Ronnie's Journey

Ronnie Yimsut's memoir, Journey Into Light, which recalls his experiences as a 15-year old boy who survived five years of civil war, three years in a labour camp, Thai prison, and refugee camps before becoming a naturalized US citizen, is now available in Cambodia. Published by DC-Cam in Phnom Penh and translated by Eng Kok-Thay, each individual chapter is being published in the local Reaksmei Kampuchea, Cambodia's largest newspaper. The English version is being edited as I type and a publisher is being sought. Ronnie (pictured), a survivor of the KR period, now lives in Oregon and is a landscape architect. Some of his stories can already be found on the internet and in the book, Children of Cambodia's Killing Fields, compiled by Dith Pran. He also appeared in the film Bombhunters that I featured on my blog recently, a subject close to his heart as his eldest brother is a landmine amputee.

At the beginning of next year, Ronnie will be speaking to mass media and journalism students at the Royal Phnom Penh University as well as attending Henri Locard's Conference on Khmer Rouge survivors. He's also organised two public forums in Oregon in April 2007 to address the issues arising from the Khmer Rouge Tribunal being held in Cambodia next year. Presentations from scholars and survivors will be accompanied by film screenings and musical performances. Last but not least, Ronnie has successfully kicked-off a project in rural Cambodia called the Cow Bank Project, and has so far helped nine families with a sponsored breeding cow for each family. Sponsors can pay $250 for a breeding cow which a deserving family share and keep the first calf, with the second calf belonging to the project, which is then passed onto another family, and so on. You can find out more here.