There are no drug rehabiliatoin centers in Cambodia, but there is one NGO that is a harm reduction center for drug addicts, and Adam, Abe and I spent an afternoon there. The NGO is called Korsang and was founded by an American woman named Holly, a former student of Adam's father, who is a counseling psychology professor in Boston. We met up with Holly one night at an expat restaurant/bar where they were having a trivia night. (We did well identifying the buroughs of Manhattan, not so well identifying British pop stars from the '80's.) She invited us to go see the next day the organization that she has created.
The center is a safe-haven for drug addicts, a "home" where they can get clean needles, a warm meal and emergency medical treatment. There's an art room for art therapy, a classroom where they have lessons in English and Khmer (Cambodian), a music recording room and a break-dancing floor. The point of the institution is not drug addiction recovery, but lessening the dangers and the risks associated with drug use. These kinds of institutions can be controversial, along the same lines in my mind, as handing out condoms at high schools, but for this country at this time, I think it is such a blesssing.
Holly herself is a recovered heroin addict. She has boy-cut hair, wears baggy jean shorts, smokes like a chimney and has earned the respect of the thousands of individuals who have walked through her doors. She is totally chill and full of empathy. She's currently on poor terms with the Cambodian government because she took and published pictures of some current prisons that represent serious human right violations.
The Cambodian man who gave us the tour of the facilities had a perfect American accent. That's because he was raised in the States but was deported back to Cambodia after spending 12 years in an American prison, I think in CA. Almost all of Holly's employees are deported ex-con's from the USA. They were so fun to talk with and easy to spot because they dressed American urban style: saggy pants, oversized baseball hats. They seemed really grateful to be working with Holly and to be helping out their struggling countrymen.
Holly also had us watch 30 minutes of a documentary film abou Korsang that is currently in the middle of the production. If it does well at Sundance, remember that you saw it here first! You can watch the trailer and read more about it here.
I left there feeling really inspired and also with an increased realization that everyone has a job or a calling that optimizes his or her specific set of talents and life experiences. I realized that I would not, for example, be at all effective in Holly's position, not because I could't do it if I really wanted to, but because my life experiences don't lend themselves to it. I couldn't empathize with or relate to the struggling drug users the same way that Holly does. And there's so much power in that. I don't think those guys would take me seriously at all. My quest is to try to find the place in which I can do the most possible good given the life opportunities and experiences that I have had.
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