Cambodia Relief Project

Brian Cantalupi
Tingting Yu

Overview of Presentation

Few Facts of Kingdom of Cambodia

Cambodian History

Khmer Empire
Civil War Era

Economic Situation and Relief

Kingdom of Cambodia
Mekong River Mother Kong
Third Longest River in the World

Facts about Cambodia

Capital: Phnom Penh

Official Language: Khmer South India Origin
Religion: Theravada Buddhists, Muslim Cham
Government: Democratic Const. Monarchy
Area: 70,000 sq. mi Oklahoma

History Outlines
This is Cambodia History:
a thousand intertwined branches,
a thousand stories woven together,
a thousand currents of history
swirling in different directions.

Timeline of Cambodian History

Early Civilization: a Self-Governing State

Foreign Invasions to Cambodia
Civil Wars and Auto-genocide
Civil War and
Khmer Rouge

Khmer Tribes

1st A.D.

5th A.D

Khmer Empire

Dark Ages
15th A.D.

19th
A.D.

Colonial
Time
1953
1979

Khmer Empire
Capital: Angkor
Influence of Hinduism and Buddhism
Major regional power in South East
Asia
Major Architecture Achievements
Angkor Wat
http://www3.nationalgeographic.com
/places/videos/video_cambodia_camb
odia.html

Vietnam War in Cambodia

Cambodia: a neutral state in the war

30,000 poorly equipped Cambodian soldiers
vs. 180,000 Vietnamese Army
Vietnamese presence in Cambodia bombing
and landmines of Cambodia by the American
forces

Landmines in Cambodia

10 million: A landmine for every Cambodian

The costs of laying mine = $3 US per mine,
The costs of removal one = $1000 US

Civil War Era

Rise of Khmer Rouge led by Pol Pot an

extremist Communist Party in 1976 -1979
Three years of peace time

Khmer Rouge Flag

Pol Pots Beliefs

pure agrarian society, the peasants are the

true rulers of the country idealization of
peasant life in Cambodian community
pure blood of Cambodian nationality

I want you to know that everything I did, I did for my country.

--Pol Pot

Regime of Khmer Rouge

Start of Year Zero Eight-Point Program

Evacuate people from all towns and cities

Abolish all markets, personal properties
Abolish currency
Defrock all Buddhist monks
Execute all old regime leaders
Establish communal co-operations
Expel entire Vietnamese population
Dispatch troops to Vietnam border

Khmer Rouge

To preserve you is no gain, to destroy you is

no loss.
20% Cambodian population perished
Intelligence is not a virtue, but a threat
Execution of educated people and non-Khmerorigin populations, handicapped, etc.

The Killing Fields

Killing fields : ranges from

3.3 millions to 2.5 millions.
1.7 m died of execution, and
the rest of starvation
In order to save
ammunition, the convicted
were often executed using
hammers, axe handles,
spades or sharpened bamboo
sticks. The soldiers who
committed the executions
were mostly young men or
women from peasant
families.

During years of battle in South East Asia, the United

States bombs and kills over half a million Cambodians
(1969-73)
After years of Genocide (1975-79) by the Pol Pot
regime of the Khmer Rouge nearly a Third of all
Cambodians were murdered
Pol Pot wanted to destroy all opposition and strike fear
into the Cambodian people
Intellects, doctors, religious leaders, and important
people are killed to establish control
Socio-economic impact would be felt till today

Cambodia at Glance

Laos

181,035 sq.kms
24 provinces
13.5 mill (pop projection)
US$ 300 GDP per capita
36 % pop under PL
US$ 0.46 PL

Thailand

Vietnam
Gulf of
Thailand

Cambodia is one of the poorest countries in East Asia. Its ranked 130th in
the Human Development Index, just below Myanmar and India.

1994
Cambodias 7 million mines amount to
two for every single Cambodian child, and between
200 and 250 people become victims every month.

1995
The Khmer Rouge was ousted in
Cambodia after a 3 year reign of terror in which
hundreds of thousands died.

1999
Aug 11, It was reported that an estimated
half of Cambodia's 10-20 thousand sex workers
were infected with the AIDS virus, HIV.

2005
Some 80% of Cambodians lived in the
countryside.

I have, however, signed this legislation because it makes clear that the United
States will continue to do everything possible to assure that the Vietnamese
occupation of Cambodia is brought to an end and that effective guarantees are put
into place to prevent the Khmer Rouge from ever again taking control of
Cambodia.
Ronald Reagan Oct, 18 1988
In addition, since 1982, the U.S. has provided the ANS and KPNLF with covert and
overt "humanitarian" and "non lethal" military aid. By 1989, the secret non lethal
aid had grown to between $20 million and $24 million annually and the overt
humanitarian aid had reached $5 million. The Bush administration requested $7
million more in humanitarian aid for 1990.

U.S. continues to support repressive and non-democratic forces in the jungles of

Cambodia. When asked about U.S. policy in Cambodia during an April 26, l990
ABC News special, Rep. Chester Atkins (Dem. Mass.) characterized it as "a policy
of hatred."

Sanitation is a huge problem and many sewage systems

are not available
Bird Flu is a huge epidemic right now and Cambodian
people are unaware of how to fight it
Safe Sex is not taught and the people dont understand
how STDs work
School Systems are few and far between and education
is not happening
Political corruption and murder is happening
everywhere without a way to stop it

Raise funds for any of these causes

Jointly raise awareness of issues
Work closely with Cambodian relief organizations specializing
in establishing working school systems
Fund student trips to Cambodia to allow them to do service
projects such as setting up sanitation systems or building
houses
Create safe sex materials or fund safe sex learning in
Cambodia
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2003/09/0912_030912_tvtrashdump.html

Do a fundraiser through different organizations on campus

Find an action group in Cambodia that can be trusted and we
can work closely with
Find students interested in helping or possibly going to
Cambodia
Establish a service project that will be carried on for several
years
Possibly work through our government in a way that our
actions will be effective
Expand into a permanent class project at Penn State

Thank You, Questions?