A Borderland Life Paused
Lem, 53, once worked as a farmer. These days, she earns a living by tying straw bales for sale. Her home lies about 12 kilometres from Ta Mon Temple in Oddar Meanchey Province, an area long marked by tensions between Cambodia and Thailand. The distance to the border meant that when fighting erupted, the sound of gunfire was close and unmistakable.
On the day the shooting began between both troops, her grandchildren were at home with her. “When I first heard the gunshots, my little grandchildren were at home with me. Their parents were away, so I rushed to bring them into the trench at our house,” she recalls.
Even as bullets fell nearby, she decided to run across fields to bring her cows back at home.
Fear gripped her, especially for her children, one of whom teaches at a school at the mountain close to the borderline. “I was very scared and could barely speak,” she says. “I kept thinking about my children, one of them is a teacher at a school very close to the borderline.”
Once her children returned home, there was little time to gather belongings. She and her grandchildren climbed onto a motorbike and began the journey to a safer place. The journey to safety wasn’t without fear. Along the way, her mind was heavy. “I worried about unexploded ordnance along the road,” she explains.
At the shelter, her family received a tarpaulin. “I used it for shade and lay a mat directly on the ground to sleep,” she says. “It’s hot in the afternoons, but at least we are safe. During the first few days after we arrived here, it rained heavily, and we couldn’t sleep. We all just sat together through the downpour.”
Life in the shelter brought new challenges. Basic facilities like toilets were overcrowded, forcing residents to wait their turn.
“Using the toilet here was difficult. There are many people here, so we have to wait in line. I just want to go back home.”
Lem longed to return home yet remained grateful for the assistance she had received.
With the support by the International Humanitarian Action & Resilience Team (IHART), ActionAid Cambodia collaborated with the Community Translation Organization, provincial authorities, the National Committee for Disaster Management, and partners, supported over 3,500 families who were forced to flee their homes. Each families received emergency food, hygiene supplies, and cash assistance to ensure dignity and safety during this difficult time.
Despite the hardship, Lem expressed quiet thanks for the relief package, holding onto hope that she and her family could soon return to their normal lives.