This is the first memoir to give a detailed picture of Cambodia's Khmer Rouge infamous traveling work groups. When the Communists overthrew the government of Cambodia in 1975 and evacuated all of its cities and towns, Chhalith Ou was twelve years old. For the next year, he and his family struggled to stay alive in the midst of mass starvation all around them.
For the following three years, Chhalith was separated from his parents and assigned to the slave labor camps that traveled throughout Battambang Province, sometimes having to serve as a leader of rebellious men much older than himself. We see how the Khmer Rouge structured themselves for utmost control of the population.
Almost half of Chhalith's time was spent on projects in deep jungle where he and his fellow workers had to stave off starvation by discovering for themselves what they could eat and what was poisonous. This memoir is filled with jungle survival techniques, Cambodian folk lore, superstition, and encounter with wild animals.
The account of the family's escape may be among the most harrowing ever recorded. During 1975 - 1979, Cambodia lost more than one-fifth of its population to starvation, illness, negligent accidents, assassination, and murder. How this family survived and finally escaped shows the incredible courage and resourcefulness of two parents who had given their oldest son, in his earlier years, everything he would need to make it through three years of being on his own under the murderous regime of the Communist Khmer Rouge.
The question is sometimes asked, "Why did they kill?" because killing in Cambodia during this time was so rampant. Chhalith's insights as he traveled about the country go a long way toward answering that question.
For the following three years, Chhalith was separated from his parents and assigned to the slave labor camps that traveled throughout Battambang Province, sometimes having to serve as a leader of rebellious men much older than himself. We see how the Khmer Rouge structured themselves for utmost control of the population.
Almost half of Chhalith's time was spent on projects in deep jungle where he and his fellow workers had to stave off starvation by discovering for themselves what they could eat and what was poisonous. This memoir is filled with jungle survival techniques, Cambodian folk lore, superstition, and encounter with wild animals.
The account of the family's escape may be among the most harrowing ever recorded. During 1975 - 1979, Cambodia lost more than one-fifth of its population to starvation, illness, negligent accidents, assassination, and murder. How this family survived and finally escaped shows the incredible courage and resourcefulness of two parents who had given their oldest son, in his earlier years, everything he would need to make it through three years of being on his own under the murderous regime of the Communist Khmer Rouge.
The question is sometimes asked, "Why did they kill?" because killing in Cambodia during this time was so rampant. Chhalith's insights as he traveled about the country go a long way toward answering that question.
