The will to live is inspirational

Arn Chorn-Pond

Chorn-Pond a national hero in Cambodia

Monday, April 18, 2011
Manan M. Desai
The Daily Evergreen (Washington State, USA)

Growing up and experiencing the evolution of life is a very dynamic, and sometimes sore, process. To soften this blow and to look for personal inspiration, everyone goes through some form of hero worship at one point of time in their lives. For most, these heroes are your regular folk from every aspect of life who have, after considerable amounts of personal sacrifice, managed to achieve something extraordinary. I had the pleasure recently to shake hands with someone like that.

Arn Chorn-Pond, a survivor of the Khmer Rouge genocides from Cambodia, gave a moving speech this week in the CUB Senior Ballroom. He is nothing short of a living legend and walking hero for the people of Cambodia and for many others around the world. There is something strikingly different about people who have gone through traumatic times and survived to tell the tale. There is a sense of hope and respect for life which is very unique. Chorn-Pond is no different.

At a tender age of nine, Chorn-Pond lost his parents and 11 of his siblings in the mid-70’s after Khmer Rouge came to power and systematically started to wipe out the native population. Along with Chorn-Pond’s family, 1.7 million Cambodians were slaughtered – a humanitarian crisis similar to that of the Holocaust during World War II. Khmer Rouge specially took a liking toward the artist community. Ninety percent of Cambodia’s performing artists were mercilessly wiped off the face of the Earth.

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