Friday 24 January 2014

Reflections so far - Alan Jamieson

For me, Day 1 ran the full range from hope to the horrors and naked evil of mankind at its worst.  The visit to World Vision Cambodia and what we learnt and heard from the Operations Director and his colleagues was encouraging, reassuring and at times inspiring.

World Vision International is a Christian organisation and the commitment of World Vision Cambodia to Christian values is very evident; no mean feat in a country in which only 2% are Christians.  Their programmes for the well-being of children struck a particular chord with me.  The personal testimony of the Operations Director was a wonderful, but not isolated, example of good works flowing from a soundly based faith. Another aspect we learnt of practical help to those in desperate need is the IMPACTS programme, which provides support for the after-care welfare of children, both girls and boys, who have been victims of trafficking and sexual abuse. 

A visit to the Pol Pot killing fields brought the dreadful reality of far off events of indescribable human cruelty of the Pol Pot regime in 1975-79 home to us. This was followed by the starkness of the S21 genocide museum.  The starkness broken by a group of modern day children at play in the grounds was in itself a testament that the human spirit is powerful enough can to overcome the most gruesome of actions. But it was impossible not to be moved by what we saw and not to be determined that atrocities such as this must never be allowed to happen again.

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