Displaced child's dream: 'I just want to go home as soon as possible'

Third-grader Mach Raksmey, displaced by fighting along the Cambodia-Thailand border, holds a strong wish to return home as soon as possible, even while attending classes three times a day at his current sanctuary. For Raksmey, going home means returning to his familiar school, seeing his family's land again, and resuming the ordinary life of studying, farming, and raising chickens and ducks. He has been unable to return to his house, school, farmland, or relatives for months. "I miss my home and my school, and I miss my uncles and aunts there. I haven’t seen them for a long time," he said. While acknowledging opportunities to study, Raksmey noted what is missing is his home and the life he once had there. "Here, I can study, but I can't do anything else. I just stay here. I can't grow any crops," he said. "Back there, we have our home. We can live at home, grow crops and raise chickens and ducks." He wants to resume his studies at his old school while living with his family on the land where they once farmed and raised animals. If allowed to return, he stated, "I want to raise chickens and ducks, grow crops and study." Before displacement, Raksmey’s family lived in a wooden house. Around their home, they grew crops and kept a dog, chickens, and ducks. He still thinks about the animals he helped care for, but after so long away, he doesn't know their fate. "I don’t know where they have all gone. I haven’t been back for so long. I don’t even know if they are all alive," Crops planted before the family fled, expected to be harvested within a month, were lost due to the fighting. "We worked hard to grow the crops there, thinking that in another month we would have food to eat. But before even one month had passed, everything was gone," His father returned to check on their home and land. The chickens were gone, and crops destroyed. "I feel sorry for my crops and the chickens I raised. Now they are all gone. My father went back to look and everything was gone. The crops were destroyed and dead," The family’s wooden home was also damaged and partly burned, with timber broken and belongings destroyed by fire. The memory of fleeing remains vivid, with Raksmey recalling sounds of shooting. "When we left, there was shooting – boom, boom, boom," he said, admitting, "I was scared." Beyond fear, Raksmey feels anger and sadness about not being able to return home. In his understanding, Thai forces have surrounded the area, preventing their return. "I’m angry. My home is surrounded like that every day. Sometimes I want to cry." His plea to the Thai side is simple: "Please don’t take my home anymore." For Raksmey, the losses are tangible: lost land, home, crops, chickens, and money. "They have taken everything at home," he said. "Our crops and our land are there. Now it is all gone. Where else do we have land? That was the only land we have." What he misses most are the places where he lived and studied. "I want to go home so I can see my school and see my land. I haven’t seen my land for a long time." He doesn't know when his family will be allowed back. "I still don’t know. They still haven’t allowed us to go back." As he waits, Raksmey continues to study, seeing education as part of his hope for returning and rebuilding. "I have to study hard and take my knowledge back to rebuild the place." His wish is uncomplicated: to return home, continue his education, and live again on his family’s land, helping grow crops and raise animals in his free time. "I want to go home as soon as possible," Information source: Phnom Penh Post