Portrait of Chau

Chau and her family were refugees who fled Vietnam by boat in 1980. Chau came to the United States at four and one half years old, but not after a very harrowing series of events.

Chau was three and a half years old when her family left Vietnam and then landed on a little island where, and after two weeks, they were about to starve to death. Her mother sold her wedding ring for rice so they could survive. Then the Red Cross picked them up and brought them to the Philippines, where they lived for a year-and-a-half.

When Chau’s family first arrived in the United States, they stayed in San Francisco. After getting sponsored, they moved to Los Angeles, where Chau did most of her growing up.

Chau went to Loyola Marymount University where she studied electrical engineering. She worked a short time in this field, for a tech company, and afterwards realized she was not interested in being an engineer, and did not follow through with a career.

Five years prior to this posting, Chau was in a severe car accident, and at first, could not walk. With permanent paralysis looming, she saw an acupuncturist/herbalist, Dr. Lim, and a chiropractor, who enabled her to walk. Her muscles had to relearn everything and it took a long time to get back these skills. Although somewhat weakened and requiring a motorized chair to get around, she was happy she could walk at all.

Image Credits: Bat-Ami Gordin © 2017 all rights reserved. Credit if you use it, please.

Advertisements