11
Personal Narrative
Pichara Nguon
I am from Cambodia. I left Cambodia when I was about 7-1/2
years old. I lived in a refugee camp in Thailand for about 3-1/2
years, and then I came to the U.S. as an orphan refugee when I
was 11 years old. I graduated from high school in the U.S., and
I have over 10 years of experience in electronic assembly.
Now, I am unemployed, so I have returned to school to improve
my skills and train for a new job. I am married, and I have
three children, ages 22, 12, and 7.
I was born in Cambodia. In 1975, the communists took over
the country, and they killed my parents. After my parents
died, I lived with my foster parent. In 1975, we left Cambodia
and escaped to a camp in Thailand. We ran through a deep
jungle in the middle of the night, and before we reached the
camp in Thailand, there was a lot of suffering. I saw many
people die in the jungle. I was more scared than I could
imagine but lucky for me, I ran through the jungle and lived in
the Thailand camp for a few years.
In 1983, I came to the U.S. by immigration as an orphan.
They brought us here, to Seattle, and I was very happy. By
the time I got here, I started 6th grade right away, because by