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Unfortunately I have very little information to be able to write an obituary for our AFS student, Medkham Thammavong, but with the help of information that David Dearborn was able to find I would like offer the following.
Medkham, who was with us in our senior year, passed away in 2003, or perhaps earlier. Med lived with my family and she and my mom were quite close and kept a correspondence over the years.
When Laos became communist in the 1970s, Med, then living in Vientiane, and her husband, Ouphet Souvannavong, and at least one of their children, escaped to Thailand where they lived in a refugee camp for quite a long time, my memory is for two years. My dad worked very hard at trying to get the family US asylum but when Australia accepted them they went. My folks were terribly disappointed but still glad that they were able to start a new life. They lived in a town called Bonnyrigg, New South Wales, and in 1982 they became Australian citizens. Med had 2 children , Soykeo and Daophet, and I imagine they were both born in Laos before they became refugees. Soykeo, her daughter, was born in 1968, and judging from a photograph I have, the son was close in age. So it is probable that they made the dangerous crossing of the Mekong River with their two young children. That sweet girl from Laos sure did not have an easy life!
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Virginia Klie
Just want to add that Medkham's daughter was born in 1968 not 67.
Paul Emmert
Ginny than-you I'll make the correction..
Denice St. German
Thank you for posting this. I always worried about what happened to her. I'm glad she lived a full life in a peaceful country. She was a very sweet girl.