HOF052: LE Thi Kim Yen / Dao Thi Kim Quyen

Le thi Kim Yen left Vietnam in 1976, at the age of 20, with her parents and siblings—a journey that her Canadian-born daughter would come to know as well as if she had lived it. As the daughter, Dao thi Kim Quyen recounted on her mother’s behalf, the family was into their third day at sea when they came across a British oil tanker and were brought on board. It took a month before the tanker captain could find a port where his passengers could disembark. After finally receiving permission to land in Japan, the family applied to go to Montreal, where the family worked long hours and saved every penny, scrimping even on bus fares, as they rebuilt their lives.