Oct. 5, 2009
By Mariel Waloff
Philadelphia Weekly (Pennsylvania)
Horn Pa was twelve years old when his family settled in South Philadelphia, seeking refuge from the war plaguing their native Cambodia. His mother reminded him daily how lucky they were to live in the peace of the United States, where there was fresh water and readily available food.
As Horn came of age around Seventth and Jackson streets, however, he witnessed a different sort of war zone where gangs, violence and drugs threatened to ruin the lives of young Asian refugees like himself.
While Horn’s parents regularly attended the Palelai Buddhist Temple at Seconnd and Greenwich streets, Horn himself wasn’t interested. By the time he was 17 he had dropped out of high school, and began using drugs regularly. “I didn’t know no better, you know, just smoke weed, this and that, I didn’t know." Things began to change when he was arrested on a drug charge and spent the night in jail. Realizing his future looked bleak Horn decided to change his life.
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