Tip Samkhong: born 1948 in Sayaboury, Laos
Laos summer temperatures range from 100 Fahrenheit in the afternoon to cool during the mornings and night. There is much rain in April which is winter there. When I started school in Grade 2 in Thailand at 13 years of age, I had a one hour walk there. The school was located near a river in the country and was built of bamboo with bamboo leaves for a roof. These leaves were completely water proof. Our desks sat in three rows with grades one and two. I spent a total of eight years in school. My teacher’s name was Ken (Naikau). I spent April through December there. Christmas was not celebrated, but New Year’s celebrations took place in grand style. There were food shortages in our town of 500 people. Every family had a garden.
From the ages of 13 to 16 years, I was a soldier. I earned $500 monthly in Laotian money during my four years there. I was in charge of 10 young men who cut large trees with electric saws on big farms. The trees were loaded on trucks and taken to a lumber mill. We cut about 300 to 400 trees daily.
Somboon, daughter of Keung and Phal, and I were married in 1972; our families were acquainted with each other. We were Buddhists who believed in Buddha who lived in the temple. He had no hair and wore a yellow robe. The nuns lived in the temple, as well. They dressed in white. Breakfast and lunch could be eaten, but no supper. Money was given by the people for the Buddha and nuns, but it was not given to the poor.
There were no doctors available in Laos. Our two oldest children were born in our home in Namyao, in the City of Nan, where grandmother delivered them. Our youngest child was born in a hospital after we had moved to Thailand. Here she was delivered by a doctor.
Later the government wanted to kill me for cutting trees earlier. The new government killed the old King Sivavong. Somboon and I and our family walked with 1,500 others from Laos to the country of Thailand. The trip took nine days and some people died en route for a lack of food. In 1980, Somboon and I and our three children, plus other people from Laos, travelled by air across the Pacific Ocean from Thailand to Montreal, Canada, then on to Toronto and Windsor. One individual decided to return to his homeland. The others all stayed in Ontario. Our family had been sponsored by 15 families from the North Leamington United Mennonite Church in Southern Ontario.
Our first work place in Canada was on the Frank and Anna Klassen farm. Frank and Anna were one of our sponsors. We lived in the house that Klassen's live in today. Here we planted strawberries and tomatoes. Then we got work at Newland's Flowers in Leamington cutting and packaging flowers. Here we worked for four years and were each paid $3.50 per hour. We bought a three bedroom house on Hodgins Street in Leamington for $27,000. Our brother and mother lived with us. Next we worked at Thiessen’s Flowers for 21 years. Today Somboon and I both work at La Nassa Food Processing, a fishery in Kingsville. Our boss there is Portuguese.
For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. John 3: 16
In 1993, we began worshipping at the North Leamington United Mennonite Church. Reverend Victor Kliewer provided a room in the basement for us. By the time Reverend Bruce Wiebe came, we had from 50 to 60 worshippers and moved to a larger room upstairs in about 2003.
Today I have two brothers in California. My sister died of cancer in Laos. Somboon and I have three children and four grandchildren, all of whom speak the Laotian and English languages. Life in Canada is great because of our freedom!
AK2009
AK