Arn Chorn-Pond
Encyclopedia
Arn Chorn-Pond is a human rights
activist committed to preserving traditional Cambodian ("Khmer
") music.
in 1966 into a Battambang
family of performers and musicians. According to Chorn-Pond in a 2006 article:
came to power in 1975, Chorn-Pond and hundreds of other children were sent to Wat Ek, a Buddhist temple converted into a prison camp, where he survived by playing the flute and keeping the soldiers entertained.
In five days a master trained Chorn-Pond and four other children to play the flute and the khim
, a Cambodian dulcimer
. The children learned to play a traditional lullaby
known as bompay. At the end of that time, Chorn-Pond and another boy were chosen to play propaganda
songs for the camp guards. The other three children and the master were led away and killed. "When they brought in another old master for more lessons," Chorn-Pond recalled, "I begged them not to kill him. I told them I didn’t have enough skills yet, and I offered them my own life instead." On a visit to Cambodia in 1996, he was reunited with his teacher.
In a 2002 interview Chorn-Pond described how his survival depended on repressing his emotions and distancing himself from the horror of his situation:
When the Vietnamese invaded Cambodia in 1978, Chorn-Pond was handed a gun and forced to fight:
Eventually he escaped into the jungle where he survived for months by himself. "I followed monkeys and ate whatever they ate. I fished with my hands and ate fruits, and killed monkeys, too." In late 1980 he crossed the border into Thailand
and a Thai Soldier took him to the Sa Kaeo Refugee Camp
. There he met the Reverend Peter L. Pond
. "He weighed about 60 pounds and he was very sick," Reverend Pond later recalled, "He had cerebral malaria and he was really close to death...This sick little child reached up and touched me, and said in English, 'Hello.' That...was Arn Chorn from the very first, reaching out and touching."
Reverend Pond took Arn to Jefferson, New Hampshire
and formally adopted him in 1984. In all, Pond adopted 16 Cambodian children, mostly orphan
s, including one who eventually became Rhode Island
's first Cambodian physician, Dr. Soneath Pond.
Regional High School. He graduated from Gould Academy
in Maine
in 1985, attended Northfield Mount Hermon School and attended Brown University
for two years before withdrawing to co-found Children of War, an organization dedicated to help young people to overcome suffering from war and other traumas such as child abuse
, poverty
, racism
and divorce
. From its inception in 1984 though 1988, Children of War trained a core leadership group of 150 young people representing twenty-one countries. More than 100,000 U.S. students from 480 schools participated in the program. In 1992 Chorn-Pond received a bachelor's degree
in political science
from Providence College
and in 2007 the school awarded him an honorary Doctorate of Humanitarian Service
.
Chorn-Pond was also one of the few surviving Cambodians to return to the refugee camps on the Thai-Cambodian border. While attending college in Rhode Island
, Arn devoted his summers from 1986 through 1988 to teaching and assisting those still displaced by war. He was also the youngest Cambodian involved in diplomatic efforts for reconciliation.
While a student at Providence College, Chorn-Pond co-founded the Southeast Asian Big Brother/Big Sister Association
in Providence, and founded Peace Makers, a US-based gang intervention program for Southeast Asian youths in Providence. In 1993 he returned to Cambodia and founded the Cambodian Volunteers for Community Development. In 1998 he founded Cambodian Living Arts (CLA, formerly known as the Cambodian Master Performers Program), a non-profit that works to revive the traditional performing arts in Cambodia by locating former masters or trained professional musicians. CLA has worked to revive Khmer shadow theatre
, known as sbek thom, as well as the manufacture of Traditional Cambodian musical instruments
. Children are paid to take music lessons so as to divert them from street crime and prostitution
.
Arn Chorn-Pond has also served as Director of Youth Programs for the Cambodian Mutual Assistance Association in Lowell, Massachusetts
, and since 2001 has been a special adviser on Cambodian affairs for Clear Path International
.
in 1988. He has received the 1991 Amnesty International
Human Rights Award, the 1993 Kohl Foundation International Peace Prize, and the 1996 Spirit of Anne Frank
Outstanding Citizen Award.
Arn Chorn-Pond regularly gives talks about his experiences. In October 2008, he was invited by the Spurlock Museum
and the Asian Educational Media Service to the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
The 2007 opera "Where Elephants Weep", composed by Khmer musician Him Sophy with a libretto by Catherine Filloux
, is loosely inspired by the life of Arn Chorn-Pond.
The 2008 children's book A Song for Cambodia by Michelle Lord is based on events in the life of Arn Chorn-Pond.
, Arn Chorn-Pond is credited with teaching Ron Korb
to play the Khloy
(the Cambodian bamboo flute) in traditional Khmer style. In 2001 Chorn-Pond performed on stage in Peter Gabriel
's Tribute and Homage for Harbourfront Centre
's "World Leaders" hosted by Laurie Brown
, sharing the stage with Peter Gabriel, Jane Siberry, Tia Carrere
, Ron Korb, Donald Quan
, Jeff Martin
, Andy Stochansky
, Loreena McKennitt
, Daniel Lanois
and Lorraine Segato
.
Human rights
Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...
activist committed to preserving traditional Cambodian ("Khmer
Khmer people
Khmer people are the predominant ethnic group in Cambodia, accounting for approximately 90% of the 14.8 million people in the country. They speak the Khmer language, which is part of the larger Mon–Khmer language family found throughout Southeast Asia...
") music.
Early life
Chorn-Pond was born in CambodiaCambodia
Cambodia , officially known as the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia...
in 1966 into a Battambang
Battambang
Battambang is the capital city of Battambang province in northwestern Cambodia.Battambang is the second-largest city in Cambodia with a population of over 250,000. Founded in the 11th century by the Khmer Empire, Battambang is well known for being the leading rice-producing province of the country...
family of performers and musicians. According to Chorn-Pond in a 2006 article:
- "My family owned an opera company. The National Charity Company, as we were called, performed in temples, opera houses and mayors’ compounds throughout the country. Many people knew my father, grandfather and uncle through their performances, which had become legendary. Since the family ran the company, all of us performed. When I was six or seven, I often played the role of a baby. Somebody would say “Cry!” and I’d cry...My father and uncle trained my older cousin, in his teens at the time, to perform the main roles in traditional Cambodian operas."
Survival during the Pol Pot Regime
When the Khmer RougeKhmer Rouge
The Khmer Rouge literally translated as Red Cambodians was the name given to the followers of the Communist Party of Kampuchea, who were the ruling party in Cambodia from 1975 to 1979, led by Pol Pot, Nuon Chea, Ieng Sary, Son Sen and Khieu Samphan...
came to power in 1975, Chorn-Pond and hundreds of other children were sent to Wat Ek, a Buddhist temple converted into a prison camp, where he survived by playing the flute and keeping the soldiers entertained.
In five days a master trained Chorn-Pond and four other children to play the flute and the khim
Khim
The khim is a hammered dulcimer from Thailand and Cambodia. It is made of wood and trapezoidal in shape, with brass strings that are laid across the instrument. There are 14 groups of strings on the khim, and each group has 3 strings. Overall, the khim has a total of 42 strings. It is played...
, a Cambodian dulcimer
Dulcimer
Dulcimer may refer to two types of musical instruments:* Appalachian dulcimer, a fretted, plucked musical instrument which is also referred to as a "mountain dulcimer", "lap dulcimer", "hog fiddle", "fretted dulcimer" or simply "dulcimer"...
. The children learned to play a traditional lullaby
Lullaby
A lullaby is a soothing song, usually sung to young children before they go to sleep, with the intention of speeding that process. As a result they are often simple and repetitive. Lullabies can be found in every culture and since the ancient period....
known as bompay. At the end of that time, Chorn-Pond and another boy were chosen to play propaganda
Propaganda
Propaganda is a form of communication that is aimed at influencing the attitude of a community toward some cause or position so as to benefit oneself or one's group....
songs for the camp guards. The other three children and the master were led away and killed. "When they brought in another old master for more lessons," Chorn-Pond recalled, "I begged them not to kill him. I told them I didn’t have enough skills yet, and I offered them my own life instead." On a visit to Cambodia in 1996, he was reunited with his teacher.
In a 2002 interview Chorn-Pond described how his survival depended on repressing his emotions and distancing himself from the horror of his situation:
- "I was in a temple where they killed three or four times a day. They told us to watch and not to show any emotion at all. They would kill us if we reacted...if we cried, or showed that we cared about the victims. They would kill you right away. So I had to shut it all off...I can shut off everything in my body, practically, physically. I saw them killing people right in front of me, the blood was there, but I didn't smell it. I made myself numb...The killing was unbearable. You go crazy if you smell the blood."
When the Vietnamese invaded Cambodia in 1978, Chorn-Pond was handed a gun and forced to fight:
- "The Khmer Rouge gave us guns and pushed us into the front line. Children who refused were shot in the head. Many of us ranged from eight [and] up, so long as we could carry guns. I was then about twelve. The Khmer Rouge would shoot us from behind if, against orders, we tried to leave the battleground. Thousands of children got shot to the left and right of me, many of them good friends."
Eventually he escaped into the jungle where he survived for months by himself. "I followed monkeys and ate whatever they ate. I fished with my hands and ate fruits, and killed monkeys, too." In late 1980 he crossed the border into Thailand
Thailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
and a Thai Soldier took him to the Sa Kaeo Refugee Camp
Sa Kaeo Refugee Camp
Sa Kaeo Refugee Camp was the first organized refugee relief camp established on the Thai-Cambodian border by the Royal Thai Government with support from international relief agencies including the United Nations. It was opened in October 1979 and closed in early July 1980...
. There he met the Reverend Peter L. Pond
Peter L. Pond
The Reverend Peter Lawrence Pond was a New England clergyman, activist and philanthropist who worked with Cambodian orphans on the Thai-Cambodian border...
. "He weighed about 60 pounds and he was very sick," Reverend Pond later recalled, "He had cerebral malaria and he was really close to death...This sick little child reached up and touched me, and said in English, 'Hello.' That...was Arn Chorn from the very first, reaching out and touching."
Reverend Pond took Arn to Jefferson, New Hampshire
Jefferson, New Hampshire
Jefferson is a town in Coos County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 1,107 at the 2010 census. It is home to parts of the White Mountain National Forest in the south and northeast and to two theme parks: Santa's Village and...
and formally adopted him in 1984. In all, Pond adopted 16 Cambodian children, mostly orphan
Orphan
An orphan is a child permanently bereaved of or abandoned by his or her parents. In common usage, only a child who has lost both parents is called an orphan...
s, including one who eventually became Rhode Island
Rhode Island
The state of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, more commonly referred to as Rhode Island , is a state in the New England region of the United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area...
's first Cambodian physician, Dr. Soneath Pond.
Education and humanitarian work
During his initial months in the US, Arn Chorn-Pond experienced difficulties as one of the first non-white students to attend White MountainsWhite Mountains (New Hampshire)
The White Mountains are a mountain range covering about a quarter of the state of New Hampshire and a small portion of western Maine in the United States. Part of the Appalachian Mountains, they are considered the most rugged mountains in New England...
Regional High School. He graduated from Gould Academy
Gould Academy
Gould Academy is a private, co-ed, college preparatory boarding and day school located in the small town of Bethel, Maine, United States. Founded in 1835, the school offers skiing and snowboarding programs, although unlike specialized "ski academies" it remains first and foremost a college-prep...
in Maine
Maine
Maine is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and south, New Hampshire to the west, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is both the northernmost and easternmost...
in 1985, attended Northfield Mount Hermon School and attended Brown University
Brown University
Brown University is a private, Ivy League university located in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. Founded in 1764 prior to American independence from the British Empire as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations early in the reign of King George III ,...
for two years before withdrawing to co-found Children of War, an organization dedicated to help young people to overcome suffering from war and other traumas such as child abuse
Child abuse
Child abuse is the physical, sexual, emotional mistreatment, or neglect of a child. In the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Department of Children And Families define child maltreatment as any act or series of acts of commission or omission by a parent or...
, poverty
Poverty
Poverty is the lack of a certain amount of material possessions or money. Absolute poverty or destitution is inability to afford basic human needs, which commonly includes clean and fresh water, nutrition, health care, education, clothing and shelter. About 1.7 billion people are estimated to live...
, racism
Racism
Racism is the belief that inherent different traits in human racial groups justify discrimination. In the modern English language, the term "racism" is used predominantly as a pejorative epithet. It is applied especially to the practice or advocacy of racial discrimination of a pernicious nature...
and divorce
Divorce
Divorce is the final termination of a marital union, canceling the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage and dissolving the bonds of matrimony between the parties...
. From its inception in 1984 though 1988, Children of War trained a core leadership group of 150 young people representing twenty-one countries. More than 100,000 U.S. students from 480 schools participated in the program. In 1992 Chorn-Pond received a bachelor's degree
Bachelor's degree
A bachelor's degree is usually an academic degree awarded for an undergraduate course or major that generally lasts for three or four years, but can range anywhere from two to six years depending on the region of the world...
in political science
Political science
Political Science is a social science discipline concerned with the study of the state, government and politics. Aristotle defined it as the study of the state. It deals extensively with the theory and practice of politics, and the analysis of political systems and political behavior...
from Providence College
Providence College
Providence College is a private, coeducational, Catholic university located about two miles west of downtown Providence, Rhode Island, United States, the state's capital city. With a 2010–2011 enrollment of 3,850 undergraduate students and 735 graduate students, the College specializes in academic...
and in 2007 the school awarded him an honorary Doctorate of Humanitarian Service
Humanitarian aid
Humanitarian aid is material or logistical assistance provided for humanitarian purposes, typically in response to humanitarian crises including natural disaster and man-made disaster. The primary objective of humanitarian aid is to save lives, alleviate suffering, and maintain human dignity...
.
Chorn-Pond was also one of the few surviving Cambodians to return to the refugee camps on the Thai-Cambodian border. While attending college in Rhode Island
Rhode Island
The state of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, more commonly referred to as Rhode Island , is a state in the New England region of the United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area...
, Arn devoted his summers from 1986 through 1988 to teaching and assisting those still displaced by war. He was also the youngest Cambodian involved in diplomatic efforts for reconciliation.
While a student at Providence College, Chorn-Pond co-founded the Southeast Asian Big Brother/Big Sister Association
Big Brothers Big Sisters of America
Big Brothers Big Sisters of America is a 501 non-profit organization whose mission is to help children reach their potential through professionally supported, one-to-one relationships with mentors that try to have a measurable impact on youth....
in Providence, and founded Peace Makers, a US-based gang intervention program for Southeast Asian youths in Providence. In 1993 he returned to Cambodia and founded the Cambodian Volunteers for Community Development. In 1998 he founded Cambodian Living Arts (CLA, formerly known as the Cambodian Master Performers Program), a non-profit that works to revive the traditional performing arts in Cambodia by locating former masters or trained professional musicians. CLA has worked to revive Khmer shadow theatre
Khmer shadow theatre
Khmer shadow theatre are forms of shadow play in which leather shadow puppets are used. The two main genres include Sbek Thom, which features the Reamker, the other being Sbek Toch uses smaller puppets and a wide range of stories...
, known as sbek thom, as well as the manufacture of Traditional Cambodian musical instruments
Traditional Cambodian musical instruments
Traditional Cambodian musical instruments are the musical instruments used in the traditional and classical musics of Cambodia. They comprise a wide range of wind, string, and percussion instruments, used by both the Khmer majority as well as the nation's ethnic minorities.-Flutes:*Khloy -...
. Children are paid to take music lessons so as to divert them from street crime and prostitution
Prostitution
Prostitution is the act or practice of providing sexual services to another person in return for payment. The person who receives payment for sexual services is called a prostitute and the person who receives such services is known by a multitude of terms, including a "john". Prostitution is one of...
.
Arn Chorn-Pond has also served as Director of Youth Programs for the Cambodian Mutual Assistance Association in Lowell, Massachusetts
Lowell, Massachusetts
Lowell is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, USA. According to the 2010 census, the city's population was 106,519. It is the fourth largest city in the state. Lowell and Cambridge are the county seats of Middlesex County...
, and since 2001 has been a special adviser on Cambodian affairs for Clear Path International
Clear Path International
Clear Path International is a non-profit organization based in the United States. The organization assists civilian victims of war in post-conflict zones. This assistance takes the form of direct medical and social services to survivors and their families as well as equipment support to hospitals...
.
Awards and honors
Among other honors, Arn Chorn-Pond was one of the first recipients of the Reebok Human Rights AwardReebok Human Rights Award
The Reebok Human Rights Award honours activists under the age of 30 who fight for human rights through non-violent means. Each year, the award is given to four or five individuals. Each receives a grant of US$50,000 that must be used to support their human rights work. The awards are underwritten...
in 1988. He has received the 1991 Amnesty International
Amnesty International
Amnesty International is an international non-governmental organisation whose stated mission is "to conduct research and generate action to prevent and end grave abuses of human rights, and to demand justice for those whose rights have been violated."Following a publication of Peter Benenson's...
Human Rights Award, the 1993 Kohl Foundation International Peace Prize, and the 1996 Spirit of Anne Frank
Anne Frank
Annelies Marie "Anne" Frank is one of the most renowned and most discussed Jewish victims of the Holocaust. Acknowledged for the quality of her writing, her diary has become one of the world's most widely read books, and has been the basis for several plays and films.Born in the city of Frankfurt...
Outstanding Citizen Award.
Arn Chorn-Pond regularly gives talks about his experiences. In October 2008, he was invited by the Spurlock Museum
Spurlock Museum
The William R. and Clarice V. Spurlock Museum, better known as the Spurlock Museum, is an ethnographic museum at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign...
and the Asian Educational Media Service to the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
Arn Chorn-Pond in film, opera and literature
Arn Chorn-Pond is the subject of Jocelyn Glatzer's 2003 documentary "The Flute Player."The 2007 opera "Where Elephants Weep", composed by Khmer musician Him Sophy with a libretto by Catherine Filloux
Catherine Filloux
Catherine Filloux is a French-Algerian-American playwright. She has received awards from the Kennedy Center Fund for New American Plays, the O'Neill, the Rockefeller MAP Fund, and the Asian Cultural Council. In 2003 she was a Fullbright Senior Specialist in playwriting in Cambodia.Filloux's plays...
, is loosely inspired by the life of Arn Chorn-Pond.
The 2008 children's book A Song for Cambodia by Michelle Lord is based on events in the life of Arn Chorn-Pond.
Arn Chorn-Pond as musician
An accomplished flautistFlautist
A flautist or flutist is a musician who plays an instrument in the flute family. See List of flautists.The choice of "flautist" versus "flutist" is the source of dispute among players of the instrument...
, Arn Chorn-Pond is credited with teaching Ron Korb
Ron Korb
Ron Korb is a Canadian flautist, composer, songwriter, and record producer, from Toronto, Ontario, Canada. He is also known as Dragon Flute in China, Thunder Blessing in Taiwan and Prince of Flutes in Japan-Musical style:Korb is known for writing culturally diverse...
to play the Khloy
Khloy
A khloy is an ancient traditional bamboo flute from Cambodia and more specifically the Khmer people. The khloy and other similar bamboo flutes can be found throughout Asia, due to bamboo’s abundance in the region. The khloy is a duct flute, about 15 inches long and 1 inch in diameter, with 8 or 9...
(the Cambodian bamboo flute) in traditional Khmer style. In 2001 Chorn-Pond performed on stage in Peter Gabriel
Peter Gabriel
Peter Brian Gabriel is an English singer, musician, and songwriter who rose to fame as the lead vocalist and flautist of the progressive rock group Genesis. After leaving Genesis, Gabriel went on to a successful solo career...
's Tribute and Homage for Harbourfront Centre
Harbourfront Centre
Harbourfront Centre is a key cultural organization on Toronto, Ontario's waterfront, situated at 235 Queen's Quay West. Established as a crown corporation in 1972 by the federal government to create a waterfront park, it became a non-profit organization in 1991. Funding comes from corporate...
's "World Leaders" hosted by Laurie Brown
Laurie Brown (broadcaster)
Laurie Brown is a Canadian television journalist. Her parents were originally from Nova Scotia, and when Brown was in her teens, they and her sister moved back to that province...
, sharing the stage with Peter Gabriel, Jane Siberry, Tia Carrere
Tia Carrere
Tia Carrere is an American actress, model, voice artist, and singer, perhaps most widely known for her role as Cassandra Wong in the feature films Wayne's World and Wayne's World 2, Queen Tyr'ahnee in Duck Dodgers, and as Sydney Fox in the TV series Relic Hunter.-Early life:Carrere was born in...
, Ron Korb, Donald Quan
Donald Quan
Donald Quan is a Canadian composer of film and world music, best known for writing the scores to television shows Relic Hunter and Mutant X.-Career:...
, Jeff Martin
Jeff Martin
Jeff Martin may refer to:*Jeff Martin , lead vocalist for the bands Surgical Steel and Racer X*Jeff Martin , guitarist/singer-songwriter and frontman for the Tea Party...
, Andy Stochansky
Andy Stochansky
Andy Stochansky is a songwriter living in Los Angeles who was once signed to RCA U.S. He first started out as one the most wanted drummers in the Canadian music scene. His popularity caught the attention of songstress Ani DiFranco. Living just south of the border in Buffalo, New York, she asked him...
, Loreena McKennitt
Loreena McKennitt
Loreena Isabel Irene McKennitt, CM, OM, is a Canadian singer, composer, harpist, accordionist and pianist who writes, records and performs world music with Celtic and Middle Eastern themes. McKennitt is known for her refined, clear soprano vocals...
, Daniel Lanois
Daniel Lanois
Daniel Lanois born September 19, 1951 in Hull, Quebec) is a Canadian record producer, guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter. He has released a number of albums of his own work and has produced albums for a wide variety of artists, including Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Peter Gabriel, Emmylou Harris, Willie...
and Lorraine Segato
Lorraine Segato
Lorraine Segato is a Canadian pop singer-songwriter, best known as the lead vocalist for and a principal songwriter of new wave and pop rock group Parachute Club, with which she continues to perform.- History :...
.
External links
- YouTube: Arn Chorn Pond: "Everyone has a Story."
- Arn Chorn-Pond interviewed on NPR's Fresh Air.
- 2010 Holocaust and Genocide Lecture Series - April 20, 2010: Child of War, Man of Peace - Presented by Arn Chorn-Pond, Cambodian Survivor and Human Rights Activist.
- J. M. Bedell, Finding Courage: History's Young Heroes and Their Amazing Deeds, Beyond Words Publishing, September 2004, ISBN 978-1582701103.
- Richard Stone, "We Heal by Telling Our Story," Personal Transformation, June 1997, p. 36.
- Arn Chorn-Pond on bridge at Wat Ek 1999
- Takemany Showfew's photostream: Photos of Arn Chorn-Pond
- "Notes From a Survivor: Playing for Life; Learning the flute spared former Cambodian refugee from death." Courier, The Stanley Foundation: Number 44, Summer 2004, p. 9.