In April, a few members of the Cambodian Oral History Project team had the incredible opportunity to travel to Long Beach! We were able to conduct several interviews and hear resilient, inspiring personal stories from wonderful members of the Cambodian community. We also had the chance to reconnect with friends in the Khmer Long Beach community and celebrate Khmer New Year together at their annual Khmer New Year celebration.
Words shared during the interviews:
The only thing I can do is preserve our memory because the Khmer rouge burned the documents, they burned everything, the only thing we can carry is our memory.
I believe in God, I believe that there is something out there that is watching over me that did not let me die like I saw every day in Cambodia.
Always be nice to people. You never know when you will need them. We were nice to our maid in Cambodia and she saved my dad’s life.
We continue to marvel at the resilience and strength of the Khmer people and we were grateful for all the stories we get to capture and share. Thank you, Long Beach, for your warmth, hospitality, and for sharing your stories with us!
Go to our website https://cambodianoralhistoryproject.byu.edu/ to read these full stories and thousands more.
