He was separated from his family and then ordered to live in a cottage with other children, all of whom were conscripted to work digging a canal.
[1] The organisation works with survivors of the genocide and their families, helping them overcome lingering trauma (treating around 10,000 individuals a year).
[2] Sotheara works on treating "baksbat" -- or "broken courage" -- "a syndrome seen in Cambodia that is similar to post-traumatic stress disorder".
As psychiatric care was only introduced in Cambodia in the 1990s, many individuals do not understand psychiatry, seeing it as a sort of "black magic" and mental health issues are thought to be due to being possessed by evil spirits.
Sotheara's organisation works within these beliefs to deliver treatment to individuals, helping them overcome the lingering trauma after years of war, genocide and social change.