08/03/2004

The first day I arrived in Washington D.C. airport I felt very excited to visit the U.S., and I was very happy to see [RI President emeritus] Lionel [Rosenblatt] at the airport. Lionel is the person that always tries to help and give me great opportunities to be an intern, study law and to visit in the U.S. through sponsorship from RI. He is a good person because he always pushes and encourages me to be successful, to help myself and my Indigenous people.  Especially, he always tries to visit and help my Phnong people in Cambodia.  Mondulkiri is a long trip, and there is trouble getting there.
 
In the U.S. I thought it is unbelievable for me that I can came to visit on a long trip like this. This is a wonderful change in my life. None of my Phnong Indigenous people have yet come to visit overseas like me. Before I never thought that I could come to visit in the U.S. because I am a person who lives in the forest in a remote area and doesn’t have much money to live. I never thought to travel far from my homeland. I felt like a frog living in a well. But fortunately RI gave me a great opportunity to come to visit in the U.S. to get ideas and experience for my Indigenous people.
 
For six weeks in the U.S. I traveled with Lionel to see different people and places. I went to Washington D.C., New York, North Carolina, Minnesota, California and Delaware. In each state I went to places to meet with people like Cambodian Ambassador Roland Eng, American UN Ambassador Sichan Siv and his wife Martha, Angelina Jolie, lawyers, UN staff, World Bank staff, First Foundation staff, American Indians, RI board members and foundation representatives. They were people with many stories and many different experiences. They were welcoming and generous to share with me. These people and many of Lionel’s friends who became my friends and so generously hosted me will help me build a network of friends for my Phnong indigenous people. In the U.S. my English improved, and I know more about people and the American lifestyle.
 
All the people I met I let know about the Phnong situation and some of my plans in the future. I had ideas like scholarships, loans, a museum to preserve Phnong culture, micro credit, marketing textiles and preservation of the land, forest and nature. All of them were very kind to Lionel and me. They have a lot of ideas to deal with the Phnong situation.
 
So, in my travels in the U.S. I saw that things are very different from my country, especially in my province with my Phnong people. In U.S. everything is very expensive, convenient, modern, people have high knowledge, and people have equal opportunities to do things. I am really interested in American Indian lifestyle—museums, powwows and reservations. Because they had to preserve nature in state parks, they still have a lot of forest, wildlife and good scenery. When I compare with my Phnong people it makes me very sad and worried about my people. A long time ago we lived in lack of food, knowledge and everything to support life. We depended on the forest for everything.

Everything I saw in the U.S. is very new and wonderful to me. I have taken advantage of my visit to learn new things about life in the U.S. and the difference between the U.S. and my country.
 
In closing I would like to say that my visit to the U.S. was a wonderful change and experience. I would like to thank Lionel and Refugees International for this opportunity to travel in U.S. and to speak about my Phnong living conditions. I would like to thank all the people who have supported the indigenous people in my country and I would like to thank everyone for this opportunity to speak about my Phnong Indigenous people of Mondulkiri Province, Cambodia.