Burning Bright - A Reflection from LR Shalini Ravind
December 22, 2022: Leadership Residents (LRs) are English-speaking women who live in Harpswell's dorms for 4-6 months as mentors, teachers, and advisors to the students. This fall, Harpswell welcomed Shalini Ravind as an LR at the TT Dorm. Shalini is an English Literature graduate from Singapore with more than eight years of teaching experience. She also worked as a Program Coordinator at a non profit in Singapore serving children and youth from underserved communities. Shalini shared a piece of her LR experience with us here:
I cannot say enough how grateful I am to have journeyed with the year four student during the Comparative Genocide Studies Core Curriculum course, and to have been a part of their journey towards healing as individuals and a community. It was so heartening to hear the students’ reflections at the end of the course, when they shared how proud they were of their family members [for surviving] and their conviction to never allow something like this to happen again - in Cambodia or anywhere else in the world.
For me personally, it was a journey of emotions, witnessing the atrocities of human actions and the unbelievable cruelty one human can inflict on another. It was sobering and painful but I was also reminded, as we bore witness through field trips and personal stories, of the strength, courage, kindness and love of those who lived through the Khmer Rouge and those who passed on.
On the course’s last night, we sat together, lit candles and shared about our journeys through the four weeks, reflecting on what had changed for us. As all the candles burnt out, we were left with one candle and one speaker, Narika. She beautifully reminded us that the human spirit is like a candle, fluttering in the wind and facing the elements around. Some candles had been extinguished but one remained, bright and strong. She reminded us that during the Khmer Rouge period, everyone wanted one thing: to be like the candle that burned on, to live. Narika urged us to let our flames burn bright.
After the candles burnt out, each girl remembered a person or group of people they wanted to pay tribute to or simple remember: a face at Tuol Sleng, a parent, grandparent, the victims or survivors as a whole or even themselves. When they were ready, each girl lit a sparkler in their honor. This small act symbolized courage, love and above all, the strength of the human spirit in times of darkness. As sparkling light filled the room, we were filled with hope for the future, not just for Cambodia, but for all of humanity.