Recommended Reading
First they killed my father: a daughter of
Cambodia remembers, Loung Ung. Until the age of five,
Loung Ung lived in Phnom Penh, one of seven children of a high-ranking
government official.She was a precocious child who loved the open city
markets, fried crickets, chicken fights, and sassing her parents. When
Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge army stormed into Phnom Penh in April 1975, Ung's
family was forced to flee their home and hide their previous life of
privilege. Loung was trained as a child soldier in a work camp for
orphans while her other siblings were sent to labor camps. Bolstered
by the shocking bravery of one brother and sustained by her sister's
gentle kindness amid brutality, Loung forged ahead to create a courageous
new life. Harrowing yet hopeful, insightful and compelling, this family's
story is truly unforgettable. Winner of the National Book Award. Available
at Rochester Public Library.
Lucky Child, by Loung Ung. In her second
memoir, Ung picks up where her first left off, with the author escaping
a devastated Cambodia in 1980 at age 10 and flying to her new home
in Vermont. Though she embraces her American life, she can never truly
leave her Cambodian life behind. She and her eldest brother, with whom
she escaped, left behind their three other siblings. This book is alternately
heart-wrenching and heartwarming, as it follows the parallel lives
of Loung Ung and her closest sister, Chou, during the 15 years it took
for them to reunite. Available at Rochester Public Library.
Links:
Cambodian
RISE: Rochester In Support
of Everyone: A brief overview of Cambodians in Minnesota.
Cambodian refugees:
a summary.
World
Factbook. Information and statistics on population, history, economy,
ethnic groups, religions, government, military, communication, transportation,
and more.
Cambodian refugees:
statistics
Health
issues among Cambodian refugees
The Cambodian Genocide Program.
The Cambodian genocide of 1975-1979, in which approximately 1.7 million
people lost their lives (21% of the country's population), was one of
the worst human tragedies of the last century.
Khmer Health
Advocates, committed to a greater understanding of the physical and
psychological illness that comes from war, torture and genocide.
History
of the war in Cambodia, a PBS site.
Cambodian Holocaust awareness project
The Khmer Institute: articles
and resources about Cambodian immigrants.
Assimilation
issues among Cambodian American immigrants.
Check out these other groups:
African American
Bosnian
Hispanic
Hmong
Somali
Sudanese
Vietnamese
