The Brookline Cambodia Partner will present Khmer Rouge survivor, Syphorn Phan, PharmD, as keynote speaker at their Fourth Annual Brookline Cambodia Partnership Luncheon. The event takes place at the Elephant Walk on Saturday, January 25 from 12pm to 2:45pm. Syphorn will share his experience living under the Khmer Rouge regime, his triumphant escape to Thailand, and his journey as a refugee and building a new life in Brookline, MA. Syphorn Phan is a BHS ’84 graduate, Georgetown ’90, and Mass School of Pharmacology, ’07. Also speaking will be Sivgech Chheng, a Cambodian exchange student studying at Bowdoin College with the support of The Harpswell Foundation. Sivgech will share her experience studying in Cambodia and the U.S.
At the luncheon, The Brookline Cambodia Partnership will also reveal an exciting new collaboration with The Harpswell Foundation, an organization with a mission to empower a new generation of women leaders in Cambodia and the developing world. Proceeds enable a life-changing trip to Cambodia for Brookline High students and teachers, and supports Cambodian economic and education developments including efforts at the Brookline Samlahn School in Cambodia.
Luncheon tickets will be limited. Please attend to support this wonderful organization and our BHS students. Donations are always welcome. There will also be a silent auction.
The Brookline Cambodia Partnership seeks to provide Brookline High School students with authentic global education opportunities, while also supporting economic development and education in Cambodia. Over the last three years, BCP has raised over $30,000 to build a sister-school in rural Cambodia and fund student trips to Cambodia in 2012 and 2013. A third trip is slated for February 2014.
For more information about the Brookline Cambodia Partnership, including video from previous trips and exciting information on the Brookline Samlahn School in Cambodia, please visit them online.
Additional InformationAbout our Syphorn Phan
Fending for basic survival under the terror of the Khmer Rouge to refuge in Thailand and opportunity in Brookline, MA, Syphorn’s retelling is an unparalleled story of determination and gratitude.
By the time Syphorn Phan was 21 and arriving in Brookline, MA, he had already witnessed terror, brutality, and survived his country’s loss of at least 1-million+ murders and deaths by starvation, sickness and suicide as a result of the Khmer Rouge regime in Cambodia, 1975-1979.
Syphorn’s escape from the Khmer Rouge endangered his life. His gripping story of escape and survival includes how, with the help of dedicated Brookline, MA volunteers in Thailand, made it possible for him to come to Brookline to start a new life. With Syphorn’s determination and with the help of his American advocates, he paved a remarkable path to success.
He immediately enrolled at Brookline High School (BHS) and sought every academic opportunity; his ambition was fed by his desire for personal achievement and to express his gratitude to those responsible for his new American life.
He was student speaker at his BHS 1984 graduation, attended Northfield Mount Hermon College, graduated from Georgetown on a full scholarship, and went on to the Massachusetts College of Pharmacology to earn his BS and his doctorate.
Syphorn is a senior clinical pharmacist and lives in Chelmsford, MA with his family. He is currently writing a book about his life.