Everyone Has A Story
In 1980 Arn Chorn was adopted by a minister from the United States and brought to New Hampshire. He was fourteen. Most of his family had been 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 Cambodia, the Khmer Rouge forced him to become a soldier until he escaped on foot through the jungle to Thailand.
Coming to New Hampshire as a refugee, Arn was one of the first non-white students to attend White Mountain Regional High School. In the US, he faced a host of challenges: How was he accepted into his new community? What obstacles did he have to overcome? What did he learn from his new peers? What did he teach them?
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.
