THE QUADhttp://media.www.wcuquad.com
Jenna Shepanski
Issue date: 4/20/09
West Chester University welcomed Daravaan Yi, author of "Salt Seeker" and a survivor of the Cambodian genocide, to speak of his experience on Friday April 17 2009 at 11 a.m. in Sykes Student Union.
April 17th consequently marked the 34th anniversary of the takeover of Cambodia in 1975, and Yi still gets chills when he talks about his experience. He noted this saying that he had goosebumps while sharing his story.
Yi was nine years old when Cambodia came under attack by the Khmer Rouge, an armed resistance movement formed by its leader Pol Pot. The men of the Khmer Rouge, which means "Red Cambodians" forced him out of his home, AK47s in hand, and made him walk for six days to a remote part of Cambodia. It was there where he was put to work by these men doing anything they asked. He lived in a tiny hut packed with people.
The men of the Khymer Rouge would take two or three people from these huts about every three months and they wouldn't return the next day. Yi explained. Yi's own brother was one of these people.
"They killed like a stealth bomber," Yi said. "You just never heard from them again." Others died from starvation, because they were given little to no food, or "they just gave up living," Yi said. He and the others who were enslaved were without soap, shampoo, or toothbrushes for four years.
He stayed a slave in Cambodia until he was 14 when he made the six day trek on foot to a refugee camp in Thailand. He remained there for a year until "this wonderful country took him in" and he became a legal U.S. citizen at age 15. When he arrived in the U.S. he had nothing, and knew no English.
"I wanted to learn English so I could tell my story," Yi said. After his arrival in America, he was placed into foster care and lived a life he had always dreamed of. He attended school where he learned English, and went on to college at Penn State. It was there where he earned a degree in Political Science in 1993. He then extended his schooling to earn a degree in student personnel. He now works as a counselor at the Philadelphia Community College.
He never forgets his experience and feels that he is a better person for having endured what he did.
"I am stronger than ever today, and if I die when I walk out of this building today, I die a happy man," Yi said.
Yi also sends the children of Cambodia items they desperately need to live every day life, such as medicine, bikes so they can ride to church, and sandals. He said that this is the way he gives back to those in need because he has everything he needs.
He then showed a series of photographs of his family, friends, and him while enslaved and at the refugee camp. He remembered those he knew and honored them for enduring for as long as they did.
Yi offered the students present a piece of advice at the conclusion of the presentation. He encouraged everyone to not give up on their dreams and to strive for whatever makes them happy, also to help people because "you can never be truly successful until you help someone in need," Yi said.
Jenna Shepanski is a fourth-year student majoring in English and minoring in Journalism. She can be reached at JS618186@wcupa.edu.
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