Possibly 20 odd years ago, when I saw the movie 'The KillingFields' for the first time?
Possibly
while I was living in the USA, experiencing all their anguish
over'Terrorism' - and thinking back to their secret bombing campaign in
Cambodia.
These two episodes of history have made an indelible mark
in my mind - but Iwould have to say the catalyst for my decision was
probably Selfridges, Manchester.
Now don't get me wrong -nothing
wrong with Selfridges as such - in fact hard to find fault with them
really. But, Christmas shopping there at the end of 2007 was to somehow
have a profound effect for me. The money that was being spent by
frenzied shoppers - me included, was quite frankly obscene.
On what?
Well, in my case - being totally under whelmed with any kind
ofshopping, I just buy gift vouchers for everyone, typically 20 quid
for eachvoucher. I have quite a few to buy each year.
And you wanna knowsomething? The value of just one or two of those vouchers is what many Cambodian families have to live on - FOR A WHOLE YEAR.
It’s a country with wonderful people who have endured some 40 years of trauma. From the secret bombing of it by the Americans, through Genocide by Pol Pot, to occupation by the Vietnamese and then a civil war. It now has a 'stable' government, a slightly improved, but still poor infrastructure and hope for the future. It is still one of the most impoverished nations on earth though.
Anyway, that’s how this all started – a three months stint of volunteer work in Cambodia.
It just sort of grew into a bigger trip – as these things do, I suppose!
How MUCH bigger, Woz?...
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