This document summarizes the history and current situation in Cambodia. It provides background on Cambodia's history under French rule, the Vietnam War, Khmer Rouge regime from 1975-1979, and aftermath. It details the massive deaths and atrocities during the Khmer Rouge, which established a brutal agrarian socialist regime. The summary describes current challenges including poverty, health issues, landmines, and the goals of the Cambodia Assistance and Cultural Preservation Project to support communities through donations.

1. Tu Mach
&
Leela Joy
The Cambodian
Assistance &
Cultural
Preservation Project

2. Cambodia is a small country,
slightly smaller than Oklahoma
state, in Southeast Asia. It borders
Thailand, Laos, Vietnam and the
Gulf of Thailand

3. Government
Constitutional
Monarchy
headed by
prime minister
Hun Sen

4. King of Cambodia, Norodom
Sihamoni
The King in
Cambodia
has little
political
power now
but serves
as a symbol

5. Brief Cambodian History:
• Cambodia was part of French Indochina since
1887 up to 1953
• 1964 Vietnam War spills into Cambodia
• 1969-1973 S. Vietnam and USA invade
Cambodia and conduct secret bombing
• 1970 -1975 Civil war and bombing from Khmer
Rouge
• 1974 Bombard in Phnom Penh from Khmer Rouge
• April 13, 1975 America flees Cambodia
• April 1975, Khmer Rouge orders total evacuation
of all cities
• 1975-1979 Forced labor, starvation, torture and
execution
• 1979 Vietnamese invade and run Khmer Rouge
out. New Government is set up

6. 1964 Vietnam War
spills into
Cambodia

10. 1969 - 1973
S. Vietnam and USA
invade Cambodia and
conduct secret
bombing

15. Estimates of
150,000 – 500,000
Cambodian
civilians killed
from U.S. bombing
1969 - 1973

16. 1970 -1975
Civil War and
Bombing from
Khmer Rouge

22. Fleeing from
bombing

28. The Khmer Rouge
turned Cambodia to
“Year Zero”
1975-1979

29. Khmer Rouge Invade Phnom
Penh

30. April 1975, Khmer
Rouge orders total
evacuation of all
cities

31. Evacuation of Phnom Penh

33. Forced March to country-
side

34. Phnom Penh became a dead
city

35. Pol Pot “set
out to
purify the
revolution
of foreign
influences”
and return
to an
agrarian

36. They banned all
institutions,
including stores,
banks, hospitals,
schools, religion,
and the family

37. In Labor camps
everyone was forced
to work 14-16 hours
a day, everyday

40. Children were separated
from their parents to
work in mobile groups
or as soldiers

42. People were fed one
watery bowl of soup
with a few grains of
rice thrown in a
day

43. Governmental officials,
intellectuals,
professionals, monks,
religious leaders, and
their families were
tortured and executed

45. Tuol Sleng, Torture
Center

46. 17,000 were tortured
& killed and only 7
survived

48. Like the Nazi’s, the
Khmer Rouge
photographed and
documented their
victims and forced
confessions

49. Torture Cell

52. Tuol Sleng Memories

54. Living Quarters

58. 1979 the Vietnamese
invaded and pushed
the Khmer Rouge out.
The Vietnamese then
occupied Cambodia for
10 years

59. The atrocities of the
Khmer Rouge were
then discovered

60. Mass graves, aka “Killing
fields”

62. Hundreds of killing fields
were discovered

63. From 1975-1979 at
least 1.7 million (1/3
population)
Cambodians died from
execution, forced
labor, torture, and
starvation

66. Cambodia's people
then face further
misery and death, as
international political
rows delay the
delivery of vital aid

71. Effects of years of
War, Genocide and
Poverty on Cambodia
Today

72. Economics

73. Primary occupation: 77.5%
agriculture, hunting, forestry
and fishing

74. Population living below
poverty line 40% vs. 12% in
USA
Per capita income: $2,200
(2005)

75. Health
Effects

76. Health Care System:
• Infrastructure was abolished during
Khmer Rouge
• Facilities destroyed
• Equipment unusable
• 50 medical doctors survived the
Khmer Rouge

77. The Coverage Plan created in 1995 had
the intentions to build hospitals and
clinics based on each districts
population. Due to widespread
corruptions and inability to manage
effectively private organization were
contracted to run and update the
current health care system

78. Problems with Health Care
System:
• Low work salary for all health care
providers
• Informal charging by staff
• High out of pocket expenditure
• No health insurance
• Insufficient medical training
• Low perceived quality of services
• Limited access in countryside
• Abundance of private medical services in
the cities leading to over prescriptions
• Lack of patient bill of rights

79. “ Expenditure on
health care is
one of the main
reasons people
are pushed into
poverty- they
have to sell off
assets to pay for
services.”
Indu Bhushan
ADB Principal
Project Economist

80. Life expectancy: 59.29 yrs
vs.. 77.85 yrs in USA

81. Infant mortality rate: 68.78
deaths / 1000 live births vs..
6.43 deaths / 1000 live
births in USA

82. Inadequate nutrition: 50% of
children under 5 years are
malnourished

83. HIV / AIDS prevalence: 2.6%
vs. 0.6% USA (2003)

84. 70 % of
population
don’t have
access to safe
drinking
water

85. Common Health Problems
• Respiratory infections (TB)
• Diarrhea
• Dengue fever
• Malaria
• Hepatitis A & B
• High maternal and infant mortality
• Vaccine preventable diseases
• Preventable illnesses due to poor
environmental and sanitary awareness
• Psychological illnesses (PTSD, depression,
anxiety)

86. Cambodia is one of the
most heavily land-
mined countries in
the world

88. An estimation of 500,000 to
10 million unexploded land
mines still exists in
Cambodia today

90. There are
about
50,000
amputees
in
Cambodia
today

91. The Cambodia Assistance
and Cultural Preservation
Project

92. Goals:
To conduct charity projects
following the traditional
Buddhist and Cambodian
cultural practices and
aims to support and
preserve what is left of
these traditions after years
of war, genocide and
poverty

94. • Projects began in March of
2003 through our family ties
in Cambodia
• The family in Cambodia
assist with the projects by
selecting who, where and how
to donate and carry out the
projects
• The US connections collect
donations (clothes and

95. Past Projects

96. March 2003
• Rice donations
in Bakheng
Village
• Distribution of
clothes,
medicine and
money

97. January
2004

98. Distributions of packages containing
food, clothes, money and medicine to poor
families in country side

101. Provided funds for the
completion of Bakheng Village
Temple

102. November
2005

103. Preparing food for monk
offering

104. Feeding 64 monks

105. Pursat Province
Distribution of clothes, school
uniforms, food, mosquito nets,
medicine, blankets and money

106. Phnom Penh City Dump

107. These people live and
salvage scrap metals and
other items for a few
cents a day. They are
exposed to harmful
toxins, communicable
diseases and injury from
improper clothing

114. $550 USD passed out to the families of the
city dump

115. Rice Donation November 2005
$750 worth of rice distributed

116. April
2006

117. Kompong Speu Village

118. Distributed clothes,
200+ loaves of
bread, 174 tooth
brushes and
money

119. • This village
mainly consists of
rice farmers
They live in
extensive poverty
because their only
means of income is
rice production

122. Due to limited resources and farming
techniques the villagers are only able
to produce one harvest of rice per year

123. Children are expected to contribute to
the family livelihood by assisting
with farming, fishing and selling
found goods limiting their chances of
primary and higher education

124. Rice Donations in Bakheng
Village
• 37 bags, 50 kilograms/bag
• Distributed to over 70 families

125. Transporting Rice

126. The size of the families range from 5-
12 members in a household

127. These families only have meager means of
support and inconsistent income, such as
begging, selling found goods, working as
household servants, etc.

128. How You Can Help
• Click on “Contact Us” or “How You
Can Help” and donate. Thank you!