Once, the villagers of Kamreang, alongside their neighbors, cultivated vast fields of crops in a collaborative effort to rebuild and restore their war-torn region. The partnership among villages was strong, with profits shared fairly to revive the land they all called home. However, those days of prosperity and cooperation have become a distant memory. The fields that once nourished the community have now fallen under the control of guerrilla rebels, the Khmer Rouge, and organized crime syndicates. These criminals have forced the surrounding villages into servitude, claiming all that is produced and siphoning away any profits, leaving the region impoverished and its people desperate.
In response, the resilient villagers of Kamreang have turned to smaller-scale farming within the safety of their village. Chicken coops, once bustling with the production of eggs, have been ingeniously repurposed into makeshift greenhouses for growing vegetables and fruits. The village, once renowned for its rich variety of eggs and fish, has seen its resources dwindle. Grain has become prohibitively expensive, and egg production has nearly ceased. Today, the villagers survive by selling fish caught from the increasingly polluted river—a resource that is itself under threat as logging operations and quarry mines expand.
The future of Kamreang is uncertain. The once-thriving village, known for its abundant produce and cooperative spirit, now faces the stark reality of dwindling resources and environmental degradation. Yet, even as they struggle, the villagers continue to adapt, finding new ways to sustain their community against overwhelming odds. But with each passing day, the fish that have sustained Kamreang for generations are becoming a rare commodity, and the village’s legacy as a hub of agricultural and aquatic bounty is fading into the past.