HOF115: Paspaporn Vong

As a young man, Vong Paspaporn left Laos to pursue his studies in France. He met his future wife during his stay in that country. The couple returned to Laos amidst the social and economic upheaval in their native land. Soon after their return, he and his young wife decided to escape. Their plan was to swim across the Mekong River. The couple practiced swimming prior to their departure in order to develop the endurance to reach the Thai shores. The day of their departure, they built a makeshift raft with banana tree leaves. The raft was unstable, but they managed to reach Thailand.

Once in Thailand, they stayed in a refugee camp and succeeded in obtaining asylum in Canada. The young couple eventually settled in Winnipeg where they continue to live to this day.

Tags: ,

Note to Researchers

A consent form was signed by each of the interviewees whose videos are posted here on the website. They have each consented to making the video available to the public and they have consented to the use of the contents of their videos by the Hearts of Freedom project researchers. Consent is not available to external researchers to quote or publish from it. Researchers interested in the subject have the opportunity to view a documentary film, Passage to Freedom which has been completed and is available through a distributor https://www.mcintyre.ca/ Researchers from the project are in the process of completing a full length book based on the interviews. Once this book is available researchers will have the opportunity to review it and to refer to it for research purposes.