Gosia Wozniacka
The Oreganian (Oregon, USA)
Chanly Bob's most prized possession, the one that inspires him, is a blurry photograph in a large frame: the only existing picture of his father.
Bob's father was executed in 1975, the year the Khmer Rouge captured Phnom Penh, Cambodia's capital, and drove thousands of civilians out of the cities, forcing them to become farmers in communes.
They aimed to forge a radical agrarian, classless, subservient society. Bob, then 2 years old, and his mother and siblings were sent to a collective farm. Bob's father, a wealthy landowner and a community leader, was killed.
An estimated 1.5 million to 2 million people died of execution, starvation and forced labor under the Khmer Rouge. Many Cambodians crossed the border into Thailand to seek asylum. For years, Bob and his family lived in refugee camps on the Thai-Cambodian border, then one in the Philippines, finally to be sponsored in the U.S. by a Lutheran church in Albany.
It's no wonder then, Bob says, that Cambodian immigrants living in Oregon have such a hard time trusting government. It's not part of the culture to be outspoken, and the grip of fear and post-traumatic stress keeps people at home.
"I don't see enough civic engagement in our Cambodian community, because it is out of our comfort zone," Bob said. "Our community just goes with the flow; they don't want to complain too much."
He has worked hard to overcome fear, cope with his past and learn to speak up. Being part of Engage '08 was a step, one he took to honor the father whose face he does not remember, except for the prized photograph.
"This is building my confidence," Bob said about the seminars. "It's helping me be more courageous, teaching me how to say things so it comes out meaningful and powerful.
Bob, who is an Oregon State University graduate and an information technology consultant, sees civic engagement not only as a local issue but also as a global one. Locally, he would like to represent his community so city and county politicians could understand that his people are still healing and need help to become more comfortable and involved in civic matters.
He also hopes to connect the local community to the global one by way of humanitarian work. He has revisited his home country several times, and with the help of the Cambodian American Community of Oregon started Beyond Ordinary Borders in 2005. He hopes to take more Oregonians, especially young people, to do humanitarian work in Cambodia next year.
"I need to be engaged, I have to," he said. "I have an obligation to give back."
Bob's father was executed in 1975, the year the Khmer Rouge captured Phnom Penh, Cambodia's capital, and drove thousands of civilians out of the cities, forcing them to become farmers in communes.
They aimed to forge a radical agrarian, classless, subservient society. Bob, then 2 years old, and his mother and siblings were sent to a collective farm. Bob's father, a wealthy landowner and a community leader, was killed.
An estimated 1.5 million to 2 million people died of execution, starvation and forced labor under the Khmer Rouge. Many Cambodians crossed the border into Thailand to seek asylum. For years, Bob and his family lived in refugee camps on the Thai-Cambodian border, then one in the Philippines, finally to be sponsored in the U.S. by a Lutheran church in Albany.
It's no wonder then, Bob says, that Cambodian immigrants living in Oregon have such a hard time trusting government. It's not part of the culture to be outspoken, and the grip of fear and post-traumatic stress keeps people at home.
"I don't see enough civic engagement in our Cambodian community, because it is out of our comfort zone," Bob said. "Our community just goes with the flow; they don't want to complain too much."
He has worked hard to overcome fear, cope with his past and learn to speak up. Being part of Engage '08 was a step, one he took to honor the father whose face he does not remember, except for the prized photograph.
"This is building my confidence," Bob said about the seminars. "It's helping me be more courageous, teaching me how to say things so it comes out meaningful and powerful.
Bob, who is an Oregon State University graduate and an information technology consultant, sees civic engagement not only as a local issue but also as a global one. Locally, he would like to represent his community so city and county politicians could understand that his people are still healing and need help to become more comfortable and involved in civic matters.
He also hopes to connect the local community to the global one by way of humanitarian work. He has revisited his home country several times, and with the help of the Cambodian American Community of Oregon started Beyond Ordinary Borders in 2005. He hopes to take more Oregonians, especially young people, to do humanitarian work in Cambodia next year.
"I need to be engaged, I have to," he said. "I have an obligation to give back."
4 comments:
Residual fear of what?!
I am, ect.,
There are residual ire; there aren't any residual fear that you should fret or apprehend about (after all, you're in hands with good people and country).
Bob's residue of fake fear.
Wow,I am blown away to hear a then two year old kid fear.
I thought Gautama (meh Gau) was walking in steps soon he was delivered out of his abnormal mother's rib cage.Supernatural indeed!but Bob's?
Come on! Bob's whom are you kidding with?
Please don't bob your head people may be misperceiving you are agreeing,Ok Bob's?
Oh by the way,is this the same Chanly Bob's one of the 13 apostles of the Add junk Economissed Ph.D from John Hopkins?
Then what can one say,like guru like pupil!
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