Now we are giving the same training to many more former Khmer Rouge teachers and to teachers returning from the refugee camps in Thailand. The signs are all promising. We do know where we want to go and how to get there, but of course something unexpected could occur at any time to block our path, to take us back to anarchy, for all these gains to be lost. The one that is most worrying is the continuing poverty of our people. The rice harvests are not good, water levels are lower than they have been for years, fish catches are low, shrimp-farms are ruined.
People resort to desperate means to feed their families, men resort to crime, women to prostitution.
Cambodia cannot solve its problems on its own. It needs external help. It needs positive engagement by the international community. It needs bilateral and multilateral aid. It needs private investment.