Johnny S. Ourn was born in Battambang in Northern Cambodia. After surviving the Khmer rouge regime, one of the worst genocides in the world’s history, he exiled to the Thailand border with his parents, brothers and sisters in 1979 and lived in a refugee camp for four years. During this time, he learnt English and obtained a job as a receptionist with UNHCR, an agency that helped refugees for settlement in the third countries. In 1984, Johnny and his family moved to Long Beach, California, U.S.A as a

refugee. In the USA Johnny attended adult school and University for eight years, studied his English and computer science. In 1995, Johnny returned to Cambodia by himself with the mission to help the abandoned children by creating a clean and safe place for them to live and grow. In November 2000, he opened an organization, called Soeun Children Center (SCC).