Finding home

I am become far too comfortable here. Despite me not speaking the language, or understanding much about the culture, I feel really at home.

Walking the streets of Phnom Penh and Siem Reap at night by myself has been a nightly activity for me. I enjoy the liveliness of the people and the feeling of warms and humidity that covers me. I haven’t felt uncomfortable at all and part of that is not standing out from the other Cambodians around me.

I kind of feel like I melt into the population and can be just another face in the crowd. Kind of a darker more asiany Where’s Waldo, except no one is looking for me.

Anyway, like I said I’m super at home here. I don’t feel like I’m visiting, I feel like I lives here. I know that I’m not actually experience what the average Cambodian goes through, I don’t have to earn money or work, everything I do is by choice, and usually I just roam around, and no one needs me to rush home.

I guess that’s not totally true, I am here on a mission so I guess I do have some things I should be doing. Part of that mission has run its course, for this trip. I can’t pursue finding my family any further. There are more lines of evidence I can follow, but I’ll have to wait until next time. I’m hoping that when I come back in the spring, I will have a more complete plan and will be based closer to the areas I need to search/explore.

I still am hoping to get more DNA samples for the project, but that’s difficult because I don’t speak Khmer and I don’t know a lot of people. I still have one kits that I know I can get, I just need to find the opportunity.

I did decide to pursue another task, and that is to locate the site of the World Vision Nutrition Center where the World Vision orphans were housed prior to our flight out of the country, April 12, 1975, on the last commercial plane out of the country.

Going into this hunt, I only had a couple of clues. I knew for sure was that I was in Phnom Penh. I had a picture from the outside, a couple from the inside and some other images that I assumed are somewhere on the premises. Not much else.

Is it necessary for me to present this as some detective show? Is it necessary for me to present my evidence in a way that makes it seem much more scientific and much more illusive than it actually is? Is there really a sense of urgency and drama in my work here? No, no to all of that. Am I gonna do it that ways? Yes…yes I am…

My first line of evidence came from the picture of the front of the center,

First is to confirm this is in fact the correct place. The sign on the right side is not legible. But a close-up image of the sign on the left was provided.

The information in this picture confirms that this is the correct location. The World Vision Special Care Nutrition Center. I also know that this site was led by Dr. Penelope Key, a true hero and saint among saints. Her book “Pushing the Boundaries” serves as a testament to how one person who decides to work on behalf of others in need can make a difference and can do more than anyone ever thought possible. In this mind set, the impossible to most becomes difficult for Dr. Key, (for that matter Stan Mooneyham, Canadian sisters Anna and Elosie and nameless others). I never go to speak to her, but I feel that she is with me on this and every other journey I’m on.

The key finding the general location is also in this picture, in the form of the small blue sign just below the main sign.

There are potentially a lot of things that 308 might represent. In numerology the number 308 somehow represents something.

It probably isn’t related to any of those things, however the fact that it is Walter Whites Street address number made me think maybe it too could have something to do with an address.

The only Street 308 in Phnom Penh. It’s not too long, and it wasn’t too far for me to walk to.

Walking up and down the street 308, I did not see anything that looked like the nutrition center.

I don’t know what I was expecting, I know the sign wouldn’t still be there, the bamboo slats wouldn’t be there, its been over fifty years. For the next hour I sat in a pub nursing a beer and looking closer at the pictures, all of them. Clues could be anywhere. I knew it was one of these buildings; I counted at least 35. I also had to understand that the original building might have been torn down, there as been a ton of development throughout the city and this seems to be an area of the city that was facing a lot of new construction.

There were also several empty lots, that had buildings on them at one point and just hasn’t been built on again. One lot that was sobering was filled with building materials that had been there a very long time, as much of it was buried, other parts were covered with plants, some large trees grew out of the middle, clearly very old trees. What sealed it for me was the building on either side had clear marks of large, repaired holes and pits, like the building in the middle was hit by a bomb and destroyed, and the surrounding surviving building still held the scars. Of course, I didn’t get any pictures of them because I’m a doodoo head.

What’s crazy to think is that this destroyed building was on the same street, only a hand full of meters from the location I was housed. Death was that close to us.

I did take some videos of me walking up and down the street but also managed to not capture the lot I just talked about. But as I was watching one of the videos, and something made me stop and go back…it was subconscious…clearly consciously I could never.

Looking at the still from the video above and then back at the picture of the nutrition center…I was struggling. Then I got it, and I ran back to the pictured location.

Do you see it? Probably…you probably do and probably saw it right away…show off. It’s the angular pillars on the side of the gates.

They are the only ones like it on the block, and as you see below, they have the exact same angle.

Standing outside, seeing the similarities between the old image and my new pictures was good. But there is a clear possibility that there could have been several locations on this street with a similar front wall. There were other locations on the street that had similar construction and similar designs to each other, they are different than this.

There seemed to be some things that don’t match. The width of the opening does not seem to be consistent in both images is the big one. There is also no evidence of the stonework, which has easily been plastered over. I needed more. I had to go in and look around.

It is a restaurant that seems to be kind of new. There is evidence of construction and evidence of new construction but also old possible original structures.

The bamboo slats on the side wall caught my attention, they look similar to the slats that are seen in the photo of the front of The Center.

I doubt that the original slats could have survived the 50 years. But according to GOOGLE it is possible. If treated and placed in the correct conditions, bamboo can last 50 plus years

And the oldest known bamboo structure is really old. It is suggested that a bamboo-mud house dating from 4,500 – 9,500 years old in China is still around. So maybe, but that isn’t enough. So I continued to look around. I looked for features that seemed to be original construction that could be recognizable in a reference photo.

At first glance, nothing stood out to me. Nothing matched the few picture I have.

I then stumbled onto another connection that is fairly solid. Although it is barely visible, in the pile of old metal behind the cooking area, a familiar shape appeared.

It is the triangular metal work with the circle at the pointy end.

And that’s the best I can do. Like the shape of the wall in the front of The Center, it is possible that this form of metal work could be very common.

Am I not 100% sure that this is the location but I’m pretty sure. Next time I’m hoping to get access to the inside of the building. I will need to determine the owner of the building, I guess I’ll have to go through the Ministry of Land Management and Urban Development.