LITTLETON — Only 18 months ago, 23- year old Sarah Jones Dickens boarded a plane for a far away land, unaware at the time of the great difference this trip was going to make in her life. Dickens was on her way to Cambodia.

Photo courtesy of Sarah Dickens | Daily Herald Villagers walk along a canal that feeds the fertile fields and provides water to their community. In the years of the Khmer Rouge’s violent rule, these were often killing fields as hundreds of thousands of innocent Cambodians were slaughtered. Valley resident and Duke University student Sarah Dickens spent time in Southeast Asia detailing its history as a Fulbright scholar. Advertisement

After a 40-hours of travel, she stepped off the final plane. “I was so tired when I got there, I just wanted a bed” she remembers. She made it to bed that night. But the new day was the beginning of a journey that would take her through cities and across provinces. Sarah’s trip to Cambodia was to gather information and visual clues as to the effects of genocide.

Dickens, who double majored in art history and political science from Duke University, was born and raised in Roanoke Rapids. Her family now resides in Littleton. While at Duke, she enrolled in a trauma studies class under Professor Kristine Stiles, which brought her face to face with the after effects of genocide.

Challenged by her professor, Dickens began a study of life and death in Cambodia during in Democratic Kampuchea from 1975 to 1979, under the Khmer Rouge. It was a time of torture, executions and killing in the prison systems, when 1.7 million people died for no apparent reason. 

Her studies of the regime and the effects of the trauma inflicted on the survivors led her to write a 77-page honors thesis titled: “Witnessing Cambodia:  The Visual Representations of Trauma in Cambodia Analyzed through the Lens of Witnessing.” While writing the thesis she applied for a Fulbright fellowship for research studies.

Dickens thesis “maped out the representations of trauma onto the visual documents taken from the Cambodian genocide.” The Fulbright Institute was impressed and sent her to Cambodia to research her theories. “I was happy that I could finally combine both of my majors into one big project,” she said remembering how it felt to be chosen.

The modern day sights and sounds of Phnom Penh were very different from the descriptions of deserted streets under the Khmer Rouge. Millions of people, markets and storefronts line the streets. “The cities are rich,” said Dickens, that conditions in the provinces are much different. “There is an emerging to strong middle class in the city, but it hasn’t trickled down into the provinces yet. The houses there are usually built over a chicken coup, there are animals in the yard and the smell is awful.

Dickens shares, “When I did my interviews, I just tried to ignore it. I volunteered in Louisiana after Katrina and I was amazed at how much it reminded me of that.”

Dickens traveled across the country, using contacts the Documentation Center of Cambodia while composing her thesis to gain access to survivors who would share their stories and artwork for future generations. “Without them I would have no project,” she said.

Extending her fellowship, she wrote the grant that brought Gunnar Bergstrom, a Swedish delegate who supported the Khmer Rouge, back to Cambodia to apologize for his actions. “Gunner in the Living Hell” was organized by the Documentation Center of Cambodia with the Living History Forum of Sweden. It is permanently on display at the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum in Phnom Penh.

While in Cambodia, Bergstrom gave credence to the stories told by the survivors. He acknowledged the legitimacy of their experience.

“He told them what he did and said, ‘I’m sorry.’ It was good that he came back. He brought back a piece of Cambodia for people to see.”

Dickens, in following Bergstrom wrote: “The Power of an Apology: Gunnar Bergstrom” published  in DC-Cam’s Searching for the Truth magazine. She and two other co-workers curated the first art exhibition in Cambodia of archived photos taken during the Democratic Kampuchea, “Reflections: Democratic Kampuchea and Beyond.”

Dickens also added comments to a Genocide Training Manual, and is a part of the process which helps with teacher training.

When asked how she felt genocide education might change the Cambodians, Dickens responded, “They may be able to develop a sense of empathy and awareness. Denial of trauma is one of the worst things you can do to a victim, and their stories have been denied for so long. I think if you learn about anything like this you can prevent it from happening again.”

Modestly, Dickens confessed that she believes that the people of Cambodia have made a more lasting impression on her than she has made on them. “I don’t know if it just came from growing up, but I see things differently now. Seeing things there made me appreciate things more,” she said.

It was a 40-hour trip by plane back to the states. “I was tired.” Dickens laughed as she tried to pull herself away from the memories of a country that she admittedly has come to love. There was laughter and tears when mom and dad, Christine and Sammy Dickens, met her at the airport. Dickens has dedicated January to spending time with her grandmother. “I haven’t seen her in two years, and we’ve always been very close.” she said.

“It’s been really busy over the holidays, and I’m glad because I’m afraid I’ll get Cambodia-sick if I think about it too much.”  Dickens plans to begin her graduate work in June, but said she’s not sure what she’ll do in the interim. “I think about going back; there’s so much to do there. I didn’t want to leave Cambodia, but I needed to come home.”

Many years ago, the Beetles sang, “It’s a long and winding road, that leads to your door.” For this young Roanoke Rapids native, that long and winding road has just begun to lead her to many doors. This one of many, holds the promise of a new future for an entire country, and has implications that will touch millions for many years to come. “I’m sure I’ll go back one day,” said Dickens. “I hope it hasn’t changed too much.”