An Interesting Character

Firstly, I have no understanding of the history of conflict between these two great countries and two wonderful peoples and cultures.

I met Guy Rady in 2019, when he was working with Volunteer Building Cambodia. Many of our Passionist Family have visited Siem Reap and assisted in the building of homes for lower income Khmer people, as well as supporting the Community School. Guy was one of the builders there, assisting the local community. He shared this thought on Facebook, and with his permission I share it with you.

Guy Rady is  feeling devastated.

24 July at 18:35 ·

Circling around the recent attack between Thailand and Cambodia results in casualties and loss in infrastructures. Things may escalate to further damage in both nations. Fingers are pointed at each other whoever drew first blood.

There’s already enough wars, sufferings and losses going at this second already. This is wrong and we all know that. Why are we prioritizing greed over fairness?

But I will say this, a country who just had its genocide until the early 80s- who’s still slowly recovering itself from the scar, picking up its pieces slowly but surely, has seen enough war, experienced enough hunger, suffered enough from losing loved ones, and left with 3 quarters of the population would never want to go through those hardships ever again.

The trauma and the scar is still deep within my parents’ generation as it was their beautiful childhood that was stolen. My mom was the only one in her family to survive. Imagine the horrors they have been through just for a second.

I strongly believe that the peoples from both nations still believe in choosing love over loss, living in harmony over chaos and living with the same faith in peace over war.

I might have offended my circle with this but at the end of the day, I’m just a Cambodian who just wants to promote peace and love over destructions. I ask that you don’t take this personal.

#WeDontWantWar #StopWars #CambodiaThailand

Rady wrote to me:

I really appreciate for considering my voice as a Cambodian during these difficult times. I’m happy to help out with anything you need. If I’m being honest, it’s been hard seeing the news headline regarding the updates between Thailand and Cambodia conflict, and it deepens my heart even more when a small voice from Cambodia isn’t recognized or highlights from the big news outlet. Thanks again for understanding to highlight the story of Cambodia through locals.

Rady is now a digital creator. You can find one of his videos about beautiful Cambodia here, with his wife Katey Lippitt.