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Show Laotian Couple Address Kiwanis A Laotian man said in last week's Kiwanis Club meeting that he and his family had come "from the stone age," as he and his wife detailed the fear and anxiety they felt after escaping from their war-torn homeland, making their way to the United States. Chou Ly and his wife Py Mona are members of the proud Hmong tribe, which has been embroiled for years in a desperate jungle war against communist militants of an unstable government. They have made their way to Utah from Laos, where they immediately joined the LDS church because of its similarity to Hmong ideas and traditions. They have been organized into the Hmong branch of the Orem West Stake by President Henry W. Rock under the direction of the LDS church's First Presidency. Chou Ly pronounced (Chu Lee), a leader of the Laotian refugees, has been called as branch president of the group of about 90 members. Chou Ly was the leader of about 1700 Laotians which he brought into Thailand, traveling many miles through the jungles with many hardships. hard-ships. His history is piquant, often heartbreaking. At the Kiwanis meeting he detailed many of his experiences. "One of the southeast Asian countries which was destroyed by the communists is Laos," Chou Ly said, "- lost to the communists in a psychological war. The Laotian communists dominated the whole country in 1975. So the population tried to evacuate to Thailand". Chou Ly was responsible for the first group or people who left and headed for Thailand. "I left my country, my father's land, my house, animals and my friends. Tears dropped from my eyes and I said my last goodbye. My lovely dogs looked at me very sad and knew that I was going to leave them forever, but they couldn't say anything to me, just lick my legs. My chickens crowed and clucked to me their last songs of goodbye. I said goodbye to my house where I slept. I also said goodbye to the mountains near my home where every morning I heard the songs sung by a multitude of beautiful birds," Chou Ly said. "I put a gun, a bag of rice, a blanket, one box of medicine, some money and miscellaneous material on my shoulders and back. I held my little five-year-old daughter in my arms, as did everyone that could," he added. "We then began the walk over mountains and across rivers following a small path to an unknown destination. It was a long, long trip. " "We built a small hut at night covered with banana leaves. We used bamboo to cook the rice. After our meal we slept on the ground and burned wood for light," Chou Ly said. "In the beginning things weren't too bad. The first week went well. But by the second week we ran out of food, no more rice, no villages, and it was raining hard. Our people became tired and the children could not walk. Many old people died." "Hard walking and drinking too much water caused the people to get diarrhea and fever, we were constantly being bitten by mosquitos and blood-suckers." "The children cried and wanted to go back to our homeland. These hardships made be sad and undecided un-decided as to what to do," he added. "Food was so very scarce we were forced to search for roots, plants or leaves in order to feed our children and ourselves. Fortunately, during the third week we found a Thai village where we could buy food." I "We tried for a week to get into Thailand, but the governor would not help the refugee peoplej They tried to send us back to Laos. By many implorations they finally let us build a camp," Chou Ly said. "We stayed two months in the camp, unknown by any agency of the United Nations. The rains came and the sun was hot. We ran out of food, medicine, and clothes. Our money was all used up arid our precious materials all were gone. j "Two terrible and miserable months were, spent in the camp. God finally sent the United Nations agencies to visit us. They later gave us food, clothing, and medicine. This gave us strength to be alive and waiting for an interview which would allow )js to come to the United States. "This terrorized and treacherous trip made me and my family very sad, but it was a very good experience for myself in this life." Chou Ly noted. Py Mona went through the hardships of bearing a son while traveling through the jungles. (Continued onPage2T From The Front Laotians (Continued from Front Page) Chou Ly recieved his tiny son, Pachong, into the world, and tenderly lifted him to his mother's arms knowing that there was no home for the child. They were finally accepted into America and ended up in Orem, Utah. Chou Ly is now an electronics student at Utah Technical College. Py Mona works at Signetics, in Orem, and is branch Relief Society president. She does not speak English. The children attend Orem elementary school. Many items of tapestry handiwork were displayed at the Kiwanis Club meeting. Part of the display was fine stiching work that had been done. They certainly have brought with them an art which will no doubt make many sales to the American people. The work is beautiful. Chou Ly said that communist, Veitnam people had used lethal gas to massacre many of his people. He mentioned 17,000 in one place that had been killed. Many of his people had been killed by severing the arms, legs or head in a very brutal manner. Thousands died for lack of food by being driven from their homeland. The people would shrink down to skin and bones and then die. Those who were saved after starving took a long time to get back on their feet. Many are still suffering in the jungles. These people are very shy and do not mix very well with the native people here. It might help if people would put out a welcome hand to them. Chou Ly said they lived "in the stone ages" in Laos. It is very hard for them to get used to this world. They didn't have to pay all these bills and everything that goes along with this modern age. |