Arn Chorn Pond - Everyone has a Story

Most of Arn Chorn's family was killed during the Cambodian genocide. At age ten he had slaved in a work camp, witnessing wide-scale starvation and murder. When the North Vietnamese invaded Camboida, the Khmer Rouge forced his to become a soldier until he escaped on foot through the jungle in Thailand.

Adopted by a minister from the United States and coming to New Hampshire in 1980 at age fourteen as a refugee, Arn was one of the first non-white students to attend White Mountain Regional High School. In this video he talks about how hard it was to fit into the school, and how he discovered the importance of telling his story and listening to the stories of other students.

Today Arn Chorn Pond travels between the United States and Cambodia working on a number of projects with the hope of rebuilding civic life in Cambodia. His work has earned him numerous humanitarian awards, including the Spirit of Anne Frank Award and the Reebok Human Rights Award.

Category:

Education

Tags:

• facing history
• arn chorn pond
• human rights
• cambodian genocide
• genocide
• immigration
• identity
• upstanders
• student
• peace

[b1razy]

arn is my uncle whoop whoop!

[spyxxx566]

Arn is really lucky...He got saved..

I'm Cambodian too..I understand you guys

[neodana]

I attended White Mountains Regional High School from 1976- 1980. I am sorry you had to be made fun of there. I realized after I moved away from Whitefield that the people in that school's opinion means nothing. You are an inspiration.

[gthompson6395]

Arn Chorn-Pond came to my school. I got to meet him and listen to him speak for nearly 3 hours. He was the most inspirational and amazing person I have ever met.