All posts tagged: Chanida Phaengdara Potter

Happy 4th birthday, Little Laos on the Prairie

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It’s already been four years ago since LLOTP was born. Time flies when you’re being Laod. We were just a wee little blog with barely 10 followers, pumping out almost daily posts after a 9-5 job on what we felt like was the world to us: defining our own words. Our joys and struggles as Lao, Minnesotan, and American were at the heart of what made our pages flow. Let’s take a look back and a look forward… 2015 Wins 1,000+ and growing followers on the website, Facebook and Twitter. Our readership base are diaspora and expat communities living in United States, Canada, Laos, Thailand, Australia, and more Our first 40th commemoration event and first national Lao diaspora photo essay “Refuge of the InvisibLao” was held in Minneapolis, Minnesota in January and at Brookdale Public Library to over 7,000 people Our first presentation on the state of Lao diaspora experiences in Minnesota, US, and returnees to Laos was at the 1st Annual Lao Writers Summit & Symposium We were invited to many 40th commemoration events and conferences …

Refugee barcode #T-134025

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#T-134025 28 years ago 2-year-old Chanida Phaengdara Number T-134025 to Student “P” in 1st Grade A mother A father Seven children Asylum to the Land of 10,000 Lakes 100 degrees to -30 degrees Fahrenheit Food stamps, welfare, Northside housing The smell of moth balls became our second scent First shift, second shift, grave shift to survive the grind The American Dream? Just as long as we’re together as family The reality is: our elders are dying. We are all dying. But our stories don’t have to. The honesty in our past tell us about the struggles of those who came before us and reminds us what we try to understand in the present. Hug your elders. Listen to your family’s stories. Appreciate our shared journey of blood, sweat, and tears. In short, Happy World Refugee Day, fellow ‘fugees.   -Chanida editor@littlelaosontheprairie.org