Palina

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Country of Origin: Laos

Photographed: Idaho, 2019

Founder of the The Idaho Museum of International Diaspora (IMID)

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“Laos became a communist country in 1975, when we were invaded by communists that crossed over from Vietnam. As a result, our country went from a population of 8 million to just 3 million, in a couple of years. My father was an officer in the royal military, and he was actually scheduled for execution. As such, he had to flee before we did. The helicopter came for him, and he had already fled. He was safe in that sense; he went over to Thailand and then sent Mom a letter saying that he'd found a new family, and for us to move on with our lives.”