Shortly after arriving at Prieb So, I had a good chance to revisit Banteay Prieb. Well, two places of Banteay Prieb actually; firstly, the new BP, that is, BP Farm where two old houses and the monument of Richie have been meticulously moved from the old BP place, and then, the old BP where construction for the government project is going on and the old BP buildings have been almost all destroyed to make way for the new ones.

I was a regent in BP in 2005-2007 so when I heard the news of the government takeover of the land of BP and then the last graduation of BP from afar in Spain, it was truly heartbreaking, very sad and depressing.

So, when the community of Prieb So went to the BP farm to arrange the furniture in the two houses, I was happy for the opportunity to go and see the BP farm, and how the two houses have been broken down to pieces at BP and then have been rearranged and settled at the farm as they were before.

When I got there, I had so many mixed feelings about the new state of BP. The way that two houses have been assembled again was genuinely amazing. So many things were as they were before albeit some changes: the spaces and dimensions, doors and columns, wood textures, chapel, kitchen, rooms, even the toilets were restored as they were (it could have used some renovation!). To my amazement, the distance between the two buildings also seemed to have been kept as before! It felt as if they were the same houses as when I was living during my regency. Bits of the old memories became very much alive again: the weekly gatherings, daily mass, mealtimes, resting on a hammock, using the wooden shutters during the rainy season, the view of the green and lively rice field… And also memories of the people with whom we shared these spaces together, teachers, staff, students, and including dogs and cats.

The houses seem to be the same as before and still invoke and bear many personal memories of the past. However, in an odd and strange way, they are now in a different location, and different times and ages. To see only the two houses and the monument of Richie survived over to the farm made me really realized the loss of BP in the old place. I was constantly feeling the bitterness and sorrow as well as the sense of loss while moving and organizing the furniture with other community members. But then, it is not all dark and gloom. Our mission continues with the outreach and the ecology program, finding a new way in a new environment. For sure, the outlook of our mission may change but the spirit of accompanying the poor and marginalized and helping Cambodians in need will continue on.

And it was a great community bonding activity to gather together and to arrange the furniture together!

P.S. Soon afterward, I could visit the old BP and was devastated to see the place all run down and only one of the white barracks, which houses the Mekong Wheelchair, was standing. While dumbfounded by the destruction and emptiness that it provoked, I was happy to see the old faces of the Mekong Wheelchair staff. The legacy carries on, even though painfully in a new way.