Views from inside the barbed wire chronicled in To A Third Country
Book launch to benefit Cambodians affected by AIDS and NorQuest's SHINE campaign
EDMONTON -- A new book by an Edmonton author and NorQuest College instructor explores the ravages of war, the challenges of leaving one's homeland and the triumph of the human spirit. An official launch reception and book signing for To A Third Country is being held on May 31 at NorQuest's Edmonton Downtown Campus, Main Building (10215 108 Street). The event starts at 7 p.m.
To A Third Country by Barbara Penner follows the journeys of six women, all survivors of Cambodia's ruling and brutal Khmer Rouge regime of the 1970s. Escaping genocide, the women were all swept into refugee camps along Thailand's eastern border and eventually to a third country, Canada. Their stories, chronicling bitter tragedies and dreams of hope, are featured in this new book from Word Alive Press. From the book's synopsis:
It's the late 1960s. In Canada, a girl thinks of war only as a boys' game; the aftermath can be handled by some new and improved detergent. Six small Khmer girls scattered about Cambodia are oblivious to the catastrophe looming over their homeland. In the human tsunami that casts survivors of the Khmer Rouge on Thailand's eastern border, each of these young women finds refuge during the early '80s. A second country isn't a second home. Our stateless six taste more than rationed rice in the refugee camps. Flirtation. Fear. Matchmaking. Motherhood. Religion. Rejection. Chhorn Nhem, Nareth Mom Mueller, Siem Seng, Kimsonn Tuon, Chantha Kong and Sareen So Bou offer views from inside the barbed wire that you haven't seen before. They were strangers, longing for a better country, a country of their own. These pages chart their journeys to a third country.
"We watch movies and read books about soldiers, heroes and villains, but what about the civilians?" asks Penner. "Over 12 million people are currently displaced by war and other disasters. A disproportionate number of these people are women. If Canada hadn't opened its doors to my grandparents fleeing one conflict, I wouldn't be here today. I see in my six Cambodian friends, my grandmother and, in their children, my father. Their stories are our stories, mine and yours."
Penner first began listening to the stories of Cambodian, Laotian and Vietnamese refugees while working in Thailand. In 1985, she received approval by the Thai Ministry of the Interior to begin working under Youth with a Mission's Relief Services in Phanat Nikhim Transit Centre. There, over the next two years, Penner met refugees Siem Seng, Nareth Mom, Chantha Kong and Kimsonn Seng. Penner eventually met Chhorn Nhem and Sareen Bou after they resettled in Edmonton. Penner continues to maintain contact with all of the women and other new Canadians in her longtime role as an English as a Second Language Intensive program instructor at NorQuest College.
Royalties from sales of the book are going to Place of Rescue, an NGO near Phnom Penh that serves Cambodians touched by AIDS. Also, for each book sold at the launch event, 10 per cent will be donated to the NorQuest SHINE campaign to encourage and support other newcomers still in the process of learning English as a second language.
Loading...
10:19
Khmer Rouge Communist, April 17th 1975, Part 5by Buriram2714,134 views
Link to this comment:
All Comments (0)