All posts tagged: Ekkarath Sisavatdy

Ambassador to Laos, The Honorable Rena Bitter visits the PacNW and Discusses Building Bridges

Former President, Barack Obama’s presidency was full of historical firsts. Everyone knows about the larger scale accomplishments, but only a small country like Laos, and its people around the world, would even care enough to know about the smaller stuff. I’m talking, of course, about the historical visits to Laos from Secretary Hillary Clinton to said President himself, a couple of years ago. While the homeland can only view it positively – the Lao diaspora ran the gamut of emotions. Not unexpected, considering it’s been a little over 40 years since the diaspora began. While some of us have made it back home for a visit, the disappearance of Sombath Somphone raises the dormant alarms we never quite forgot. It’s as if we were lulled into a semi-safe space by a lethargic dance-off only to have the Bogeyman reappear after we washed our makeup off. Regardless, with 40 years of time passing, the doors to some kind of positive relationship appear to at least be open. I couldn’t say if that is an insanely long …

LCSC Washington Presents: 1st Annual Miss Lao Washington

For those that were lucky enough to be in the Seattle, WA area the weekend of the 7th of April–congratulations! I hope you were able to make it out to the 1st Annual Miss Lao Washington pageant to support the Lao Community Service Center of Washington’s (LCSC) quest for a Lao Community center, as well as, all the other services they provide for our community. Held at the Vasa Park Ballroom in Bellevue, WA, the fundraising event went from 4pm to 12am. While I’m not a pageant sort of person–I most definitely am a woman who wants to help raise Lao voices, stories, and to see us fully harness our powers and THRIVE as a community. I confess, outside of the Lao Writer’s Summit in Seattle, last June 2017, I haven’t really been to a Lao function too often. My nearly 10 years in NYC found me adrift from Lao community events–though I certainly threw my own dinner parties to honor different bouns. I wasn’t sure what to expect–but I was pleasantly surprised. Don’t get …