Photo: Flickr / Roberto Trombetta
Despite huge loss and hardship, Pani Thomas survived the Khmer Rouge rule in Cambodia and now lives in Central Otago's Alexandra, Her story begins in 1975 when she and her family are forced to leave their comfortable city home to work in the countryside.
Pani Thomas lives in Alexandra, Central Otago, New Zealand. Pani says she does the same thing as other women – visits the supermarket, calls on neighbours, goes out with her husband, swims, goes bike-riding, does housework, enjoys gardening, helps in the church stall... yet Pani carries memories that will never leave her, horrific memories of her life in Cambodia during the years that Pol Pot held power there. This story speaks of deep sorrow, of incredible hardship and of shocking humanity. But it is also a story of triumph! Pani lived to tell her tale and to begin her life again.
