Your Voice Counts 2007

Out of the Poison Tree

This morning I had the opportunity to pre-screen the film Out of the Poison Tree, made by Beth Pielert, the daughter of Fairfield University professor, Gail Ostrow. This film documents a Cambodian-American family's quest to find out what became of their father during the genocide perpetrated by the Khmer Rouge. The documentary takes the viewer on a trip back to Cambodia on the eve of the long-delayed U.N. tribunal.

This movie is very well made, with great camera work and captivating sound. After having read Lucky Child, it was the closest I could come to visiting Loung's homeland without traveling myself. Hopefully, we'll be able to show this film in the Library when you arrive on campus this fall. I think you will find it remarkable.

Because of this film, I have learned about the Landmine Relief Fund and a dedicated Cambodian named Aki Ra who tirelessly removes landmines so his country will be safe for his people. He and his wife have adopted some 20 children maimed or orphaned by landmines. Learn more at Landmine Relief Fund.

Ramona Islam, Senior Reference Librarian & Instruction Coordinator

What films would you recommend to raise awareness of genocide or land mines? Join the conversation by clicking on the Comments link.

Making a Difference Together - You're Invited!

Welcome to your new world of Fairfield University! One of the goals of the University’s Center for Faith and Public Life is to create opportunities for students to become more engaged locally, nationally, and internationally in important political, religious and social issues. If you were moved by the story of Loung Ung, you can explore more deeply the problem of refugees and displaced persons in our world today. Students at Fairfield, Georgetown, Fordham and some other Jesuit colleges are participating in a Jesuit University Humanitarian Action Project. We will study what causes the kind of humanitarian disasters that occurred in Cambodia and are happening today in Darfur and Congo. The students will look at post-Katrina New Orleans and how Fairfield can respond.

The project will offer exciting opportunities for action and skill-building no matter what major you end up choosing. You can learn how student groups can speak publicly to such governments as China, North Korea, Burma and Cuba urging them to pull back from violations of human rights or from the support of governments that persecute their own citizens. You might look at the engineering challenges of building a refugee camp or you can research your own family’s experience of war and migration. This year the U.S. State Department is resettling in Connecticut many families who fled oppression in Burma, a country not far from Cambodia. The local International Institute needs student volunteers to meet and help these families get rooted in America.

Rev. Richard Ryscavage, S.J., Professor of Sociology and International Studies and Director, Center for Faith and Public Life.

What skills, interests, or initiatives would you bring to this endeavor? Join the conversation by clicking on the Comments link.

Courage - Posting by Josh Kenney, Regis RA

While Loung's story is most exceptional and inspirational, I find her sister Chou to be the sister that has overcome the most adversity.  Bound by her customs, she is faithful and unquestioning of the authority of her family and her husband.  She also had to endure the aftermath of the Khymer Rogue regime far longer than Loung.  The patience in which she braved the war-torn third-world conditions of Cambodia- without a mother or father - is truly remarkable. 

Were you inspired by a figure in Loung's story, or your own life who overcame adversity or a particular challenge?

American Dream - Posting By Jocelyn Boryczka, Politics Professor, Director of Peace & Justice

Welcome to Fairfield University! Soon you will be arriving on our campus, meeting the faculty and staff, starting classes, and making lots of new friends. This crossroads in your life marked by leaving home and starting a new life at Fairfield overlaps in certain ways with that of Loung Ung and her sister Chou in Lucky Child. Their story, I felt, reflects powerfully on people’s shared experiences, whether we live in the United States or Cambodia, that involve migrations of many kinds.

A powerful moment, for me, in the book was the description of how Loung responded to the fireworks display that she attended with her host family on the Fourth of July. For Americans, the booming sounds and vibrant light displays symbolize the celebration of our country’s independence. For Loung, the same display evoked memories of gun fire and death. This moment speaks to how the same event can mean dramatically different things to people whose unique experiences can prompt extremely different responses.

The diversity of human experience captured in such examples and how we navigate these differences as individuals and citizens fascinates me. As the Director of Peace & Justice Studies, I invite you to take our courses that explore many of the issues of social justice and peace brought up in Loung and Chou’s story. Immigration, a hot topic in American politics today, is one such issue central to Lucky Child that raises many timely questions.

How do we think about the people who immigrate to the United States? How does the story of Loung and Chou challenge the media’s portrayal of immigrants? What does the American Dream mean to a nation of immigrants?

Jocelyn Boryczka, Assistant Professor, Politics

Join the conversation by clicking on the Comments link.

Photo: Dr. Boryczka in front of the hotel where she stayed during a trip to Havana, Cuba.

Our World

Author Loung Ung writes of her college experience in the United States, telling a fellow college student, "There's no 'their world' and 'your world', Mike.  There's only our world." (pp. 209-210)

• Reference Librarian Ramona Islam shares some thoughts on this quote (double-click to listen, 2:28):
• Reference Librarian Jackie Kremer shares some thoughts on this quote (double-click to listen, 2:29): 

What do you think about this statement of Ung's?  Join the conversation by clicking on the Comments link.