As we were boarding the plane to Florida, I read a tweet from Ben Greenberg and was saddened to learn that Dith Pran, of the Killing Fields fame, had passed away. When we decided to adopt from Cambodia, we tried to learn as much as possible about the country. We read books and rented movies (including the Killing Fields).
Little did we know that one year after bringing home our first child, we'd get an opportunity to meet Dith Pran at a Cambodian New Year's Celebration in Rhode Island. Dith Pran came to a New Year's Celebration at a friend's home that included many children adopted from Cambodia. He was very excited to meet the kids and spent a lot of time with us, the parents. He talked about his campaign against genocide everywhere. The quote from the New York Times obit says it all:
“One time is too many,” he said in an interview in his last weeks, expressing hope that others would continue his work. “If they can do that for me,” he said, “my spirit will be happy.”
In those days, I kept a manual blog. Here's the blog post I wrote about Harry meeting Dith Pran and the Year of the Snake Cambodian New Year's Celebration. I remember showing Dith Pran my digital camera and he showed him nikon digital camera. He gave me a photography tips.
I sent him the photo above that I snapped him holding Harry. Harry did not cooperate. I made a copy of the email thank you note for Harry and some day he will understand the great mean that held him at age 1.
What an honor to meet such an amazing, important man. The movie "The Killing Fields" was a life-changer for me, and it's influenced my life ever since. The world is a much better place because of Dith Pran.
Posted by: Jayne Cravens | March 31, 2008 at 12:43 PM
I'm so sad to learn this news. Harry would be very excited when he grows up and understands who held him at age 1.
Posted by: Wanna | April 01, 2008 at 11:35 PM