Golden Passage, 24x18, Original Oil Painting by Mandy Main created for "Tell Me a Story" at La Quinta Museum

“Golden Passage”

 In the late 1970s the Khmer Rouge under Pol Pot carried out genocide in Cambodia, killing an estimated two million people, about 25% of the country’s population. Several years later, in the mid-1980s, when I was a young mother (and pregnant), my husband and I were missionaries in Thailand.  We aided Cambodians who had escaped through the killing fields and were imprisoned in immigration jails in Bangkok.  Thus began a life-long concern for the oppressed in South East Asia and particularly for the suffering of women there. 

In 2013 I finally had the opportunity to travel in Cambodia.  What we found was a country still in recovery. Many people lived in abject poverty in stifling tropical heat. But the Cambodians had an irrepressible spirit in spite of all their suffering.   They welcomed us warmly and were delighted that we had come to visit their country.  Our time there touched me deeply.

One day my daughter and I were touring one of the amazing ancient temples in the Angkor Wat Archeological Park.  We were charmed by ten spirited young girls who befriended us and called us by name.  It was the end of the day and we didn’t have much cash on us, but spent it all to buy some of their sweet wares:  handmade ornaments and hand woven scarves for only $1 each.  We rifled through our purses to find lip gloss and coins to give them. As we drove off in our tuktuk they were thrusting gifts at us.  Giving to us!  They live in poverty but have rich, generous hearts. Since I don’t paint portraits, my painting is the ride home, where the humble dirt road is transformed, bathed in the golden light of the setting sun, a suitable metaphor for this unforgettable encounter.