Cambodian Survivor Shares Tales of Horror and Hope

She still recalls vividly the sounds of starvation that surrounded her as a young child – and the profound sense of guilt she carried with her after stealing food from an old woman. And so she writes to try to make sense of it all.

Loung Ung, author of First they Killed My Father, visited the Gates Mills campus yesterday to speak to the upper school about her experience as a survivor of the Cambodian genocide. Her captivating presentation included lighter moments - including a description of eating fried tarantulas - as well as darker observations about man’s inhumanity to man. A human rights activist who “fell into” writing, Loung Ung believes passionately that we can confront and overcome the horrors of war with attention to our humanity. “My objective is to tell the larger story of war and peace. War doesn’t happen in a vacuum; it happens to human beings.” She also believes in the power of individual voices to effect change in the world, and that writing can save lives – lives of those who read and those who write. “In life, I make mistakes and get it wrong. When I write, I can sit and work on a paragraph until it gets to exactly what I want to say. I like that about writing.”

Because she believes writing well is “all about editing,” Ms. Ung facilitated an hour-long workshop on student essays after the assembly. She then met with three classes for an additional hour of conversation about her life’s journey, her perceptions of American culture, and the concept of freedom: “This whole freedom thing is addictive and cool but scary, because you have to make your own decisions….. If you want something, it is important to have a plan. You have to have a plan and really work at it to get what you want.” She also spoke about her involvement in activism and human rights, as she is still very active in the Landmines Campaign, and encouraged students to stay engaged: “You can be an activist wherever you are in life and at whatever capacity.

Currently, Loung Ung is trying her hand at making beer at her new microbrewery business as she awaits the publication of her most recent book, which is a nonfiction memoir – a kind of “how-to” book that addresses becoming an activist from a somewhat lighter perspective.