By Amy Zimmer
Metro New York (USA)
FORDHAM. In Cambodia, Khmer Rouge leaders are being brought to trial for wiping out nearly 3 million people in the mid-1970s. In the Bronx, Sary Sophuok plans to watch the hearings on TV.
Sophuok, who moved here through a refugee resettlement program 20 years ago, still has nightmares of the killing fields where she was sent when she was a teenager.
“I still see army men in the shadows,” said Sophuok, 53, through her niece, Chhaya Chhoum, 29.
Sophouk is among those featured in an oral history exhibit that will open on Saturday at the Fordham Library. It was created by an organization of young Southeast Asians who are trying to learn the history their parents have kept silent.
“The community at large doesn’t understand our history, and even the social services don’t understand the specific needs and history of trauma of the Southeast Asian refugee community,” Chhoum said.
The suffering many endured in war-torn Cambodia has eroded their health, Chhoum said. Many have chronic pain, and diabetes is rampant, but treatment has to be culturally sensitive. For instance, telling a diabetic Cambodian not to eat rice recalls their experience of forced starvation.
Chhoum has been in talks with the Montefiore Family Health Center about expanding its program for Southeast Asians, and Zach Rosen, its medical director, said he was committed to doing so.
Improving Montefiore’s program is critical, Chhoum believes, because the upcoming trial may be difficult for many refugees.
“Knowing we’re prosecuting these five or six people is fine, but is that going to bring [the victims’] children back or heal their cancers or stop their nightmares?” Chhoum asked. “For us, justice is about taking care of the people.”
Sophuok, who moved here through a refugee resettlement program 20 years ago, still has nightmares of the killing fields where she was sent when she was a teenager.
“I still see army men in the shadows,” said Sophuok, 53, through her niece, Chhaya Chhoum, 29.
Sophouk is among those featured in an oral history exhibit that will open on Saturday at the Fordham Library. It was created by an organization of young Southeast Asians who are trying to learn the history their parents have kept silent.
“The community at large doesn’t understand our history, and even the social services don’t understand the specific needs and history of trauma of the Southeast Asian refugee community,” Chhoum said.
The suffering many endured in war-torn Cambodia has eroded their health, Chhoum said. Many have chronic pain, and diabetes is rampant, but treatment has to be culturally sensitive. For instance, telling a diabetic Cambodian not to eat rice recalls their experience of forced starvation.
Chhoum has been in talks with the Montefiore Family Health Center about expanding its program for Southeast Asians, and Zach Rosen, its medical director, said he was committed to doing so.
Improving Montefiore’s program is critical, Chhoum believes, because the upcoming trial may be difficult for many refugees.
“Knowing we’re prosecuting these five or six people is fine, but is that going to bring [the victims’] children back or heal their cancers or stop their nightmares?” Chhoum asked. “For us, justice is about taking care of the people.”
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