PHNOM PENH — One of the last surviving Cambodian journalists from the 1970s, Kong Vorn admits that he came out deeply traumatized from these dark times.

But he survived, and this later inspired him to build schools in Prey Veng province where he grew up, believing that education can help change people’s lives.

To help raise funds to continue doing so, he has written his biography with versions in Khmer, Japanese and English and all the proceeds from the sales going towards building and developing schools in his home province.

“As a Cambodian reporter during the 1970–1975 civil war, I struggled to survive,” Vorn said. “That’s why I have since dedicated myself to building schools, as I believe that people living in poverty and without education can be easily exploited.”

In 1993, Vorn, who was in Japan at the time, founded the Cambodia Education Assistance Fund (CEAF) to raise funds to build schools in Prey Veng province.

Then in 1997, he wrote and published books to draw attention to the country and raise funds for schools from Japanese philanthropists and other donors.

So Vorn authored “Sacrifice for the Cambodian People” in Khmer, “My Life, An Autobiographical Novel” in English, and “Survival from the Killing Fields” in Japanese.

“I hope more people will support my more than 30-year initiative to build and develop schools in rural areas for children, as I continue to observe the education gap,” he said.

The books describe his life, from childhood to old age, his imprisonment, the courage it took to survive the Khmer Rouge regime, and then his determination to set up his school project through which he has established five schools.

One of them is the Cambodia-Japan Friendship School. Located in Preah Sdech district in Prey Veng province, the school has more than 800 students take the entrance exams each year, he said.

In addition to the courses taught according to the program of the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport, the school offers English, Japanese and computer-skill classes. Being a registered public school, teachers are assigned by the ministry, while most of the funding comes from Japanese individuals and the Embassy of Japan in Cambodia.

Dark Moments Uneasily Forgotten

In a video recorded by the independent arts and media center Meta House, the 88-year-old man explained that there were many foreign journalists in the country, especially American, German, French and English, after Prince Norodom Sihanouk was voted out of power by the National Assembly in March 18, 1970.

Having reported news during the civil war—he worked with Japanese journalists—Vorn said he remained traumatized by his experiences as a journalist, even after the collapse of the Khmer Rouge regime.

“Sometimes, I couldn’t sleep, as I still remembered the struggles and bitter moments during the civil war and Khmer Rouge regime, particularly the time I was ordered to kill, and witnessed people being killed right in front of me,” he said.

Reflecting on these painful years, Vorn said that, although journalists make sure to remain neutral, the communist regime never saw them that way. This fear of being identified as a journalist by the Khmer Rouge stayed with him and led him to discourage his grandchild from becoming a journalist.

After the regime collapsed, Vorn stayed in Thailand for two months, and then spent 17 years in Japan working at an electric power company.

“I pray that such a regime never happens again,” he said. “That’s why I started building schools for thousands of children. Understanding is important. By knowing the past, we can avoid repeating the same mistakes.”

As Vorn ages and can no longer travel to Japan to seek funding, he was happy to have Meta House hold an event to present his books to today’s public and interview him on video for a documentary about his life. For him, these are opportunities to raise public awareness about the importance of education to help provide students in every part of the country access to free education and higher education, he said.

If he lives longer, Vorn hopes to build another school, one similar to the Cambodia-Japan Friendship School, he said.