All posts tagged: Lao Americans

Canadian Universal Health vs The Great American Gamble

The day my twins were born, my son developed an infection in his leg. It was an excruciating ailment, one that came on without warning and left him unable to walk or even move. It was also a big mystery; doctors weren’t exactly sure what it was, or how to treat it. My husband spent the next eight days shuttling him back and forth to the hospital. While I tended to our newborns at home, they logged hours on the pediatric floor. Each day brought a different round of testing for our young son. His little body was put through it all: x-rays, ultrasounds, MRIs, and bloodwork. That was a draining week for all of us. Most days, we struggled just to keep him comfortable. The hospital had every test result back within 12 hours each day. But waiting isn’t easy – especially for a hormonal mother who can’t stay off Google. I spent sleepless nights worrying about sprains, Lyme disease, even cancer. WebMD became my best friend and worst nightmare. My insane penchant to …

The SEAD Project: Spring Language Courses Open for Registration!

Do you know what the best part of a diaspora is? Rough question, maybe. Never fear—I’ve got a great answer. At least, enough to be forgiven for asking such a crazy question, I think. It’s when the displaced try to reconnect with their roots! There’s lots of avenues this can take. Let’s discuss a very direct one—the gift of communication. In a world that relies more and more on not just being able to communicate—but to do it well, it’s time we figured out a way to do this with our own family members, right?! Say it with me, “Sabaidee Pa-ta! Kanoi sih pah Pa-ta bpai gin khao!” Cause, food. What’s a better example than our national favorite topic? Unofficial, but I dare the person to correct me on this. Never mind all the reasons your Lao is iffy. Some of us didn’t have the opportunity to use it—so we lost a lot of it. Some of us never learned to read/write because, gosh darnit, why didn’t our parents bring the Lao language learning books with …