25 November, 2010: "A Day of Giving Thanks" and "A Day of Remembrance"

On Tuesday morning I was promptly greeted with tragic news from Mr. Tee. I was in Koh Kong, Cambodia eating breakfast when the man from the travel office told me to turn around and watch the news on the TV at my guest house. "Did you hear?" he asked. I shook my head to inform him that I had no idea what he was talking about. "About 400 people died and many more injured last night in Phnom Penh. At the Water Festival. Stampede. Lots of people...," and now he shook his head in disbelief. I began asking him questions to find out: Where?! How?! Who?! He told me it happened on the bridge that connects the city of Phnom Penh to the entertainment area of Diamond Island and that he did not know how it started or how it happened but many women and children had died in the mass dash to get off of the bridge. Mr. Tee then looked me directly in the eyes and demanded, "Call everyone you know in Phnom Penh. Make sure they are alright."

A shopping center on Diamond Island. I took this photo
from one of the 2 bridges that connect Diamond Island
to the city of Phnom Penh. This was not the bridge that the
stampede occurred on though.

I reached for my phone and dialed Nellie's number immediately. She and I had just been on that bridge a couple of days prior to check out all of the Water Festival preparations. Little did we know at the time that this bridge would later be the scene of so many deaths, and now I was anxious to find out if she and all of our Harpswell girls were safe and sound. Fortunately, I quickly learned that she and the girls had stayed far away from the Water Festival extravaganza that night and were all just fine. I breathed a sigh of relief. I cannot imagine having to deal with the death of a member from our Harpswell family. Nellie proceeded to inform me that my family and friends had been expressing concern for my well-being on Facebook, so even though I had vowed to disconnect on this mini-holiday I dashed to the nearest Internet Cafe to let everyone know that I was not a part of the stampede and to guiltily let them know that I was on a beautiful beach 6 hours away while this tragic event occurred in Phnom Penh. I couldn't believe this had already made international headlines and I knew my family would be worrying a great deal. Here is the first article I read re: the stampede. I was shocked to learn of all the details...

Traditional Buddhist offerings to people
 in the afterlife: rice, water, bananas
and lit candles.

Well, once I returned to Phnom Penh it was the day before Thanksgiving and I was unsure how I should be feeling. The country--and the Harpswell girls--were mourning the death of their fellow people. The Prime Minister, Hun Sen, declared November 25th a "Day of Remembrance" for the people of Cambodia and expressed that this was the greatest tragedy the country has endured since the ruling of the Khmer Rouge regime under Pol Pot. There was a ceremony held at the bridge in the early morning and in traditional Buddhist practice food offerings were put out by many for those who had perished. Nellie and I were not sure if it was appropriate to be thinking about a feast of turkey and all of the fixings when the flags were flying at half mast throughout the city.

We consequently decided to scale back our enthusiasm for our much anticipated holiday in respect for our girls who were clearly having a difficult time dealing with what had happened. However, we kept our reservation at a local restaurant that was serving a proper Thanksgiving meal and were accompanied by two fellow travelers I had met in Koh Kong who wanted to be with others on this holiday, too. The meal wasn't made by the hands of family and friends who we love, but it was enough to give us a piece of home comfort during a heavy day in Cambodia.

Thanksgiving dinner @ The Garden Cafe in Phnom Penh

Later on in the night I held my English class from 7:30 - 8:30 pm. I did all of the seemingly unimportant things first such as explaining how to appropriately complete their homework assignment. I did this quickly as I wanted to budget in time for a discussion on the meaning behind Thanksgiving being a "Day of Giving Thanks" for what you do have in a time when there is such an awful loss of life. The girls in my class seemed to grasp this concept very well (FYI most of them gave thanks for their families, friends and Alan Lightman & The Harpswell Foundation) and it fostered an even larger discussion on their feelings towards the stampede.

The girls in my English class expressed that they are feeling anxious, tired and afraid. They all said that they watched a lot of the news coverage on TV so the images of their people suffering in the aftermath of the stampede are now stuck in their heads. I think we can all relate to this after watching TV on and after 9/11. They also shared with me that they are now too scared to cross the bridge and go to Diamond Island, which is a place that Nellie has told me that they go to a lot to have fun with their friends. I tried to calm them down because they seemed pretty adamant about never going back. I told them how many Americans said they would never go to NYC or fly on an airplane again after 9/11, but that now time has passed they may regularly do both of those things again. Explaining how time can heal is a hard concept to teach someone when speaking their 2nd language, but I think it helped to raise their spirits and I hope one day they will be able to go to Diamond Island again.

Early morning boat races down
the Tonle Sap River 

Concert outside of the National Museum

It is extremely unfortunate that such an awful event occurred during the Water Festival weekend. The Water Festival is a a national Buddhist holiday that is celebrated in a few S. East Asian countries and is definitely the fan-favorite here in Cambodia. It is said that the city of Phnom Penh nearly doubles in population (no exaggeration!) during this weekend every year because many people from the outlying provinces will travel to PP to celebrate. There are typically many concerts, street vendors selling food and all other kinds of commodities (similar to an American Black Friday experience), boat races, carnival games, fireworks, picnics, etc. Unfortunately, it will now forever be tainted with the memory of so many lives lost and injured. This country has suffered a lot in recent history and it's wonderful to see them persevere even when they experience major set-backs. I can only do my best to keep the girls' attitudes positive and to remind them that their and their country's future still looks so bright.