Fund Cambodian Orphans' Healing Journey

Hi my name is Anthony Sok-Heng Tessandori. I am asking for support to help a group of former Cambodian orphans' return to Cambodia for the 50th Anniversary of their rescue and their first reunion in nearly as many years.

On April 17th the reign of the Khmer Rouge over the Cambodian people began ending an eight year long civil war. By the end of the regime more than 2 million of their own people had been murdered, fatally injured, starved to death or simply vanished. The scars of this trauma continue to effect Cambodians today.

I am one of 20 orphans who were rescued from certain death just days before the fall of the Cambodian government. Dr. Stan Mooneyham (then president of World Vision International a Christian aid organization), and a group of dedicated international and local aid workers risked their own lives by entering the war zone and flying us out as part of Operation Babylift. To my knowledge all of the local aid workers who actively helped us escape did not survive the genocide.

We were on the last plane out of Cambodia before the airport was destroyed. We were evacuated to Thailand and then to the U.S. where we were adopted into American families. For a couple of years after our adoptions, our families met for reunions, but as happens lives got busy and we all lost contact.

Flash forward 45 years or so and here we are. We have lived our lives as well as we could, but all have had long lasting effects of our early lives in the tumult of war. Sadly, we suffered without anyone who could fully understand.

Starting in 2018, I started the work of finding the 19 other orphans who alone share this experience with me. I needed to find them for my own health and healing. After many hours of late nights online I found and confirmed 18 others, with only one I am still looking for.

Next year, 2025 will be the 50th anniversary of our rescue from Cambodia and we have decided to return as a group. This will be the first time most of us will have been back since we left and will be the first time that most of us will be meeting each other. I believe this is an important part of our healing process.

I am asking for help for my Cambodian brothers and sisters and their families who cannot financially support this important return on their own.

To view my blog from my visit in 2019 please see: https://www.blogger.com/blog/posts/3128160301940704345