A remarkable woman, an incredible story

Esther is the architect behind Khmer Village Homestay. A short, stout and jolly Chinese lady with a charismatic presence, she has built a safe haven in a once war torn location. Fond of reminiscing, we sat together one evening as she reclined on her chair and told us a few stories about her journey.

It was a strong sense of divine guidance that initially spurred her move from Malaysia to Cambodia as a missionary. When she first arrived nearly 20 years ago there were no NGOs in the Baray region. The now well-surfaced road outside her house was a dirt track. Two tyres burst on her first trip to her new home and on a subsequent trip a door flew open mid drive with Esther nearly falling out of the car! That might sound bad enough but it was just the beginning of her rollercoaster adventure.... little wonder she is in the process of finishing a book about her move containing tales such as the following...

She was sent to Baray, the 'black hole' of Cambodia, why? Being the centre of the main road linking the 2 major cities of Cambodia it was a major travelling route for the Khmer Rouge. Many ex-fighters and gangsters still lived in the Baray district which gave it a high incidence of crime and social issues - hence Esther's mission to help was most suited to that region. In helping the locals she had to deal directly with gangsters. Not the kind that get asbos for stealing the odd pack of fags, I mean real killers - ex Khmer Rouge.... from the same Khmer Rouge that killed at least 2 million people in the 70s under Pol Pot. This was serious stuff. 18 years ago a series of incidents reached a critical point when a man arrived at Esther's house with an iron rod intent on killing her....

Fortunately Esther was out of town at the time. She was not meant to die on that day. But what drives a man to kill someone who has come to help? It all started with Esther arranging for a well to be dug in a local village. The deal was she would employ the locals for labour but only pay them if the well gave water. They dug and dug some more but unfortunately the Earth did not give that life-sustaining fluid we all take for granted, leaving the villagers disgruntled for having done so much work. One man demanded Esther to pay the villagers in contravention of their initial contract but she understandably refused. Who knows what went through his head resulting in that blinding rage which can bring death, but his scheme failed and he had time to cool down afterwards. Esther returned to Baray once she felt it was safe enough to continue her work, and so it went for a while.

Destiny would have their paths cross again when a man was seriously beaten to within an inch of his life but was left to die outside the hospital as he couldn't afford treatment. Esther stepped in and financed his medical care such that he made a full recovery. Sounds great, except that he happened to be an enemy of the original disgruntled villager from the well-gate scandal. Things became a little more tense for Esther.

The final straw in this cumulative dispute started with a local marital coflict. An incident occurred where a man came home drunk and stabbed his wife. By now Esther had a reputation as a local go to person, so our original disgruntled villager approached her to help this couple. As it was a marital dispute Esther decided not to intervene, it was a strong and bold decision but she felt that it wasn't her place to interfere in marriage issues. Our disgruntled villager had to return to his village empty handed, breaking the villagers hopes for Esther's help. I imagine this left him feeling de-faced and ashamed, leading to a consuming rage toward Esther.

This time he wasn't taking any chances. He arrived once again at Esther's door with 2 ex Khmer Rouge armed with AK-47s. It was too dark for her to see completely but Esther saw enough to see that they were there. Imagine how she felt... these could have been her last moments if it wasn't for the miraculous events which were to follow.

Stood in a cloak of darkness, AK in hand, intent to kill, the man heard a voice. 'Do not kill Esther, everybody loves her and I love her.' Esther told us he had heard the gospel, he knew this voice could not be ignored. His hands became paralysed and he dropped his gun, his evil design was aborted. Her time had not come.

As the man reached old age he repented for his previous wrongs and when he breathed his last it was Esther who financed his final arrangements. The same favor was extended to his wife and daughter when they passed away. Kindness in life and in death, such is the nature of the one who truly gives. May we all settle our grudges before death visits us.

Esther left missionary work about 6 years ago and set up Khmer Village Homestay to do purely humanitarian work. Thanks to her contunied efforts many of the villages have wells, several schools have been built and toilets provided. It has been very humbling and a great honour to work alongside her and see first hand the difference we can make with simple things that we take for granted in the west - clean water and education. Baray is blessed to have her. Me and Mandeep certainly endorse her work and would recommend anyone planning on going to that part of the world to drop by. Get out of the city and see the authentic traditional Cambodia, where your money contributes toward enriching the locals at a grass-roots level.