Wednesday, 11 June 2008

Healing war wounds

Cumberland Newspaper Group

Lana Lam
Wednesday 11 June, 2008

WHEN he was just 10 years old in Cambodia, Ben Nhem used his bare hands to dig up the shallow grave his mother was buried in just to see her face one last time.

It was 1977 and millions of Cambodians were suffering.

The Vietnam War had ended and Cambodia was under the iron-grip rule of the Khmer Rouge.

Mr Nhem had already lost his father, who had been captured and killed by the Khmer Rouge because he was a forestry official.

Before he was orphaned Mr Nhem had been thrown into jail for stealing rice but managed to escape.

Months later, his mother and sister were dead.

In 1979, at the end of the Pol Pot regime, Mr Nhem, then 12, and his younger brother walked barefoot towards Thailand for seven days, surviving on small crabs and fish and what little rice they had.

After more than 100km they arrived at the Thai border where they were picked up by international aid workers.

Four years later, Ben and his brother arrived in Australia as wards of the state.

After high school, Ben went to university to study accounting and has run his own practice for the past decade in Rooty Hill.

This week, Mr Nhem received an Order of Australia Medal in the Queen's Birthday Honours for his work with the Cambodian community in NSW and with the Cambodian International Network for Peace and Reconciliation.

As an original founder of the network, his key aim was to raise awareness of the human rights abuses that happened in Cambodia and to establish a process for reconciliation.

In addition to this, the network also raises funds to build water wells in rural Cambodia. Each well costs about $200 to build.

Nr Nhem said his work with other Cambodian refugees was challenging but helpful for personal reasons.

"When I was young I had nightmares. This work helps me with the healing process," he said.
When he found out his friends had nominated him for the honour he was surprised.

"I asked, 'What for?' I'm proud but I'm also reserved," he said.

On reconciliation, he drew comparisons between Cambodia's history and the plight of indigenous Australians.

"Someone must wake up and break the cycle," he said.

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