Buddhist monk Voun Von (second from left), a 56 year old survivor of the Khmer Rouge period of ...

Buddhist monk Voun Von (second from left), a 56 year old survivor of the Khmer Rouge period of autogenocide, discusses his experiences with Australian journalist Marje Prior (who is standing with her Cambodian driver) at Wat Ounalom, a temple located in central Phnom Penh, just of the Royal Palace. Other monks and children listen to his story of survival during the 1976-1979 period when the Khmer Rouge singled out Buddhist monks for particularly brutal treatment, mainly for being 'incompatible with the revolution'. Tens of thousands were expelled from their wats (or temples) and it is estimated that 50,000 died at the hands of the Khmer Rouge. In 1981, about 5,000 monks were recorded as practicing in Cambodia, compared to over 100,000 monks and novices recorded in 1969. Cambodia's spiritual heritage is, however, slowly reviving thanks to the dedication of these clerics, especially after Theravada Buddhism was reinstituted as the state religion in 1989. Marje Prior and photographer Heide Smith visited Cambodia in January and August 1993 to document Australian involvement with UNTAC, later publishing a book entitled 'Shooting at the Moon - Cambodian Peacekeepers tell their stories'.