Free Day |
The Killing Fields
Phnom Penh, Cambodia
Today was a day off for the presenters and interpreters from Finland, and in the morning Jaana A and Jaana K-L went to the Russian Market for gifts to take home. In the afternoon they went to Tuol Sleng, the KhmerRouge torture center, and then we drove to the killing field near Phnom Penh. Here Jaana Aaltonen talks with a young girl at an explanatory exhibit during our late afternoon visit.
Jaana Keksi-Levijoki shakes hands with two little children from the neighborhood who approach tourists at the killing field near Phnom Penh to ask for money, food, and items like "school pens." It would be interesting to know if the children have any idea of the meaning of the area that is their backyard.
The killing field near Phnom Penh--one of 125 such sites around Cambodia--was excavated more than twenty years ago to collect the bones of those killed there. Still, however, human bones--such as this femur--keep coming to the surface. The bones are then placed on display in the stupa in the picture at the top of the page.
The two Jaanas would film each other at various spots in their wanderings through the mass graves, to give explanations in sign language for viewers back in Finland who would be seeing the killing field through the camera's lens.