Life of a Child Soldier: Loung Ung on Turning Trauma into Activism After Cambodia’s Genocide

There's one day that is remembered across Cambodia — a tragedy that continues to haunt people like Loung Ung. The genocide that began on April 17, 1975, in the city of Phnom Penh, left agonizing wounds that the promise of a new life couldn't fully heal.

We follow the story of Loung Ung, a human rights activist and author of the best-selling book "First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers," which decades later was turned into a film by actor and filmmaker Angelina Jolie.

In this episode, Loung recounts her harrowing escape from terror and political instability as a child soldier, and how ultimately turned her trauma into activism.

Host: Hazami Barmada, Founder and CEO, Humanity Lab Foundation.

HAZAMI BARMADA is the Founder & CEO of Humanity Lab Foundation and co-Executive Producer & Host

Finding Humanity Podcast. Hazami is a social entrepreneur, thought leader, and public affairs and social impact expert recognized by Forbes as an “inspirational agent of change.” She has consulted for many leading global brands including the United Nations, United Nations Foundation, Aspen Institute, and the Royal Court of the Sultanate of Oman. Among her posts at the United Nations, she served as the Coordinator for the United Nations Secretary General's World Humanitarian Summit, an Advisor to the first-ever United Nations Secretary-General's Youth Envoy, as a member of the United Nations SDG Strategy Hub for the launch of the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda. Hazami has a Masters from Harvard University where she was an Edward S. Mason Fellow in Public Policy and Management. She studied social and public policy at Georgetown University and has a BA in Anthropology and Sociology. Twitter: @hazamibarmada

Finding Humanity is a production of Humanity Lab Foundation and Hueman Group Media. 

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