Sothea's Life Story

By Maryalice Smith 
Once we ate a lovely lunch with the family who makes silk.  The group circled up to learn about the life of Sothea, one of our rustic pathways guides, and how the genocide affected his family. First we learned how the village was that his family lived in before the genocide, with a lot of green area, an environment where everyone loved each other, and some conflict with wars and the U.S. dropping bombs on Cambodia. In 1975, the Khmer Rouge started to enter their village. The Khmer Rouge explained to the people that they needed to leave their village because the U. S. was going to drop a bomb, so people took only a few belongings and fled. The villagers walked 35 km to a different village, unless the Khmer Rouge saw nice items, such as watches or earrings, where they would then take you for investigation. At the new village, his family was split up into sections with old women, young women, old men, young boys, where all of them worked. If anyone were to violate the rules of the Khmer Rouge, the Khmer Rouge said they were exporting you to education since they were perceived as enemies Of the Khmer Rouge, but they were actually taken to prisons to be killed. At this new village, the KR discovered that Sothea’s grandfather was a wealthy buissnessman, taking him to investigation.   

After the Khmer Rouge lost power, his mother stayed in the same village where she met Sothea’s father. His parents had an arranged marriage and had two daughters and three sons. His family was poor, so his mom made their house out of trees from the woods, and his dad made money but exchange. Sothea and his siblings would walk three hours to get to school everyday, until their dad eventually got a bike for them. Sothea went to school through high school and attended university on the weekends. After university, Sothea volunteered at a NGO, where he was offered a job 6 months later. He worked there for 2 years where he met his current wife, who used to be his boss. His wife moved to Maine 7 years ago, and they have been separated by everything besides FaceTime for 3 years. His son Nick also lives in Maine with his wife. Sothea explained how he was sad how he doesn’t get to see the people he loves everyday, but he is excited because he is visiting them two days after we leave. 

Listening to Sothea’s story opened my eyes and inspired me. The measures he went through to get his education made me feel grateful for my own education and the opportunities. Next time I drive a quick five minutes to school, I will feel extra lucky and inspired to be grateful for the easy access I have to such a developed education that some kids in Cambodia may never be able to have. Sothea’s separation from his family made me feel sympathetic for him since I could never imagine being that far from my family. With that in thought, I also felt a large amount of respect for Sothea since he always had a smile on and a friendly attitude despite how much he missed his family in the United States. 

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