Sensovann Bennici talks about her experiences as a Cambodian refugee in the 1970s from her Walkersville home Wednesday. (Staff photo by Sam Yu)10/12/06
By Geoffrey D. Brown
News-Post Staff
Frederick News Post (MD, USA)
FREDERICK -- A simple well costs only $60 in Cambodia, labor included. It's a hole a hundred feet deep with a PVC pipe, a one-way valve and a plunger, and it makes all the difference in the world to people who have been drinking from a muddy puddle.
The beauty and devastation of Cambodia called Ted and Bonnie Nieman in February 2005. The first well went in July 13 of that year. Since then, largely through the Niemans' efforts, 188 wells have been dug.
Frederick County residents, among them a Vietnam war veteran and a Cambodian refugee, have been helping impoverished villagers, providing wells, school supplies and hope for a country still not fully recovered from the brutal era of the Khmer Rouge that claimed 2 million lives in the late 1970s.
Kolab Tyssens, 45, of Frederick, escaped Cambodia in 1979 after losing almost everyone to the Khmer Rouge's systematic destruction of a third of the country's people. Her parents, sister, brothers, their children were all murdered, she said.
In 1993 she returned, the first of six trips she has made to help students in different areas of the country. Her latest trip was a two-month personal mission from late April through late June to provide school supplies to children.
Sensovann Bennici, 42, of Walkersville, a Cambodian refugee who escaped with her mother and father and six brothers and sisters in 1979, said she had just returned from her first trip back to Cambodia last year when she read an article about the Niemans' efforts.
"I was so touched that they went to Cambodia to help," she said.
The Niemans first went to Cambodia as tourists.
In early 2005 the Niemans were in Vietnam, where Mr. Nieman had served with the U.S. Army in the late 1960s, and they made a trip to see Angkor Wat near Siem Reap, an iconic 12th century temple in Cambodia. In Siem Reap, they stayed at a hotel and their eyes were opened to devastating poverty.
"There was nothing growing that you could really see," Ms. Nieman said. "We asked, 'Where do you get your water?'"
There were open pits of stagnant water filled with dead animals -- snakes, frogs, rats, which some of the villagers would eat. There was no potable water, and disease and skin infections were rampant, Mr. Nieman said.
"We knew that moment we had to do something," he said.
They hooked up with an entrepreneurial hotel owner who is the de facto social services provider and, when they returned to Frederick, started networking to raise funds and send them back to Cambodia. The money was used to dig wells and buy sewing machines for women to help them earn a living. A little money goes a long way in Cambodia, and with the hotel owner, Arif Billah, they have a partner they trust will make the money work, they said.
"The wonderful thing about people in Frederick County is they'll give $200 or $500 or they'll give $20 and it means something," Ms. Nieman said.
Now villagers have fresh drinking water and water for crops. So far the well program has provided water for about 3,000 people, according to the Niemans.
Ms. Tyssens said she plans to return to her home country again next year, and the Niemans are already planning a return trip for December.
Ms. Bennici, mother of three school-aged children and one more, said she plans to return to Cambodia again and has an idea to raise money for her home country by selling her baked goods.
"I just want to say if I may send my deepest gratitude and appreciation to all the contributors for their caring, concern and generosity to the Cambodian people in our country," Ms. Bennici said. "We really appreciate what they have done for us."
The beauty and devastation of Cambodia called Ted and Bonnie Nieman in February 2005. The first well went in July 13 of that year. Since then, largely through the Niemans' efforts, 188 wells have been dug.
Frederick County residents, among them a Vietnam war veteran and a Cambodian refugee, have been helping impoverished villagers, providing wells, school supplies and hope for a country still not fully recovered from the brutal era of the Khmer Rouge that claimed 2 million lives in the late 1970s.
Kolab Tyssens, 45, of Frederick, escaped Cambodia in 1979 after losing almost everyone to the Khmer Rouge's systematic destruction of a third of the country's people. Her parents, sister, brothers, their children were all murdered, she said.
In 1993 she returned, the first of six trips she has made to help students in different areas of the country. Her latest trip was a two-month personal mission from late April through late June to provide school supplies to children.
Sensovann Bennici, 42, of Walkersville, a Cambodian refugee who escaped with her mother and father and six brothers and sisters in 1979, said she had just returned from her first trip back to Cambodia last year when she read an article about the Niemans' efforts.
"I was so touched that they went to Cambodia to help," she said.
The Niemans first went to Cambodia as tourists.
In early 2005 the Niemans were in Vietnam, where Mr. Nieman had served with the U.S. Army in the late 1960s, and they made a trip to see Angkor Wat near Siem Reap, an iconic 12th century temple in Cambodia. In Siem Reap, they stayed at a hotel and their eyes were opened to devastating poverty.
"There was nothing growing that you could really see," Ms. Nieman said. "We asked, 'Where do you get your water?'"
There were open pits of stagnant water filled with dead animals -- snakes, frogs, rats, which some of the villagers would eat. There was no potable water, and disease and skin infections were rampant, Mr. Nieman said.
"We knew that moment we had to do something," he said.
They hooked up with an entrepreneurial hotel owner who is the de facto social services provider and, when they returned to Frederick, started networking to raise funds and send them back to Cambodia. The money was used to dig wells and buy sewing machines for women to help them earn a living. A little money goes a long way in Cambodia, and with the hotel owner, Arif Billah, they have a partner they trust will make the money work, they said.
"The wonderful thing about people in Frederick County is they'll give $200 or $500 or they'll give $20 and it means something," Ms. Nieman said.
Now villagers have fresh drinking water and water for crops. So far the well program has provided water for about 3,000 people, according to the Niemans.
Ms. Tyssens said she plans to return to her home country again next year, and the Niemans are already planning a return trip for December.
Ms. Bennici, mother of three school-aged children and one more, said she plans to return to Cambodia again and has an idea to raise money for her home country by selling her baked goods.
"I just want to say if I may send my deepest gratitude and appreciation to all the contributors for their caring, concern and generosity to the Cambodian people in our country," Ms. Bennici said. "We really appreciate what they have done for us."
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