Part Four: Africa and Paris

Part 1: Kipushi, Zaire, Africa

We arrived at Lubumbashi airport in the morning of April 24, 1975. Lubumbashi is located on the Southeast of Zaire, near Zambia, a neighbor country of Zaire.

While waiting to exit the airplane, an European lady, madame Stelios, came towards me from the door. She knew that we were Richard’s family as we were the only Asians on board. I was told that Richard asked her to help me with the kids. She hold Porendy who was 11 months old in her arms. I hold Podaly’s hand and followed her. Podaly was four years old. When getting out of the airplane door, I looked around and saw a big open field with few airplanes and a building. We had to use the staircase to get down to the ground and walked on the concrete pathway to the building. It was warm and a little breezy that morning. All passengers must go through that building for immigration and for luggage. The lady walked towards Richard who was waiting outside of the field behind a wire fence. She hold Porendy up and handed him over the fence to Richard without going through immigration, then she came back to me and asked us to follow her to enter the building. No need for me to stay in line with other passengers for immigration. She took me through a small door and exited the immigration booth. I met with Richard who came in the building with Porendy who was crying as he never met Richard before. We were waiting there for my luggage and passport. Finally we got everything and left the airport. Richard drove us to Kipushi which was a small town where he was working for Gecamines. It was a 30 minutes drive from Lubumbashi to Kipushi which was situated to the Southeast near the border of Zambia.

Zaire was a Belgian Colony between 1908 and 1960. Gecamines is a huge national mining company. The production was mainly copper. Gecamines was the main source of income for the country. There were four branches of Gecamines in Zaire, mostly located in the Southern of the country: Lubumbashi, Kolwezi, Likasi, and Kipushi. At that time, Gecamines was mostly ran by a Belgian administration, but under a Zairian CEO called PDG ( President Directeur Général) in French. The headquarter and administration office of Gecamines was located in Lubumbashi, a major city in the South.

The majority of Gecamines employees were Zairian working as mining workers. Foreigners were hired as engineers, managers, and supervisors which were called “conducteurs” in French. The local people were called “ Zaïrois ” in French.

There were about ten thousands Zairian miners, fifty expatriates, and a dozen of Zairian mining engineers working for Gecamines in Kipushi. Each mining department was supervised by an expatriate manager. Gecamines in Kipushi had a clinic that also ran by a Belgian doctor and a nurse, a private elementary school and a preschool school ran by French and Belgian teachers and staff. The clinic and the schools were for expatriate families only.

There were about 200 tribes in Zaire. They spoke different dialects and couldn’t understand each other. The government adopted “Swaihili” for local people to communicate among them and French as a national language.

We lived within the European community of 200 people including the children. There were many nationalities living in that community. The majority of expatriate families were Belgian. French came second and a mixed nationalities with a few English, and Eastern Europeans. We were the only Asian family living in that community. The population of Kipushi was about twenty thousands.

It was very advantageous for foreigners working in Zaire. Gecamines provided housing including the maintenance. They gave one month salary to foreigners who came to Zaire for the first time to purchase furniture for their new house. Every six months, they got one month salary bonus. Overall, the foreigners received 14 months salary for one working year. For single people, they were allowed to go home every six months for vacation and the air tickets were provided by the company. For family with children, the contract was to work two years consecutively and would receive a four month paid vacation including the air tickets to the country of origine. Richard signed the contract when he was working for the mining company in Colorado. His country of origine was the United States. It was a lifetime contract with no expiration date.

There was no job for expatriate women in Kipushi. Even if they got the job, they would lose all the benefits that were included in the husband’s contract. None of the expatriate women worked in Kipushi. All became house wife taking care of their own family.

We lived in a big European style villa surrounded by a tall fence and a big gate. The house was provided by Gecamines. At first, it was hard for the kids to adjust living with Richard as they just met him. Couple months passed by and the kids adjusted nicely to the new environment, new culture and the new language. Podaly attended the pre-school in the morning. I stayed home all day with my son, but once a week with a friend we drove to Lubumbashi shopping for food as there were more bigger grocery stores there. It was very rare to find rice or seafood in Lubumbashi or Kipushi.

Each expatriate family had maids to help in the household. The helpers or maids who worked for the Europeans must speak French. Only male helpers were working. The local women usually stayed home, took care of their own children. They were not working for foreigners. There were not many local educated women in Kipushi even in the engineer families. A few women could speak French, but they did not involve with the European community. They lived within their community.

We hired three Zairian helpers for our household: a cook, a gardener, and a nanny. The gardener worked outside taking care of the garden. The cook helped in the kitchen and did household chores. A young girl was hired as Porendy’s nanny. The helpers began their work at 7:00am, went home at noon for lunch and returned at 2:00pm. They left at 5:00pm. The cook lived with his family in a small cabin behind our house. It was built in the backyard about 45 feet from the main house. But the gardener and the girl went back to their own home for lunch and in the evening.

When expatriate families ended their contract with Gecamines, they sold the household furniture to the new comer. We purchased the whole household furniture and kitchen appliances from a Belgian family. There was no television. They also gave us a Collie dog named Titus that they couldn’t take back to Belgium.

There was a movie theater, a swimming pool, a library, tennis courts, and a restaurant building called “Messe“ provided by Gecamines in Kipushi. There was also a private horseback riding. The restaurant was private and managed by a Greek couple. We went to this restaurant so often and made good friends with the owners. There was another private bar for expatriates to get together on the weekends. Twice a month, we went to LubumbashI that was about a half hour drive from Kipushi for a brunch in a big hotel “Caraviar” that had many selection of European foods. Caraviar hotel chefs were from France. Sometimes, we stopped by the Golf Club visiting two American friends who lived and worked in Lubumbashi.

Life in Kipushi was so quiet and peaceful. It was hot and humid with lot of sunshine during the day, but cool in the evening. August was the coldest month. We needed to light up the fire place to keep the house warm. Raining season was from May to October. The majority of Zairois in Kipushi knew our family. The young zaïrois children always called Podaly name when we drove and passed by their house to the grocery store in Kipushi.

The cook could make European dishes as he was trained and worked for other expatriate families before us. The cook took care of the kitchen, did the laundry and cleaned the house.

We couldn’t find rice, coconut, noodle, Asian vegetables, canned goods and spices related to Asian cooking in Zaire. Sometimes, we went to Zambia, a neighbor country to purchase some rice, and canned goods. There was not much selection of Asian grocery in Zambia either. I began to grow bean sprouts, planted lemongrass, turmeric, galanga, glory morning, and other Asian vegetables in my garden. I found lemongrass in my neighbor yard. They didn’t even know that lemon grass could be used for cooking. We had two bananas trees, two mango trees, and two papaya trees in our yard. We raised some chickens in a big cage and some rabbits. In the morning, we got some fresh eggs. In the morning some Zairian women stopped by our house to sell the vegetables. Sometimes, I asked them to bring me some frog legs. One day a guy came with only one small frog leg. I told him that i needed more legs to make a dish. He did not know that we could consume frog legs. He came back with two dozen of frog legs. I made a Traditional French dish called “cuisses de grenouilles à l’ail “. It was quite tasty. Also we found some local giant vegetables in Kipushi. Some mushrooms were so big and looked like an umbrella about one foot diameter. There were also giant plantain bananas.

I did not work and became a housewife. I learned how to cook Asian dishes on my own using the recipe book that I brought from Cambodia. I followed the recipe book page by page, but sometimes could not find the right ingredients. At the same time, I learned to cook European dishes from my Belgian and French friends. Zaïrois did not have many national dishes. The popular one was called “Moamba” which was a chicken stew cooked with palm oil, paprika, and other spices. The base food was called “Bounga” which was a mix of corn flour cooked in boiling water to make a corn paste that they eat with dried fish. The majority of people were poor. They could not afford to buy meat for the family.

The dog stayed outside of the house day time and in the house at night as Titus was so frightened when there were thunders. One Saturday when we came back from Lubumbashi visiting friends and having brunch at Caraviar, we found Titus very sick that evening. The next morning, he could barely move. We placed him in a small shed called “hangar” in French next to our house. His tears came out and looked at us quietly which made us feel so sad. We took him to the veterinarian in Lubumbashi and let him stay there overnight for evaluation of his sickness. We went back the next day, the veterinarian told us that Titus was poisoned with food that mixed with broken glasses. Someone might throw the food over the fence for Titus to eat when we went to Lubumbashi that Saturday which was a day off for all the helpers. The veterinarian could not save him as Titus was so sick. Titus was put to sleep. We left the veterinary without Titus with broken heart.

A week later, one morning, I went to look for the eggs I found the cage was wide open. All the chickens and rabbits were gone. Someone broke in the cage at night. We believed that the theft poisoned Titus first as he was afraid of our agressive dog, then came to get the chickens and the rabbits. Couple months later, we adopted a German Shepherd dog, Bernard. He was quite small comparing to Titus.

Podaly went to a French school that was not too far from our house. When Porendy was three years old, we enrolled him at a French nursery school. In the morning, the gardener took him to school. Sometimes, Porendy was tired walking, he asked the gardener to carry him on his shoulder along with a small “cartable” which was a small leather bag. While taking Porendy to school on his shoulder, the gardener found a new way to transport Porendy. He placed him in the wheelbarrow and pushed it to school. Porendy was so happy and had fun sitting in that wheelbarrow.

We met lots of good people with different nationalities. What a coincidence that we met couple French families who used to live and work in Cambodia. Mr. Barraza, the principal of the French school in Kipushi, used to live and work in Cambodia. Mr. Fletch worked for Untited Nations in Lubumbashi had lived in Cambodia for two years. Mr. Rote worked for Unicef lived five years in Cambodia with his parents when he was eight years old. We were invited to many consulates in Lubumbashi for social events. We got to know French, Belgian, and American diplomats.

We also had them come to visit us in Kipushi for Cambodian lunch. We discussed about the food that they missed when they lived in Cambodia. All of them enjoyed Cambodian food very much. They did not know that I just learned how to cook when I came to Zaire.

During my stay in Zaire, our Cambodian passport were not valid anymore as the Cambodian government was overthrown by the Khmer Rouge communist regime. There was no news from Cambodia at all at that time. It was a complete silence for more than one year. We were so anxious to get news and wanted to know what happened to our families.

As vacation time was approaching, we had to find a way to renew our expired passport. There was no Cambodian Embassy in Zaire nor in any countries in the world due to the political turmoil in Cambodia. I flew to Kinshasa, the capital of Zaire, with Mme Stelios. She was the lady who picked us up at the airport when we first arrived in lubumbashi. She had connection with the big shot people who worked in Zairian government. We stayed in Kinshasa for a week and got two Travel Documents from the Zaire Immigration Office. The kids were included in my travel document. Richard had his own travel document. They looked weird and different from other travel documents in the world. It was an orange paper folder 12”x16” folded in half.

Richard began his job in January 1975. Two years passed by nicely and peacefully. As our family stayed in Kipushi for two consecutive years without any vacation, we are eligible for four month vacation with pay including the air tickets provided by the company. The four month vacation was from January 7 to May 6, 1977. The itinerary was a round trip from Zaire to Paris, France and to Denver, Colorado, U.S.A. We got our visa to enter France and the United States of America from the embassy in Lubumbashi before our departure.

Our first stop was Paris. When we arrived at the airport, Charles De Gaulle, we didn’t want to present the travel document to the officer. We waited until the line was almost clear, then stopped at the booth and presented it to the immigration officer. The travel document wouldn’t fit the small window, then we handed it over the big glass screen of the booth. We looked at the face of the French officer. He was smiling and amazed to see this weird document. He then shouted out to the officers at the next booth to look at it as he never saw anything like that. We were so embarrassed and stayed completely silent until he placed a stamp on the document.

We stayed at two cousins’ apartments, then moved to a friend’s house in the suburb of Paris. We visited many Paris landmarks and did shopping for clothes and other items to take back to Zaire. We bought dry goods and spices in an Asian store in Paris, put all in a big container and shipped the freight to Gecamines in Belgium to forward to Kipushi.

The next destination was Denver, Colorado. We stayed at the house where Richard stayed when he studied in Golden back in 1971. The landlord lady was so kind and did not charge for our stay there. We bought a house in Westminster for our future residence. We left Denver and stopped by Paris before heading back to Zaire. During our stay in Paris, there was no news from our families in Cambodia. The cousins had no news from their families either. We returned to Kipushi in May, 1977. Richard continued his job as he had a life time contract with Gecamines.

The next chapter is part 2 of Kipushi, Zaire with the stories of Cambodian tragedy during the Khmer Rouge regime while we lived in Zaire.

Addendum to chapter 4 part 1: Kipushi, Zaire. Vacation in Paris 1977

During our first vacation in May 1977 in Paris, we had no news about my father and other members of my family, nor Richard’s family. We stayed with our cousin. While we were in Paris, we were so desperate to meet some Cambodians and wanted to get some news from Cambodia. We remembered that the best place to look for Cambodian people in Paris was “ La Maison du Cambodge” which was a dormitory of Cambodian students who came to study in Paris, France. This dormitory was located in the campus of Cité Universitaire in Paris 14. It was a big university that had many dormitories around. There were so many nationalities of students living there. They came from Asia, Africa, Middle East etc…

One day, we came to this university at lunch time and stood at the door of the campus cafeteria hoping to see some friends from Cambodia or any other Cambodians. When we heard people speak Khmer when they passed through the cafeteria door, we approached them and spoke in Khmer. They ignored us as they were afraid to talk to us for some reason. We came three days consecutively to the cafeteria, but were unable to contact any Cambodians. We were so disappointed and left the campus.

We returned to Zaire in May 1977 from our vacation. Two months later, in July, we received a letter from my father informing us that he got a visa from French embassy to come to France with my brother #2 and his family. (chapter 4, part 2).

Part 2.: Paris, France, July 1977

Stories of family escaped from Khmer Rouge

Before writing their journey during the Khmer Rouge regime, I would roll back the story of my family in my hometown, Kompong Cham and their moving to Phnom Penh before my wedding.

Our engagement and wedding dates were set in June after our graduation from the university. The engagement was set on the third week of June, 1970 and the wedding date was a week later towards the end of June. My father had planned a big wedding with more than one thousand guests to attend in my hometown and there would be many ceremonies to perform in the morning of my wedding day.

Unfortunately, there was an uprising of the anti-government group in April 1970. Their movement was quite agressive that people felt unsafe to live there. My father decided to leave our hometown with my brother #2 and his family to the capital. Other brothers and sisters’ families also moved to Phnom Penh. My father left our hometown with two houses behind: one for business and the other one for residence hoping that he would be able to return home some day. So many people left Kompong Cham and moved to Phnom Penh, the capital city. The political situation was intense in our hometown that the communication was cut off from people living there. Kompong Cham was isolated from the government at that time and it was controlled by the opponent Party. There was no hope for my father and the family to return to our hometown.

My father didn’t want to start any business in Phnom Penh, but needed a house for the family to live in. He bought a four floor house on Monivong Boulevard near the Central Market. This boulevard was a big and long boulevard for people to run business. Along both sides of the boulevard, there were many shops, stores, pharmacies, restaurants., etc…

The four floor apartment house was about 100 feet in length and 15 feet in width. Nobody lived on the first floor. The front door was usually closed and was half opened in the morning. The first half was used as a living room to receive friends. The kitchen was in the middle part of the house and the second half of the back was used for dining room. There was a stair case near the kitchen that we could use to go up to the upper floors. My father had a small room on the half way between first and second floor.

As my father and all family members moved to Phnom Penh in May 1970, our wedding would take place in Phnom-Penh. Before the marriage, I asked my father to rent an apartment for Richard and I to live in after the wedding for more privacy. This request was not usual as the children should live with parents if they could not afford to live on their own. My father agreed and had me furnished the apartment. We got married on June 28, 1970 . Richard graduated and got his Mining Engineer degree at that time. I began my teaching job in September 1970. I did not get paid while teaching in high school. The school policy was to pay first year teachers only when they finished teaching one school year from the month of September to July and they would receive monthly salary afterwards. We lived on the money that my father gave as a wedding gift to help us settled at the beginning of our marriage life.

After his graduation, Richard got a Fulbright Scholarship from American Embassy in Cambodia. He left Phnom Penh in January 1971 and came to the United States of America to continue his Master degree in Mining while I stayed in Phnom Penh and taught in Lycée Sisowath.The air tickets were provided by the U.S. Embassy. The Fulbright scholarship will provide room and meals when Richard got to the U.S.A. Richard left Cambodia with 400 US dollars with him. Our local money was Riel. The exchange rate at the time Richard left was $1.00= 30 Riels. The average of teachers’ salary was about US$100

After two years living in a rental villa alone with my daughter, the nanny, and the cook, I moved in to my father’s house as I planned a trip to the U.S.A. to visit Richard who studied his master degree in School of Mines in Golden, Colorado. During the summer vacation, I travelled to Golden, Colorado visiting Richard inJune 1973. I left my daughter who was two years old under the care of my father. I also had a nanny to take care of her. On the plane to fly back to Cambodia, I thought this was my last goodbye to U.S.A and never crossed my mind that I would come back to Denver. I returned to Cambodia in September 1973 and continued teaching until March 1975. ( in chapters 2 and 3 of my story) .

My father, my three married brothers, two married sisters, one single young sister, my aunt, a cook, maids, and nannies all lived in this house. We were twenty six people including the children living in there. We did not contribute financially to our father as the house was paid in full when he bought the house. My father took care off all the expenses for this household including foods. He gave me a new car to drive to work upon my return from the U.S.A. I left Phnom Penh in March 23, 1975 with my two children. The air tickets for the three of us and the fees paid to the school and other expenses were paid by my father. I only had $500 with me when leaving Cambodia.

In Paris, July 1977.

In July 1977, while we lived in Kipushi, Zaire, we received a letter from my father informing us that the French Embassy in Vietnam, had granted them a Visa to enter France. They were able to come to France as they were sponsored by a cousin who lived in Paris. They all arrived safely in Paris in the beginning of July. They rent an apartment in District Paris 13, located South of Paris. This place was later called Chinatown of Paris.

As soon as I got news from my father, I flew to Paris with my son to visit them as I had not seen them since I left Cambodia in March 1975.

Here is the story that was described by my brother #2.

In the morning of April 17, 1975, there were lots of military trucks passed by the streets of Phnom Penh. They were loaded with young soldiers called “Khmer Rouge”. Their uniform was all black including a black cap. They had a cotton scarf called “Krama” rolled around their neck.

My father and other family members stood in front of the house on Monivong boulevard along with the neighbors. Vendors, doctors, soldiers, lawyers, and government officials lined the streets cheering the Khmer Rouge. They all were so happy that the war between the Khmer Rouge and the government was over. Couple hours later, residents noticed that the troops were not celebrating with them. Their hope turned to fear as the Khmer Rouge asked people to leave the house immediately. They announced that Americans would bomb the capital Phnom Penh shortly.

My father and the family took essential things and put them in the car, but did not leave immediately. In the afternoon, the soldiers came to knock at the house and forced them to get out of the house. Some neighbors who were old and crippled didn’t want to leave. They asked their children to leave without them as they didn’t want to be a burden. They wanted to stay alone in the house. Some families had their grandfather or grandmother sit in a chair and had two people carry them. When walking too far, too long and no hope to return home, some older people didn’t want to continue. They asked their children to leave them at a place and continue walking to another town without them. People around Phnom Penh wandered and walked to the country side with no destination to reach.

My father sat in the car while my brother drove it slowly. All other family members walked near the car. The roads were packed with people from everywhere to get out of Phnom Penh. At night, they slept on the sidewalk. My father had a plan to go to Vietnam as he thought it might be safer there. Couple days later, the car was out of gasoline. They left the car and walked to another small town. They know some people who lived there for quite a long time under the Khmer Rouge. My dad asked if our family could stay in this town with them. The answer was no. They were directed by the Khmer Rouge not to accept any people from Phnom Penh to live in this town. My older sister #2 and her family could stay with them as her husband’s cousin was the head of the Khmer Rouge in that town. My father and the family stayed in the field and slept there for a couple days. He asked all the children: brothers #2, #3, #4, and sister #2 to decide what they wanted to do. My dad would head to Vietnam and asked everyone to show up the next day at 6:00am if they wanted to continue the trip with him. The next morning, as there was no sign of sister #2 and her family, my father waited until 8:00am. He decided to leave this town without saying goodbye to them.

It took about two months for my father and the family walking to the border of Vietnam and Cambodia. Their feet were swollen, their clothes were torn, and all looked like beggars. Passing through Vietnam customs was hard. They asked questions in Vietnamese language and people must respond in the same language. Otherwise, they could not enter Vietnam. Fortunately, my father spoke Vietnamese fluently as he did business with Vietnamese people in our hometown. They passed the test and continued walking to Saigon, the capital city. My dad had some friends in Saigon. One of his friend got a house for my dad to rent. The whole family stayed in that house together.

They met other people who also walked from Cambodia. They stayed there for about two years. Brother #2 applied for a visa to migrate to France and they were granted. They arrived in Paris in July 1977.

People who lived in Cambodia were under the control of the Khmer Rouge. There had no news from Cambodia since April 1975. In March 1979, the Khmer Rouge was overthrown by a new group of new Cambodian people( Hun Sen group). As people had a hard life during the Khmer Rouge regime and were afraid of the soldiers, they immigrated to Thailand and stayed in the refugee camp waiting to move to a third country.

• After the passing of my mother, my oldest sister #1 left Cambodia in 1955 as teenager to continue her study in China. She didn’t like the communist regime. Later, she got married and moved to Hong Kong and lived there since. The whole family still live in Hong Kong.

• My sister #2 and the whole family of three people did not want to come with my father to Vietnam. They could not survive this regime. With no food the whole family starved to death.

• I am the third sibling on the girl side, they called me sister #3. (Refer to chapter 1). I left Cambodia three weeks before the government collapsed in 1975.

• My sister #4 and her family did not come with my father as her husband who was a high school teacher wanted to stay and the family moved to his hometown. The whole family of five died during this cruel regime.

• My brother #3 and #4 and the families also stayed with my father in Saigon, Vietnam. They all came to France the same time.

• My youngest brother #5 did not live under this regime. He left Cambodia in 1973 and came to the USA two years before the fall of Cambodia. He got married and have two children, they all live in California.

• My youngest sister #5 was a teenager when she arrived in France with my father. She got married and has one son. She and her husband own a restaurant in Paris near Eiffel Tower.

Richard’s family:

We did not hear from the family until some people migrated to France later. They told us about Richard’s family situation, but they were not sure of what was exactly happened at that time.

Richard’s family lived in a town of PreK Phnau that was situated about 20 kilometers from Phnom Penh. Because of the political turmoil, the whole family moved from his hometown to live in the capital city since 1974, a year before the fall of Cambodia. I was in Cambodia at that time when they moved in to Phnom Penh. I left Cambodia in March 1975. ( chapter 3)

Here was the story that was described by people from his hometown.

On April 17, 1975 when the Khmer Rouge took power, they forced people out of their house. Richard’s family along with other families walked among the crowds. They wandered and did not know what town to go.

They ended up in a town in the province of Pursat, North West of Cambodia and about 120 kilometers from Phnom Penh. According to people, his parents and all the children all died during that time with illness and starvation except one sister who survived.

Richard family consisted of nine children. He is the oldest.

There were five girls and four boys including Richard.

• Richard left Cambodia in January 1971 for the USA to continue his Master degree (chapter 2).

• His brother #2 along with his wife and three children went to a different town with his in-laws. His brother was executed by the Khmer Rouge as he was a former lieutenant in the army. His wife and all other family members couldn’t resist the regime and all died, except the second son who lived with his maternel grandmother survived.

• All other siblings died except one sister survived. Richard’ younger sister (Marilyn) got married in 1973. A baby girl (Serena) was born in October 1974. On April 15 1975, her husband who was an officer went to the military headquarter to check his next assignment. The military headquarter rotated the officers and soldiers around places regularly. The officers needed to check their assignment when they came to the capital. While he was checking the list of names posted on a board, a rocket bomb was landed at that place. The debris hit him and he was killed on the spot. The situation was very bad at that time as the rocket bombs were landed so often in Phnom Penh. Richard’ sister was so shocked as she was waiting for her husband to come to the house for lunch. Not a tear was dropped on her face as she was stunned with this news. She and her 6 month-old daughter left and went to her in-laws house for making arrangement for her husband funeral on April 16. She stayed at her in-laws house overnight and planned to return home in a couple days. The next day, April 17, the Khmer Rouge invaded Phnom Penh and forced people to leave the house. She and her daughter could not go back to their house as the streets of Phnom Penh were packed with all people who wandered around without destination to reach. They were stuck with the in laws family and walked with them to another town. Arriving to a small village, she remembered vaguely that there was a distant relative living there. She decided to leave her in-laws and was heading to that relative’s house. They let her stay in the back of the house and she needed to live on her own to survive. Fortunately, later on she met her older brother #2 who moved to a village near by. He came along with his family and his in-laws, about ten of them. She could not join her brother as there were too many people in that house. She stayed at the relative’s house.

There were endless stories of this tragedy in Cambodia. Each family was affected in one way or another with this tragic situation. The majority of people especially the young people were traumatized during that era. There were countless disturbed children after this tragedy.

All the news that I heard from my brothers and others broke my heart. I was so sad with the death of my sisters #2 and #4 and their family along with my cousins, friends etc…

I stayed in Paris for two months to help my father and our family get settled and returned to Zaire in September 1977. Richard was so sad with all these news. He was grieving for the loss of his father, mother, grandmother, his siblings, and relatives for quite a long time in Zaire.

Part 3: Leaving Zaire**

I stayed with my father and brother #2 for two months to help them get settled in Paris. My father, my younger sister, and my brother #2 and his family lived in an apartment in Paris 13.

My brother #3 and his family arrived to France before my father. They lived in Tourcoing, a small town on the northeast of France, near Germany.

Brother #4 and his family lived in a suburb of Paris.

After helping my father settled in Paris, I returned to Zaire in September 1977.

After my return to Kipushi, Zaire, life was so peaceful. We had helpers to do house chores and work in the garden. I learned how to cook Cambodian and European foods. (Chapter 4, part 1). We continued our routine as usual with not much entertainment at that time.

However, in January 1979, there were an uprising of Zairois who were so poor and couldn’t afford to support the family. They rose in rebellion and looted the stores in the mining town of Kolvezi, about 300 Kilometers from where we lived. The houses of some expatriates were vandalized by the rebels. They went through their houses, took some of their belongings and destroyed things that blocked their way, but no one was injured. Despite this turmoil, the mining operation was not affected.

In Kipushi where we lived was fine as there was no looting. The company had taken precaution to protect people living in this town. The uprising was quiet down in Kolvezi a week later.

Richard and I were so worried with this event as we had bad experiences with the sad tragedy in Cambodia. We decided to leave Zaire for our children sake and their future. It was about time for them to have a good education either in France or in the United States of America as Zaire didn’t have much to offer in education. Podaly was 8 and Porendy was 5.

As we approached our second vacation that would begin in May 1979. Richard decided to leave Gecamines and had resigned from the company. At that time, we didn’t have valid Cambodian passports, but still hold Travel Documents from Zaire government (orange color documents, chapter 4, part 1). We got visas stamped on Zaire travel documents from the consulates of France and the U.S. A .

We sold our household items to the new comers and also passed our dog Bruno to the new owner. We limited our belongings to two suitcases for the trip as we planned to do some shopping in Paris.

We left Zaire in the evening of May 6, 1979. Our first destination was Paris France. We were so excited to see my father and my family. It was about eight years that Richard hadn’t seen them since he left Cambodia in January 1971. We stayed in their apartment and caught up news with what we were missing for so long, especially for Richard.

We only got sad news about Richard’s family. Rumors spread out that Richard’s family couldn’t survive. His parents and his siblings died during that regime (chapter 4, part 2). This was only the rumor from people as they only heard from other people. Nothing was concrete. Richard and I were praying that all these sad news were wrong and hoping that we would hear good news from his family some time soon. We heard that so many Cambodians had escaped from Cambodia, fled to the refugee camp “Kao Y Dang” located at the border of Thailand. People were so uncertain about their future living in that camp, but kept hope that one day they could escape from this place and began a new life in another country. Thai government wouldn’t let them stay in Thailand. Red Cross organization, American, French, Canadian, Australian organizations, doctors, interpreters, representatives etc…flew to this camp to help out the refugees. Foods were also distributed to those people.

Many refugees got interviewed in the camp with French embassy to go to France. If they passed the test, visas were granted to them and their family. They were able to leave the camp in Thailand and moved to Paris. Among those people who came to Paris, there were some of our relatives and friends. We went to visit them and got some news of other relatives and friends.

My sisters #2 and her family died of starvation. Sister #4 and her family were executed as her husband was a teacher. (Chapter 4, part 2).No news from my other aunts, uncles, and cousins from my mother side. We kept hope that we would hear news from them when the refugees came to France. No news from Richard’s family or relatives.

My aunt (my father’s sister) who took care of us after my mother’s passing was separated from my father since the exodus of people in Phnom Penh on April 17. My father got news that she was with my cousin and lived in the refugee camp. My father planned to have her and a nephew to come to France.

We stayed a month in Paris visited different landmarks of Paris and did some shopping for some clothes. We could stay in France and applied for political asylum, but Richard and I had decided to come to the U.S.A because Richard got his diploma from School of Mines in Golden, Colorado.

We left Paris, France on June 12, 1979 to America. Our destination was Denver, Colorado. A new chapter of our life in a new country was awaiting for us.