of Cambodia (DC-Cam)'s Genocide Education Project is conducting a public education forum in Pong Ror Commune, Chhlong District, Kratie Province. The forum is conducted in a mosque, which is the center of Pong Ror Cham community, one of the biggest Cham communities in Chhlong district. About one thousand Cham families live in Pong Ror commune.
Chhlong district was integrated into Eastern zone under the administrative division of the Khmer Rouge. Generally, people’s living situation was reportedly better than that of the other zones in the first two years of the KR revolution. Conditions deteriorated remarkably, starting from 1977 when soldiers and cadres from the Southwest zone occupied the East and began massive purges. The fate of the Cham population in Pong Ror commune during the KR period was not different from that of the other Cham communities in other parts of Cambodia. They were dispersed to live and work among the Cambodian population. They were strongly forbidden not to practice Muslim religion, to speak Cham language, or show Cham identity. They were forced to eat pork and change their names to Khmer-sound names. In many cases, mosques were destroyed or turned into detention centers or pig cages. It is believed that the first Cham rebel during the KR was from Chhlong district. After his struggle for religious and cultural causes in Chhlong, hakim Ly fled from Chhlong to Kroch Chhmar district of Kampong Cham province to seek a safe shelter. This was one of the factors leading to the KR suppressions in Koh Phal and Svay Khleang villages.
The public education forum will discuss the experiences of Cham people during the KR as well as life under the KR in general. The forum will also encourage the younger and the older generations to discuss the importance of genocide education and survivors to share their real life experiences under the KR. The project's team members will distribute copies of the textbook A History of Democratic Kampuchea (1975-1979) and discuss one chapter from it. Other materials for distribution include the magazine Searching for the Truth and booklets on Khmer Rouge tribunal Cases 001 and 002.
For more information about the forum, please contact: Pheng Pong-Rasy at 012 225522 or 016 212888 or by email: truthrasy.p@dccam.org.
Report: http://www.dccam.org/Projects/Genocide/Genocide_Education_Public_Forum.htm
See also other PDF reports attached herewith.
The forum is being held in cooperation with the Ministry of Interior and the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport and funded by The Asia Foundation (TAF). Core support for the program is provided by USAID and Sweden (Sida).
Independently Searching for the Truth since 1997.
MEMORY & JUSTICE
“...a society cannot know itself if it does not have an accurate memory of its own history.”
Youk Chhang, Director
Documentation Center of Cambodia
66 Sihanouk Blvd.,
Phnom Penh, Cambodia
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About Me
- Duong Dara
- Dara Duong was born in 1971 in Battambang province, Cambodia. His life changed forever at age four, when the Khmer Rouge took over the country in 1975. During the regime that controlled Cambodia from 1975-1979, Dara’s father, grandparents, uncle and aunt were executed, along with almost 3 million other Cambodians. Dara’s mother managed to keep him and his brothers and sisters together and survive the years of the Khmer Rouge regime. However, when the Vietnamese liberated Cambodia, she did not want to live under Communist rule. She fled with her family to a refugee camp on the Cambodian-Thai border, where they lived for more than ten years. Since arriving in the United States, Dara’s goal has been to educate people about the rich Cambodian culture that the Khmer Rouge tried to destroy and about the genocide, so that the world will not stand by and allow such atrocities to occur again. Toward that end, he has created the Cambodian Cultural Museum and Killing Fields Memorial, which began in his garage and is now in White Center, Washington. Dara’s story is one of survival against enormous odds, one of perseverance, one of courage and hope.
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