Khmer Village
Khmer Village was a court of twenty-three houses for Cambodian refugee families in northeast Houston, Texas, with its own community school.[1] It stood near the intersection of U.S. 59 and Interstate 610.[1]
History
The first families moved in during February 1981. They were a few families who had been living elsewhere in Houston, chosen for their low incomes and large households, among other needs.[1] The landlord provided the twenty-third house rent-free as a school. Residents paid only its utilities and donated its furnishings.[1]
On April 24, 1982, the residents prepared the Village for Khmer New Year. They cleaned up the grounds, decorated their houses, cooked, and built a stage for the musicians. Mouk Phon, Lim Cheng Tech, Lim Tej Ching and Seila Heng were among those who worked on the stage.[2][3] Frank Proschan photographed the preparations for the Ethnic Heritage and Language Schools in America Project, and the photographs are held by the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress.[2]
Education
The Village school and the Village were devoted to keeping Cambodian culture alive.[1] The school taught Cambodian literacy to children. Yani Keo, the teacher Madorom Huot and the Village parents shared the work of these classes. Former teachers from Cambodia among the residents also taught lessons: In Man had taught French and Cambodian in elementary school before he joined the army.[1] Yani Keo explained why reading came first: without the alphabet, a person cannot go far and has no strong root.[1]
The Cambodian lessons gave children who felt lost, embarrassed or too old in public school a place to gain pride and a sense of accomplishment.[1] The Village children all went to the same elementary school, so they did not feel isolated, and its teachers and staff could support them.[1]
Learning in the Village also went beyond its school and the public schools, to orientation and English classes for newly arrived refugees. Yani Keo, a Cambodian worker who ran several cluster housing sites in the city, supervised English as a Second Language classes taught by volunteers at a church across from her Weaver Street site. She also taught English herself several evenings a week at 2800 Main Street.[1]
See also
References
- ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 Library of Congress, Final reports: The Cambodian/Khmer School, Houston, Texas, Ethnic Heritage and Language Schools in America Project (1982)
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Library of Congress, Preparations for Khmer New Year celebration at Khmer Village (April 1982)
- ↑ Library of Congress, Preparations for Khmer New Year in the Khmer Village: cleaning up the village and decorating houses (April 1982)