April 6, 2013, Kampot Interview

Prak Sinan lives in a small village in Kampot, just over the seaside province of Kep. A dramatic rocky mountain formation towers over her back yard, and her front yard is a roadside store never short of customers or passing visitors. It is interesting to see the social life of rural villagers, who gather to play cards or gossip and catch up on the news while enjoying a cold drink. Knowing this is her family's primary source of income, we appreciated that Prak Sinan closed the store for our interview so she could be undisturbed. At one point when a nephew came to nap in the interview room, Prak Sinan  politely asked that he leave for privacy, and he did so very willingly.  As a former teacher, Prak Sinan is very knowledgeable about the history of Cambodia before and after the Khmer Rouge regime, and she makes it a point to share her stories of the genocide with younger people who often "do not believe that Khmer killed Khmer." She also makes important links in her story between the instability of Cambodia's past to the challenges facing Cambodia today in terms of land rights and labor strikes.