The Story Of Thein Lo

By An, Biftu, Crystelle

Prologue:

My name is Thein Lo and I am nine years old. I come from a family of Five, my parents, my older sister, my little brother and of course me. The Vietnam war happened and I was born just before everything happened. War is still happening and my family and I are struggling. My mother is struggling to provide food for us and what makes it even more worse is that my mother is pregnant. My father is barely home most if the time, he is working with the U.S army.

One day my father got captured by the communists and was put in a concentration camp. I know he doesn’t come home often but he does come home to sleep, so that is how I found out that he was captured. My mum panicked and my uncle (who I was living with) came up with a plan to rescue my dad. I was very scared.

Even though I was very scared I loved him very much I wanted to participate; to bad I was too young to help so I stayed home while my mother and my uncle went to the camp. My father came home I had no idea how they managed to get them out but all I knew from that point is that we had to leave Vietnam straight away because we were currently wanted by the police. My father had to pay a fisherman for his boat so that we could escape.

My mum explained everything to me at home while we were packing our things. On the night after the escape, we went and sneaked to the boat so the police wouldn’t see us. Apparently the police were everywhere patrolling the docks.

Unfortunately we got caught the first time by a woman who selling fruit on the docks, but we ran all the way back to the house before she could tell the police. The second time we tried was two days after that.

Finally we reached the boat with other fellow Vietnamese citizens. We put our bags in the corner and we went under flooring with all the fruit and vegetables. We heard the engine start and we were on our way to a new country.

But before we reached out into the vast sea a police boat stopped us. We were all nervous if they would capture us. We heard our engine start again, so we thought we were safe but we weren’t. The police shot the hull of the boat and put several holes for the water to run through. One man told everyone to be quiet because they were testing us if anyone would scream so they would know that we were here.

Everyone was dead silent and we let the water run into the boat. When another person looked out of the boat through the holes there was no one there. He told us we had to abandon the boat before we would drown so we jumped off the boat before we would perish.

 

It was pitch-black and freezing in the water, my mum was worried about the life inside of her. Suddenly in the distance, we saw an American ship passing by we shouted to it and then it turned to our direction. We were saved from freezing to death. We got transported to Hong Kong refugee camp. The Americans found out that my mum was pregnant so she was emitted to the hospital.

 

The next day my youngest brother was born his name is Hung, which means ‘hero’. My mum thought he was the last child to be born. We stayed in the camp for 5 years until we were accepted to Australia. But before that I went to school and around when I was 13 I went to study English with my older sister Duyen and Hung in Philippines. My mum and dad were transported to the Philippine camp the day after. My little brother is so cute and sometimes when mum went out to work, I always tease him that my mum was captured and he always cried.

So we were accepted to Australia and we went to Perth to live and we got our own passports. A year later my mum got pregnant again with my younger sister I was excited. So months later, I was in the waiting room with my siblings. My mum and dad were in the operation room delivering the baby. I waited for hours until a nurse came in to tell us that we could come inside.

My mum was sweating and was holding my sister with my dad. He told us that the baby was supposed to have a disease called Down syndrome, but she was normal as can be. Also the cord was wrapped around my sister’s head and she was all purple, lucky she did not die. The doctor said it was a miracle.

 

The nurse asked what my parents wanted to name her, they thought of naming her Houng. But I suddenly told them to name her Hoai An and it meant ‘forever thanksgiving’. So it was decided. My little sister Nho Hoa Lo.

 

Epilogue: Hi, my name is Thien

Lo I am a 16 year old girl. My family consists of 7, my parents, my older sister, my two younger brothers, my little sister and me. I was born on the 28th of May, 1950. I am having fun in Perth, Australia with my family and friends.

We have learnt that things happen for a reason. We have also learnt not to be selfish and that giving is better then receiving. The story that we have put together is based on a true story. In Vietnam people do suffer from poverty and lack of resources. Till this day on people are still trying to escape from Vietnam by the way the government have been treating them. Poverty does not occur only in Vietnam, thousands of people are suffering all over the world.