PORTRAITS OF THE COMMUNITY - Phan Thị Kim Phúc

“Forgiveness made me free from hatred. I still have many scars on my body and severe pain most days but my heart is cleansed.”

Phan Thị Kim Phúc is a Vietnamese born Canadian activist and writer. She is well known to many people, although they likely don’t know her name. She is the central figure in the 1972 photograph, “The Terror of War," by Nick Ut that depicts a group of Vietnamese civilians running after being the targets of an aerial napalm strike.

Kim Phúc was scarred by the attack, emotionally and physically. She was confined to hospital for many months following the burns she suffered during the Vietnam War. She went on to study medicine but became a propaganda symbol for the Communist Government in Vietnam, forcing her to abandon her studies temporarily.

The terrible circumstances that Kim Phúc endured lead her to devote her life to humanitarianism. This was why she initially pursued the medical field. She recounts though, that because of her notoriety in the picture, her freedom was stripped from her and she was forced to become a part of government propaganda.

Despite the horrors that she endured, Kim Phúc wanted to chose forgiveness, she wanted to give back to the world in a positive way, to make it better. She recounts that gaining asylum in Canada gave her the freedom to do just that.

Kim Phúc started her foundation in order to help children that are affected by war, to give them the hope that got her through the darkest times of her life. Her foundation has constructed libraries, orphanages, and pediatric facilities in many parts of the world. All with the goal of giving hope to children in need.

Kim Phúc has received many awards for her contributions to activism and world peace.

-       2004, Order of Ontario

-       2004, Honorary Harvard Law Doctorate

-       2004, Honorary Queens University Law Degree

-       2011, Honorary University of Lethbridge Law Doctorate

-       2016, Honorary Saint Mary’s University Law Doctorate

-       2019, Dresden Prize

Her work in activism has made her a UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador and she gives lectures around the world on the topics of forgiveness and hope. In recent years, she has worked with refugee children from Ukraine, greeting them personally when they arrived in Canada.