Pa Lee was born in a village called Khang Kay. She got married and had two children in Longcheng, living under a cruel communist regime for 14 years. Pa Lee’s family feared retribution from the Viet Cong because her husband had worked with the U.S. military, so they decided it would be safer to live in the jungle, poor and hungry, but at least away from the Viet Cong. They lived this solitary life of fear and poverty for six years before Pa Lee’s husband was shot by the Viet Cong, so she chose to take their children to Thailand. It was a long and difficult journey, but they were successful. Pa Lee remarried, had a humble house, and survived on foraging, but they had to leave when Pa Lee’s second husband was killed by the Viet Cong. She now had three children to take care of as the family fled west, crossing treacherous rivers and being shot at by soldiers. Pa Lee and her children survived the jungle and the war; they made it to a refugee camp in Thailand, where they were finally taken care of and kept safe until the Viet Cong pressed in. When she resettled in Green Bay, Wisconsin, in the 1980s-90s, her encounter with artist Sandra Shackelford changed both of their lives. 

Her story continues in A Portrait of Grief and Courage: Hmong Oral Histories and Folktales, documented and photographed by Sandra Shackelford, translated by May Lee Lor, transcribed by Ma Lee Lor.

A Portrait of Grief and Courage: Hmong Oral Histories and Folktales, by Sandra Shackelford, with translations by May Lee Lor and transcriptions by Ma Lee Lor, is now on sale. Click this link for purchase and pick up information.