A Grain of Rice by Nhung N. Tran-Davies

A Grain of Rice opens with a horrific storm that floods the Mekong River next to their home in Vinh My, a village on the river, where thirteen-year-old Yen, her mother Huong, younger sister Tien, and their adopted brother Quang live. As the water floods into their home, Yen races to grab Tien, while her Ma searches for Quang. The family shelters in the loft of their home, waiting for the storm to abate.

The next morning, when Ma is not home, Yen goes in search of her, but encounters their neighbours Co Sau and Cau Sau who lament that they have lost everything. Yen's Ma arrives at Bac Minh's home carrying a dead child, Trinh who was also a neighbour, but cannot find Trinh's brother and sister.  Yen is devastated by the death of Trinh: only a few days earlier she was playing with him and his brothers and his sister Mai. Trinh's parents were away at the markets downriver when the flooding happened. They will return to find their entire family gone.

That night Yen mentions to her mother that they should go find Ba in Ca Mau but her mother refuses, telling Yen they don't need him. Ba had been taken away by the southern soldiers prior to the fall of Saigon. After he was returned, when Yen was ten-years-old and Tien was not quite a year old, Ma left Ba, taking her family to the Mekong Delta.

Later that night Yen's two older siblings, her brother Lam and her sister Muoi return home from Saigon where they attend high school. Toa Cu who is a teacher but also owns a crayon factory, pays for their school tuition. They bring home a notebook for Yen and crayons for Quang. As the family talks about their journey home, Muoi indicates that Toa Cu has indicated that their family should "escape" with him. Yen is not quite sure as to what they are referring.

Ma decides that she needs to travel downriver to Ca Mau for supplies. This trip puzzles Yen. "We hadn't been back to Ca Mau since we stole away three years ago, just months before giai phong. Ma had not even mentioned Ca Mau since then. What had changed? It was unusual for her to choose Ca Mau when there were other closer markets, although they were smaller."

On the trip down the Mekong with Ma, when Yen questions her mother about travelling to Ca Mau, her mother will only tell that it is for business. In Ca Mau, after being accosted by a government soldier, Yen and her mother set up a spot to sell their crabs and bananas in the market. They are shocked to see Co Sau begging for food, which they offer her. She tells them that they came to Ca Mau looking for an old friend but the friend and his family have disappeared. While Ma takes Co Sau to someone who can help them, Yen decides to wander off to find her father. She remembers how he was taken away by the soldiers from the south for being an informant for the Viet Cong and kept for two years and beaten.

When she finds her father, she tells him that Ma and Muoi are planning to escape, although she doesn't quite understand what this means. Yen asks her father to help them so that Ma will stay, but he is not sympathetic. Yen is shocked to see that her Ba has a wife and small child. Furious she runs out and returns to the market, only to find her mother and their items are gone.

Yen finds her mother in the temple, making offerings to Buddha. Yen has already been robbed by a one-legged beggar, and now they are confronted by the same officer who gave them trouble when they arrived in Ca Mau. But this time they are lucky as a stranger wearing a jade pendant intervenes.

Before they leave Ca Mau, Ma and Yen visit a friend, Co Thanh who runs a fabric store. Co Thanh's husband has been gone for the past three years, taken to a labour camp to be "re-educated". She seems to indicate that her son is dead but also that he only has hope if he leaves the country. While Yen is confused her Ma seems to understand.

Back home, Ma begins to prepare for their journey that will lead them to escape the country. Yen is frustrated because no one will tell her anything. But when Bac Minh arrives one night warning them they must leave at once because soldiers are looking for them, Yen must find the courage to make the long and dangerous journey, leaving behind the country she loves for an unknown future.

Discussion

The events described in A Grain of Rice are loosely based on the experiences of Tran-Davies' family when she lived in Vietnam and then fled after the war. Five-year-old Nhung, her mother and five siblings were sponsored to come to Canada in 1979, after fleeing their homeland by boat to Malaysia. Vietnamese who fled by sea in rickety boats came to be known as the "boat people".  Many lost their lives on the journey, others were attacked and robbed or worse by sea pirates. Today Nhung Tran-Davies is a physician who lives with her family just outside of Edmonton, Alberta.

In A Grain of Rice, a young girl flees Vietnam with her family to escape the worsening oppression and living conditions in the country just a few years after the end of the Vietnam War. It is  an interesting story that provides young readers with a sense of what life was like in the years immediately following the end of war in Vietnam. The country, previously divided into the communist North and the democratic South was now reunited and ruled by a Communist government. 

In A Grain of Rice, young readers will learn that the Vietnamese people continued to suffer long after the war ended. The repressive Communist government began punishing South Vietnamese civilian and military officials, sending them to re-education camps. Many never returned. Nguoi hoa or ethnic Chinese living in Vietnam and who considered themselves Vietnamese were particularly targeted, losing their businesses and property. With worsening economic conditions and widespread corruption and human rights abuses, millions fled the country. These refugees fled by boat into the South China sea where they faced drowning, dehydration, attacks by pirates, rape and murder. Many were picked up from rickety vessels and brought to the Philippines, Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, and Hong Kong where they spent months and years in refugee camps. At the time, the Vietnamese refugees were referred to as "boat people"  which some consider a racist term today.

The Tran family

The story in A Grain of Rice is based on Tran-Davies experience as a refugee from Vietnam.  Tran-Davies was born in December of 1973, just over a year before Saigon was overrun by the Viet Cong. Her father died during the war leaving her mother a widow with five children. To support her family, they moved to a small village where her mother worked as a seamstress. But they experienced famine and flooding, the latter meaning they had to live in the loft of their home, as Yen does in the novel. Life was so difficult, the future so dismal, that her mother decided to risk everything for a better life. 

Tran-Davies and her family were lucky, they survived the trip and ended up in a refugee camp in Malaysia. After eight months in the camp, Tran-Davies' mother's prayers were answered and they were sponsored by Canadians from Alberta. Tran-Davies was five years old when she arrived in Canada. Today Dr. Tran-Davies is a physician in Calmar, Alberta where she shares a family practice with her husband Dr. Grant Davies.

In A Grain of Rice, Yen and her family are nguoi hoa or ethnic Chinese and are not treated well. Yen's experiences reflect the corruption and fear that the Vietnamese people experienced daily under the Communist regime. When they first arrive in Ca Mau, Yen and Ma are accosted by officials who show disdain that they are nguoi hoa and force Ma into giving them money. Yen remembers a time years earlier when they had been stopped by uniformed officials on the river. "They had used their badges to stop us, then confiscated all our merchandise."  In the market at Ca Mau with Ma, they are warned when a "yellow-uniformed official" approaches. "Police officers. They're in cahoots with the northern army. They take everything from us and send it to their friends and families..." When they visit the fabric store run by Ma's friend, Thanh, Yen immediately notices how much has changed. "I could see that the walls, once lined with rolls and rolls of fabric coils in every colour, texture and pattern, were now virtually barren. No silk or satin. Only brown, white or black polyester and cotton."

Tran-Davies manages to capture all the terror and tragedy that Yen and her family and the other refugee's experience as they attempt to flee their country. Before they leave, Yen discovers Co Sau's body on the beach after the previous night's boat sank. Terrified and fully aware of the danger she faces, Yen refuses to leave. On their own journey they deal with rain, a violent sea, sea-sickness and long days trapped in the reeking hold of the boat. Their boat is attacked by pirates who rob them, murder several men and rape some of the young girls. Their boat sinks when the Malaysian Coast Guard arrives, not to rescue them, but to tow them out to sea. Yen's life and death struggle to survive the sinking fortunately ends well. And although the novel has a somewhat happy ending, readers will be left with many questions. What has become of Lam and Muoi? What will happen to Yen and her family in Malaysia?

A Grain of Rice is well written and will give younger readers a sense of what some refugees experience as they search for a place to live in freedom and safety. Novels such as these help create empathy for those less fortunate and provide an opportunity for younger readers to learn about other cultures, other countries and systems of government which do not offer citizens the freedoms that we enjoy in Canada. They also evoke empathy for the plight of refugees, who generally do not want to leave behind their lives and families, but for whom there is little choice left.

image credit: https://mcccanada.ca/stories/journey-refugee-sponsorship-nhung-tran-davies

Book Details:

A Grain of Rice by Nhung N. Tran-Davies
Vancouver: Tradewind Books    2018
167 pp.

Too Young to Escape by Van Ho and Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch

On May 19, 1981, four-year-old Van Ho awakens to find her mother, sisters gone, not unusual because they often left for work early. However, Van's six-year-old brother Tuan is also not at home and that is unusual. Only Van and her grandmother, Ba Ngoai still remain sleeping on the third floor of Van's aunt's house in Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon). Most of Van's relatives lost their businesses and homes in the communist takeover. Di and Bac took Van's family in after the Vietnam war ended and the communists took over. Van's father and her oldest sister Linh left a year earlier. Her father who was a translator for the Americans in Vietnam, was considered an enemy of the state and in great danger. So he fled taking Linh with him.

Di and Bac made their living by bartering on the street, making and selling rice sacks from their home. It was Van's responsibility to spin enough yarn every morning so that the weaver could make the fabric for the sacks. After finishing the spinning, Van's other chores before school included wiping down the dust from the spinning that coated the furniture.

At school Van notices that her sisters and brother are not in their respective lines for their classes. All through the day she wonders where her family has gone. When Van returns home that afternoon, Ba Ngoai reveals that her mother, sisters and brother have gone to be with Ba and Linh in Canada. Van is so shocked she refuses to believe Ba Ngoai at first and then wonders why she's been left behind.
"Why would Ma disappear without even saying good-bye? And why did she leave me? Maybe I had been a bad girl, and this was my punishment. But what had I done? I hadn't meant to be bad."

Van's aunt and grandmother attempt to assure her she is loved and a good daughter. They explain to her that the journey to escape Vietnam meant taking a boat and was extremely dangerous, especially for a child as young as Van. So she was left behind, with the hope that she and Ba Ngoai will someday also leave for Canada.

When the new school year begins in September, Van becomes friends with a new girl at her school named Trang. From her clothing it is obvious that Trang is very poor. But Van too is poor and unable to afford new clothing that she desperately needs. She is also bullied by Chie'n, who is the son of the local policeman. It is not long before Van and Ba Ngoai begin receiving boxes from Canada. Van's parents send them chocolates, new clothing and money. However, they must be careful not to draw the attention of the military police.

Although she dearly misses her family, Van learns to appreciate what she has; the love of her grandmother and aunt and uncle and her best friend Trang. And then one day, the time she has been waiting for arrives: Van and Ba Ngoai receive air line tickets to Toronto and special papers to enter Canada. For Van it is a time of both happiness at soon seeing her family she can hardly remember and sadness at leaving her best friend Trang and all that she has ever known.

Discussion

Many parents and grandparents of children reading this book will remember the large number of refugees from the communist regime of Vietnam in the late 1970's and early 1980's. Too Young To Escape is based on the true story of a Vietnamese family who came to Canada  during the 1980's. This children's novel grew out of an earlier book authored by Skrypuch, Adrift At Sea which told about Van's brother Tuan and his escape from Vietnam. As Skrypuch mentions in her Author's Note at the back, she would often get questions at school presentation of Adrift At Sea about what happened to Van. Did she ever make it to Canada? So Skrypuch approached Van Ho and asked her to consider telling her story. Together they worked on telling Van's story, as she attempted to recall as much as possible of this period of her life. Skrypuch mentions that many of Van's extended family lived with her aunt and uncle during this trying time. To avoid cluttering Van's story with too many secondary characters, these people were left out of the narrative, making it simpler for young readers. But the essence of the story remained, with a few details filled in.

Readers will be impressed by Van Ho's respectful kindness towards her Ba Ngoai and her obedience to her aunt and uncle who, at great risk, have taken in many family members. Van's fortitude in dealing with being left behind, and making the best of her situation are evident in her story.  But the authors also show that it was difficult for Van to come to terms with being left behind. This was especially evident when photographs began arrived from Canada of her family, happy and well settled.
"A photograph fell out of the envelope...It was a picture of my whole family -- except for me. Ma had a huge grin on her face, and she stood beside a man who had to be Ba. Lined up in front of them were Tuan, Lan, and Loan. An older girl was with them too. She had to be my oldest sister Linh. They were all smiling.
The photograph made me happy and angry all at once. I was relieved that my whole family was safe. But why did they look so pleased? Didn't they miss me? Did they even thing about me at all?.."
Van's narrative shows how difficult it became for her to eventually leave her homeland, but that this was overshadowed by her happiness at being reunited with her family.

Refugees boarding a small boat to escape Vietnam.

Within weeks of the fall of Saigon on April 30, 1975, Canada began accepting refugees. During the years of 1975 and 1976, Canada accepted 6,500 refugees. Meanwhile in Vietnam, the communists punished the South Vietnamese who had fought with the Americans against them. As Van's grandmother relates in Too Young To Escape, the communists stripped the South Vietnamese of their homes, businesses and property. They lost their jobs and were unable to attend university. Many former military and government officials were sent to "re-education camps" which were really prisons. As a result of this and the strained relationships between Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and China, many Vietnamese decided to flee the country. But there were refugees from other countries in southeast Asia as well.

According to the online Canadian Encyclopedia entry,"Over 1 million people departed Vietnam aboard unseaworthy makeshift vessels, hoping to reach international waters and be rescued there. But first they had to face huge risks — drowning, hunger, dehydration, attacks by pirates, sexual assaults and even murder. Some of the refugees who survived all these perils were then stuck for months in crowded refugee camps in Hong Kong, the Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia, while others remained confined to their vessels because no country would allow them to land." This led to the refugees being called "boat people", a term generally not used today.

At this time Canadian immigration had no category for refugees. However the new Immigration Act passed in 1976 established a new category of immigrants for refugees, allowing people to enter the country based on criteria that identified them as refugees and also allowed private Canadian citizens to sponsor refugees. By April 1980 Canada accepted 60,000 Indochina refugees and throughout the 1980's Canada would accept over 200,000 refugees from Southeast Asia.The vast majority of these refugees went on to become hard-working Canadians contributing to many sectors of Canadian society.

Those wishing to understand the backstory behind the events described in Too Young To Escape are encouraged to read the Canadian Encyclopedia entry "Canadian Response to the 'Boat People" Refugee Crisis"

The Canadian Museum of History also has some excellent resources on Vietnam, the Vietnam War and the Vietnamese Refugees.

Too Young To Escape is another excellent, well-written book by Canadian Ukrainian author Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch that brings to light recent history in a meaningful way for young Canadians. Readers will enjoy the short interviews with Van's mother and father and the colour family photo album at the back. A must-have book for schools, homeschoolers and anyone interested in portraying Canadian history in an engaging personal manner.

Book Details:
Too Young To Escape: A Vietnamese Girl Waits to be Reunited with Her Family by Van Ho and Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch
Toronto: Pajama Press   2018
142 pp.

Ru: a novel by Kim Thuy

"...My parents often remind my brothers and me that they won't have any money for us to inherit, but I think they've already passed on to us the wealth of their memories, allowing us to grasp the beauty of a flowering wisteria, the delicacy of a word, the power of wonder. Even more, they've given us feet for walking to our dreams, to infinity...."

Ru is autobiographical, a collection of stories based somewhat on  Kim Thuy's life; from a small child living in a well to do family in Saigon, to a refugee in a camp in Malaysia, to a new life in Canada. Told in the voice of Nguyen An Tinh, each page presents a memory from childhood or adulthood or a recounting of some event experienced by someone who touched the narrator's life.

Nguyen An Tinh tells the story of her family, from their life in Vietnam during the war, their escape on a boat to a refugee camp in Malaysia, and their new life in Granby, Quebec. Born in Saigon, during the Tet offensive, Nguyen's family was well off, living in a large home, until the Communists overran the southern half of the country, and came to occupy her family's home. The contents were inventoried and eventually removed. Nguyen's family escaped Vietnam on an overcrowded boat that landed in Malaysia, where they spent time in a refugee camp, awaiting immigration to a new life in Canada.

Some vignettes portray the realities of life in South Vietnam for a large family; the numbering of siblings and relations, the devotion and respect of the younger generation towards their elders, and the merging of Chinese and Vietnamese families.

Other memories reveal the horrors of the Vietnam war; both personal tragedies and the tragedies other Vietnamese experienced. There are the abandoned children of American GI's, the occupation of the family home by members of the Communist government; the heroics of neighbour Anh Phi and his mother, who found Nguyen's family's lost diamonds so they could pay their passage out of Vietnam.

Flashbacks reveal a childhood in Granby, Quebec where her mother sent her to a military garrison of cadets to master the English language, where a friend Johanne took her to movies, and where she and her family learned the ways of a different culture in a land made beautiful by never-before-seen snow.

Interposed with all of these are present reflections of Nguyen's life as the mother of two boys, Pascal and Henri and her struggle to cope with Henri's autism.

Ru juxtaposes past with present, moving seamlessly between the two, often linking the vignettes with a word or idea. The voice of Nguyen is muted but still manages to convey the horror of war, the dislocation and loss of a way of life, and the struggles to begin again in a strange new land.. In this way Ru is not just a telling of Kim Thuy's experiences but also has relevance to other "boat people" who escaped Vietnam.

Author Kim Thuy discusses Ru in this short interview:


Originally published in French and winner of the Governor General's Award, Ru is a poetic read that will stir the hearts of readers, especially those of us who remember the arrival of the "boat people" in our communities almost forty years ago.

Book Details:
Ru by Kim Thuy
Random House Canada       2009
141 pp.