Savy Kuch: Treading Adversity to Find Unity and Inclusion
I’m a Cambodian refugee who came to America during the wave of immigrants in the mid 80’s, who were seeking asylum from a bleak life of slavery under the Khmer Rouge regime. I was barely five years old, when my family and I first set foot in Maine. Just a couple years of trying to build a new life in the U.S., my mother found herself juggling several jobs as a single parent of three children; but she somehow managed to survive.
Existence around the poverty level did not weigh as heavy whenever I reminded myself that my hardship will make it easier for me to understand how to help others with similar plights, in my future endeavors. From a young age, I knew I wanted to grow up to help people; however, life never goes as you hope it does. We lost my younger brother, to a swimming accident, just before I graduated from high school and my world got turned upside-down.
My heart was too heavy to make sense of any direction, in life; but I eventually found my way and pursued a career in Architectural Design. It’s a work in progress and I hope to eventually find success in my career path; nonetheless, social service to the downtrodden tugged at my heartstrings when local issues with racial injustice occurred, in recent years. I’ve been actively contributing efforts, in the surrounding towns of Kennebunk, to raise awareness and keep inclusion efforts in the forefront. I believe that change is possible and peace/coexistence is attainable.
Growing up in a small town (that was predominantly white) had its moments of isolation and disconnect, as I blindly navigated through finding my identity as a Cambodian-American and what that meant. Recently a good friend found and introduced me to this Cambodian Community Association of Maine. I look forward to learning and building a richer heritage that we can all be proud of sharing, with the rest of our Maine friends.
About the Cambodian Community Association
The Cambodian Community Association of Maine (CCAM) is a nonpartisan, grassroots organization working to improve the quality of life and the social and economic well-being of Cambodian people in Maine through cultural exchange, community building and civic engagement.
