Leora Kahn, Executive Director of PROOF, shares some of her thoughts and experiences from the speaking with students about moral courage in Cambodia.
It has been a very busy and interesting week in Cambodia as I travel around with Youth for Peace and the American Embassy.  The opening of the Rescuers exhibition at the Meta house attracted over 150 people with a great mix of Cambodians and Non-Cambodians. The launch of this Rescuers project comes at an important time in Cambodia because of the controversy surrounding the next set of trials of the former Khmer Rouge.
Picture this: In the middle of a hot room at a university in Battenbong, Cambodia with over 100 students listening to me speak through a translator about moral courage. I used the photos of the Rescuers from other genocides but of course they were really interested in the Cambodian stories. We talked about what it means to stand up in a very difficult time. Like in the time of Pol Pot. How can one do that? How can they as students do similar kinds of things?
Because the first set of students at another university that I visited the day before didn’t ask questions, I wasn’t going to ask if they had any questions but they bombarded me with questions.  It turned out that translator was the vice president of the school and had a degree in philosophy.  He was very interested in the idea of moral courage, and  so with his help facilitating, we had a very lively discussion.
Warmly,
Leora
