People may know Chandara Vinoukkun as the mastermind behind the colorful gardens appearing around campus.

What they do not know is the astonishing tale of Vinoukkun’s life and the hardships he endured while battling against the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia, or what a surprising optimist he is today.

Vinoukkun has worked in the Palo Alto Unified School District for 26 years and enjoys his job here at Gunn. “I love the Gunn students and staff,” Vinoukkun said. “I feel like Gunn is my home, and I want to change the school because I feel it deserves to have a beautiful campus.”

The small oriental garden, complete with rocks and a small wooden bridge outside of the Academic Center, is the latest installment Vinoukkun has added to beautify the campus. Others include flower beds around the Student Activities Center and hibiscus flowers lining the entrance of the school. “I wanted to bring color to the school,” Vinoukkun said. “I think it makes the mind work better. It’s easier to learn when you are relaxed, and I think [the garden] is very relaxing.”

Academic Center Coordinator Albert Hopkins appreciates his latest work. “It’s a beautiful design and it adds to the atmosphere,” Hopkins said. “I think it’s small but significant.”

However, Vinoukkun’s everyday life was not always so pleasant. At 20 years old, living in the city of Phnom Penh in Cambodia, he and his older brother joined a group protesting the Khmer Rouge, an extreme Communist organization that had recently come into power, and whose leader, Pol Pot, would order the deaths of 1.7 million Cambodian people. When two city guards started shooting at the protestors, Vinoukkun and his brother ran and eventually split off into two separate directions. That was the last time he saw his brother.

Vinoukkun spent the next four years fighting in the Cambodian Paratrooper Special Force against both the Khmer Rouge and Vietcong, a communist group in Vietnam. Like most soldiers, his experiences fighting in the war were haunting and bleak. “When you go on a mission you see people dying left and right, and you don’t know if you’ll go home,” Vinoukkun said. He has a battle wound from trying to run from behind a tree to a bomb hole in the ground—a bullet entered through his neck and exited through his lower back. However, a fellow soldier literally saved his life, carrying him to safety.

Not only did Vinoukkun suffer during the period of the Khmer Rouge, but his family did as well. Malnutrition, starvation and the attacks of the Khmer Rouge killed his father, mother and three siblings.

Yesterday marked the 30th anniversary of Vinoukkun’s immigration to the United States. When the Presbyterian Church of San Diego sponsored him to come, he went to San Diego. He then moved Washington and finally to the Bay Area. “The experience I went through makes me feel like I can change my life,” Vinoukkun said. “The United States has opportunities that I have to take advantage of.” Since his arrival, Vinoukkun picked up English in only three months as well as various hobbies, such as playing guitar in a rock band and doing garden work.

Despite all of the suffering Vinoukkun has experienced, he has an extremely positive outlook on life. “You cannot feel sorry for yourself, and you have to be strong—otherwise you will not go anywhere,” Vinoukkun said. “Being positive and patient is the solution to everything. If I was not positive and patient, I would not be here today.”

Vinoukkun spoke to social studies teacher Nora Browne’s Contemporary World class about his experiences in Cambodia. “It was really inspirational and moving to hear him speak,” sophomore Kelsey Teramoto said.

Vinoukkun yearns for a better world. “I wish people of the world could understand each other instead of fighting each other,” Vinoukkun said. “I enjoy life because I really don’t think anything is impossible.”