Finding The Humanity Of Refugees Part 2

Finding The Humanity Of Refugees:

Part 2- Thirty Years in the U.S.

Preface

Part 1 of this photo essay series to address the false narrative about refugees and immigrants was published in November 2018. Readers were touched by the story of Jean-Bosco Ngarama and family who were recently resettled from Rwanda. His harrowing story made it clear that people coming from distant lands are doing so to escape horrible living conditions or fear of harm as in the case of the Ngarama family.

Part 2 is about a Cambodian family that was resettled to the United States in 1987 after enduring the horrors of the Vietnam war. This story is told by a daughter who left Cambodia as a teenager and has built a successful life in America. She has committed herself to supporting immigrants and refugees because she knows as well as anyone could, what people can suffer in their home countries. This is a compelling story that reinforces how immigration lifts us all.

Vietnam

The Vietnam war ended more than forty years ago yet that word still sends shudders down my spine. From the late 60’s to the early 70’s I was immersed in the fear of being drafted, tortured by the evening news body count, horrified by violence at home such as Kent State and bomb scares, and angered by lies from the government. But these were selfish concerns because they didn’t include concern for the people of Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia. It was the iconic “Napalm Girl” image that opened my eyes to the suffering, but I didn’t really understand what happened to innocent people until my conversation with Sarorng Sorn.

I first met Sarorng (known as Rorng to her friends) while working on my recently published “Olney Advocates” photo essay. She was standing outside of the Cambodian Association of Greater Philadelphia (CAGP) that is located on North 5th Street in Olney. Our brief conversation revealed my project on refugees and immigrants and the fact she was resettled from Cambodia. When I asked her to participate in the project, I had no idea that her life as a child was so tied to the Vietnam war and its aftermath. It’s a story of great hardship and suffering overcome by great strength and resilience.

The Interview

While she lives and works in Philadelphia, we met for the interview at CAGP’s north office. This converted home, purchased by CAGP for just $1.00 from the generous Mr. and Mrs. Mathews family in the early 1980’s, provides both office and meeting space for the local Cambodian community.

A brief look around the building revealed imagery of CAGP elders, Cambodian artifacts and an illustration on fabric of Cambodia’s Angkor Wat temple, one of the largest religious monuments in the world. There is a strong feeling of pride at CAGP.

Sarorng, a former Executive Director of CAGP, was volunteering that day to help members of the Cambodian community apply for LIHEAP (Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program). Many people came for assistance. Many did not speak English, but all were very cordial to me- a camera toting guy looking very much out of place.

It began to feel like this was a metaphor about people welcoming others into their community, which is the whole point of these photo essays. I was the outsider- I looked different and didn’t speak their language. What was I doing there? Was I there to harm them? But everyone was totally welcoming. I wonder if these people have felt as welcomed in the U.S. as I felt in this little slice of Cambodia. In meeting people for the “Finding The Humanity Of Refugees” photo essays, it doesn’t take long to find their humanity- in fact, their humanity finds me!

Sarorng helps clients with their LIHEAP applications.

After explaining the purpose of my visit, many were more than happy to pose for a portrait.

Once all of her clients had been served, Sarorng sat down for the interview allowing me as much time as I needed… Her happy smile belies the unthinkable hardship she would reveal about her childhood experience in Cambodia.

"Actually I didn't have a childhood- I was born into the war!"

Sarorng, please describe your childhood:

“I was born in a rice field farm- my parents were rice farmers… Actually I didn’t have a childhood- I was born into the war; I was born in 1968, the year that the Vietnam war overflowed into Cambodia- that’s when the ‘secret’ U.S. bombing started in Cambodia under President Nixon.”

“As far back as I can remember as a 3 year old little girl, we were living in a bomb shelter- I hardly saw daylight; my parents were still trying to do farming but when they saw the airplanes flying by they had to hide; my dad became very intuitive about the bombing- he told us that when the wing went to the left he would go to the right to escape; it was a carpet bombing so sometimes the whole village would be destroyed; at night we heard the sound of the bombing and saw the light.”

Were you terribly scared?

“I was born into it so that’s what it was like; we normally slept in a bomb shelter and hardly ever went out- that was my childhood… And then the Khmer Rouge gained power.”

Sarorng related her memories of the horror imposed by the Khmer Rouge which can only be described as enslavement and genocide. The Khmer Rouge, the popular name for the Communist Party of Kampuchea (CPK), ruled in Cambodia from 1975 to 1979. Their inhumane policies resulted in widespread death from disease in addition to racial purification by genocide. Between the American bombing and the Khmer Rouge, it’s hard to imagine how anyone in Cambodia could have survived.

“We children imitated the war by pretending to be soldiers- someone would get shot and we would carry them.”

“When the Khmer Rouge soldiers came they occupied the village and when they left they took young people with them… Wounded solders were carried by my home- it was like a relay- there was a station at my home so wounded solders would be dropped there for the next group; I was about 5 years old… We children imitated the war by pretending to be soldiers- someone would get shot and we would carry them.”… (It occurred to me that when I was a child we played “house”… Sarorng and her friends played “war.” )

“When the Khmer Rouge took over and reorganized the country our home was taken away and torn down and my family was forced to move to a different village; we had to give up all of our belongings- home, cattle, bicycles, jewelry because this was a Communist regime.”

“When we were relocated we were separated by age; my dad was in his 30’s and was considered the strongest so he was sent far away somewhere to work… My mom had a baby at that time so she stayed in the village to help take care of other babies while also working in a rice field.”

How many children were in your family?

“By then it was my older sister, myself, my younger brother, my younger sister, and the little baby sister; I was 8 or 9 at the time so my job was to take care of the baby while my mother went to work; I knew nothing about baby sitting, so I would just follow my mom carrying my baby sister and when my mom had a break she would breast feed my baby sister; by this time the baby was very sick- we had no medical care, no hospital, no clinic, no nothing; she was very dehydrated.”

“My baby sister died right in front of me, she was around 2 years old.”

“She was put into a little wood box and taken away- that’s a memory I will never forget!”

“Before she died she couldn’t move- she could only open her mouth a little bit and look at me, she looked so sad; I could see an ant crawling into her ear; she was so weak… I put her on a bamboo bed waiting for my mom to come home- my mom came just about the time she was going to pass away… We didn’t have a funeral; she was put into a little wood box and taken away- that’s a memory I will never forget!”

“After that my older sister and I were taken to a children’s camp; my dad was away and my mom was still working in the village where she was put in charge of transporting rice; she would pass through the children’s camp and see me early in the morning; she was very dedicated and was always trying to sneak food for us; sometimes at night when everyone went to sleep, my older sister and I would sneak out to see my mom, and she would return us before sunrise.”

“We worked in the children’s camp from early morning- our job was to collect cow poop and cut little trees and mix it as compost to put in the rice field… We didn’t have enough food to eat or water to drink; I remember when my sister and I went into the rice fields with the compost, whenever we saw a little crab, little frog, little grasshopper, anything- we would just catch it in our pocket and cook it in a can so we could eat!”

“Every morning as soon as the rooster crowed we had to get up and be in line ready for work- if you were the last in line you got punished for that day and didn’t get food to eat; sometimes I was last and was so angry but didn’t know what to do… There was no school- we had to get up before sunrise to go into the field.”

“We were pushed right up to the Thailand border and that’s where we stayed for eleven months.”

How did you leave Cambodia?

“Towards the end of 1978 when I was 10, Vietnamese troops invaded Cambodia and the Khmer Rouge lost control- that’s when we ran for safety; we had to sleep on the ground for three-four months; we got pushed into the jungle towards Thailand; the jungle was so thick you couldn’t see daylight; we had no food which is one thing, but we also didn’t have water- many people died along the way; some people died in traps set by the Khmer Rouge… We were pushed right up to the Thailand border and that’s where we stayed for eleven months.”

How did you survive?

“There was no food, no shelter, no medical care; we ate fruit and animals like snails, frogs, wild potatoes- you name it, we ate it… People were dying from malaria, contaminated water, untreated wounds and infection; my mother and I were strong but my sister and others were so sick that some lost all of their hair- they were skin and bone… There were nine of us: my great grandma, my grand aunt, my dad, my mom, and siblings- the strongest would look for food… We would sneak into a Thai village to work in exchange for food; we started growing our own potatoes and other vegetables; we built a shed out of wood and grass.”

Did you ever think you wouldn’t survive?

“We just had to keep surviving every day… One day that I will never forget- my mom, grand aunt and I went to the Thai farm to work in the corn field; we picked corn all day long, but they didn’t give us food; so we waited till everyone was gone and we stole some corn because we had no choice; we carried sacks of corn back to our camp... There were thunderstorms- we couldn’t see; we didn’t know where to go, we just had to keep moving; water was up to our knees and I kept falling down and was crying; my mom tried to help me carry my bag along with hers; we kept walking until we heard children screaming from illness, so we knew we were close to the camp; we could hear my younger sister who was born in 1977 screaming so loud, and that’s how we found our place.”

“Every single day we heard people screaming from illnesses, and every morning we saw bodies being carried away!”… It was like a concentration camp but there were no walls to keep us there- there was nowhere to go!”

“The elders and children who were so sick were left along the way- they were left with a little water in a coconut shell; there was a little child whose face was so swollen you couldn’t see the eyes.”

How did you get out of the jungle?

“One day the UNHCR (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees) and other refugee organizations came in- they had found out that we were stuck there and they wanted to take us to a refugee camp in Thailand; but we were on the Cambodia side on top of a mountain and the Thailand side was much lower so they couldn’t bring vehicles to bring us down, so we had to cross the border by foot.”

“By the time we got to the border most of us couldn’t even move; the elders and children who were so sick were left along the way- they were left with a little water in a coconut shell; there was a little child whose face was so swollen you couldn’t see the eyes… There were bodies all along the way; when we got to the other side of the border there were forty or fifty bodies collected- they used bulldozer to dig a grave!”

Did your whole family make it out?

“Yes- our family was taken to a refugee camp in Thailand and that’s when we were given food and water; this was before they built anything- we just had a little plastic and boards to live under, but it was something.”

How many people were there?

“It was a big camp and very crowded- there were thousands of people; we had food but we were still like zombies- we were so weak and so sick; a hospital tent was set up but people still continued to die- eighty to one hundred bodies a day were being thrown onto a bus!!”

“The first time I was able to go to school was in a camp at 11 years old; being able to go to school was my joy in life- I loved it so much I just absorbed everything I learned.”

What was the camp like?

“It took time for us to regain our physical and spiritual strength and this became our life; we moved from the first camp to another camp where we had access to education and healthcare; the first time I was able to go to school was in a camp at 11 years old; being able to go to school was my joy in life- I loved it so much I just absorbed everything I learned; I was so happy and enjoying the freedom, even though we were in a camp; by six months I learned how to read and I would read to other children.”

“When I was in 6th grade at 16, I was doing so well I enrolled myself into the medial school to become a certified nurse so that I could help the other refugees; this was in the Khao-I-Dang Camp where they built an infrastructure with education, health center, and even a cultural center where people could learn classical dance and opera, the arts and also training like carpentry.”

Did you feel like this was your permanent life?

“That’s all we knew- it was like a village and we were safe from the bombing… But sometimes a refugee would get shot if they went outside the camp to bring in food, or if other refugees tried to come into the camp they could get arrested or shot to death!”

“It’s just like what’s happening at our Southern border in the U.S.- people were just trying to survive!!”

Why were the refugees who came after you treated differently?

“We were the refugees stuck on the boarder so we were taken to the camp first; when we got there we didn’t even know our last name or date of birth- we had no family records; we were interviewed and ID's were created… Other refugees came later on their own from Cambodia because the war continued; they were considered illegal because they didn’t have identification, so they lived among us.”

So after all of your suffering you created risk for yourselves to protect these people who just happened to come later than you… You as refugees were accepting refugees!

“Authorities raided every home to check for people who didn’t have proper documentation; we would hide them behind our home or put them in a well; the people in charge did anything to find these people which was traumatic!”

What if you had been caught for hiding these people?

“Thank goodness they didn’t do anything to us but we were told we could not hide people anyone.”

Did you share your food with them?

“Yeah, yeah we had to share!”

You didn’t have to share but you did because it was the right thing to do!

“That’s part of protecting each other… These people were sent back to Cambodia and many died along the way… It’s just like what’s happening at our Southern border in the U.S.- people were just trying to survive!!”

How did you get to the U.S.?

“We learned several countries were accepting refugees, but we didn’t have hope because we didn’t have relatives living in those countries; particularly for the U.S. the priority was to find soldiers who supported the U.S. during the war… My family was in the camp for eight years until the lottery process started and in 1986 our family was selected for the U.S… We were interviewed by the INS (Immigration and Naturalization Service) to show we were not a threat to the U.S.; then we were put into a transit camp in Thailand to be screened for medical conditions.”

Other countries were accepting refugees, how did the connection get made to the U.S.?

“It happened that the U.S. lottery was open at that time… We were taken from the transit camp in Thailand to the Philippines for six months to learn English, the U.S. culture and work orientation, and we were again screened for illness… After six months in the Philippines we were taken to Philadelphia in 1987.”

How did you feel about the United States… The U.S. had mercilessly bombed your country, so did you have any negative feelings about coming to the US?

“We really didn’t know anything; the Khmer Rouge hated America and when the bombing came they said we needed to fight for our freedom; they preached to us that we were revolutionists and America was terrible to us… But it didn’t matter, we had to go somewhere to be safe!”

“When we arrived here, we all worked in a chicken factory- our first job in America.”

What happened when you reached the U.S.?

“We were resettled by the Nationalities Service Center (NSC) who put us in South Philly on May 5th 1987… Our family who survived, along with some cousins, moved into a third floor efficiency- we had to take turns sleeping!… NSC helped us to get medical care and then found us a three bedroom home; they gave us the basic necessities and then helped us change our status from refugees to permanent residents.”

“When we arrived here, we all worked in a chicken factory- our first job in America; on weekdays we worked in the chicken factory and on weekends in the summer we picked blueberries or peppers- whatever job was available, we worked seven days a week… I came in May and in September I saw children going to school; I really enjoyed going to school in the camp, so my ESL (English as a Second Language) teacher took me to South Philly High School and got me registered, and in two years I graduated.

Did you work while you were in high school?

“I worked at the chicken factory in the second shift from 3:00 or 4:00 until midnight; I went to school in the morning from 7:30-1:50 and then went in a van to the chicken factory; I did my homework during breaks and slept for a few hours before going back to school!”… (Extraordinary motivation!)

How did you go from working in a chicken factory to the career you have today?

“I didn’t think of going to college but my English teacher saw potential in me and helped with the application to community college and I got accepted; I also volunteered at Jefferson University Hospital- my goal was to become a nurse.”

“After several jobs in the medical field I saw a job opening to work with the Cambodian Association of Greater Philadelphia (CAGP); I was hired to work as a field coordinator in 2000 by the Southeast Asia Resource Action Center, a partner of CAGP, and that’s when my career changed from medical to social work.”

“CAGP showed me the needs and issues that impact our community- injustice, deportation, immigration issues, social economic disparity; as I learned about policy at the local and state levels I could see that there is a pattern of discrimination towards Cambodians and Southeast Asians.”

“While working at CAGP I went to school on line (University of Phoenix) while also raising my children- I was married with two small children; I got a bachelor's degree in management… Because competing for funding was so difficult, CAGP wanted someone with a master’s degree to be a manger- that’s when I went back to school; I was accepted at the University of Pennsylvania and got my master’s degree in non-profit NGO (non-government organization) leadership… The executive director of CAGP went back to school so I got that job in 2008.”

But things would become worse for Sarorng before they got better.

“After five years I completely burned out!”… With tears in her eyes she spoke about how, almost three decades after leaving Cambodia, the extreme pain of her journey and the plight of others finally took her to the breaking point: “When I started working here at CAGP I saw so much need and the disparity was so huge- that’s why I put so much work into the community.”

“I became a workaholic which affected my family and health; I was so depressed that I felt I couldn’t continue to hold this position.”

“Americans don’t understand how hard it is for people who come from oppression.”

Things began to fall apart for Sarorng.

“I got divorced and lost my home… In 2014 I went back to Cambodia because I needed to take care of my soul; I felt lost and Cambodia connected me to my roots… I volunteered to help woman and children who were victims of trafficking, rape, and abuse which helped me realize that I am very fortunate; I gained my strength and found my soul… My work was not done in the U.S. and my family was here so I came back in 2015 to look for a job; I did freelance interpretation until I got my job with the City of Philadelphia.”

Your motivation is extraordinary!

“Americans don’t understand how hard it is for people who come from oppression… My motivation to give back is that there were a lot of people who helped pave the way for me and for many people… When I was in the camp there was a person who helped me become a certified nurse because of my passion to take care of others; my English teacher in Philadelphia saw potential in me and helped me with applications for college- there was always someone to help me… I remember people coming into the camp to give us Animal Crackers which gave me joy… It’s all these memories about people who helped me and now that’s what I want to do for others!”

Today Sarorng, an American citizen, works for the City of Philadelphia as Director of Immigrant Affairs and Language Access Services at the Department of Behavioral Health & Intellectual disAbillity Services: “My role is to help refugees realize their potential and to be healthy happy citizens!”… She’s come such a long way from that bomb shelter in Cambodia.

Words of Wisdom

Anyone who doubts the value of immigration should listen to Sarorng:

Many people are afraid of refugees- that they will take jobs and commit crimes… What do you say to Americans who feel that way?

“Get to know us- we are human beings, it’s just unfortunate where we were born- it wasn’t our choice; it doesn’t mean that we are coming to invade or take away anything; we just come here to survive… Understand the struggle we are going through and how you can be our good neighbor and friend; build a connection instead of creating this divisive ‘you and them!’… We can build this country together for the better!… We seek refuge here- we want to be accepted and have the opportunity to learn and grow.”

What value do refugees bring to the U.S.?

“There are so many factories and farms that need workers because Americans won’t do the work- who do they turn to- refugees!!… Many Cambodians work extra hours, 6-7 days a week, 10-12 hours a day- we work hard!… The owners know that and we don’t take many sick days- we don’t know what a personal day is… I’m proud that we refugees were poor and uneducated, but now we are thriving and building our lives; many of us own homes- if you look at the number of refugees in Philadelphia that own homes it is 67%… We contribute in many ways like with taxes- we’re not taking, we’re contributing!”

If the United States and other countries reject refugees, what will happen to them… What would have happened to you and your family if you stayed in Cambodia?

“In the camp the people who weren’t resettled had to go back to Cambodia and start their lives over- they wouldn’t have a chance to go to school or find a job.”

Final Thoughts

When immigrants ask for asylum at the Southern border, it’s so easy to dismiss or ignore the peril they are trying to escape. But looking into Sarorng’s eyes as she told her story made it real- as real as any Holocaust survivor’s story. If we are to be a caring country, we can’t turn a blind eye.

Sarorng reinforces what is true for the vast majority of refugees and immigrants: they bring to this country the will to survive, the passion to build a better life for themselves, and the commitment to contribute to the United States.

“Helping refugees is the right thing to do… Helping human dignity is the right thing to do… When the world is at peace we will all work for safety, freedom, and prosperity for everyone… And humans will love each other!!”

One More Thing

What stands out the most about Sarorng and her family, and the people around them, is that while they were in a refugee camp with basic security for the first time, they risked it all by taking in refugees when the authorities would not- they shared their precious food and shelter.

Let that settle in for a moment: Refugees took in refugees when their government would not!! … There was no wall between them and the suffering of others.

Could there be any better example of “Finding The Humanity Of Refugees?”

End

Published March 17, 2019