Living the stories of refugees
Understanding those who arrive in Minn. fleeing war

Photo by Deb Gau Sambath Ouk, facilitator of an exercise simulating Cambodian refugees’ experiences, asked several participants to stand up during part of the simulation. The participants asked to stand represented part of the Cambodian population who were executed while the Khmer Rouge was in power in the 1970s. Factors like having “soft hands,” wearing eyeglasses, or being religious were all used to target people, Ouk explained.
MARSHALL — It started partly as a way to remember and share his family’s story, Sambath Ouk said.
But the discussions and activities Ouk led an audience through on Monday were also meant to help people understand the experiences of refugees who come to Minnesota fleeing war.
“I hope to challenge people to deeper discussions and understanding,” Ouk said.
Ouk, the director of Equity and Inclusion for Prior Lake-Savage Area Schools, was the keynote speaker at this week’s Cultures on the Prairie conference. The conference, held Monday and Tuesday at Southwest Minnesota State University, featured a variety of speakers and talks about issues facing the different cultures living in southwest Minnesota.
But things also got started with a more hands-on experience as Ouk led a simulation of the experiences of refugees who fled the “Killing Fields” of Cambodia in the 1970s and ’80s.
“Participants will have a profile they are sorted into,” Ouk explained.
As the exercise went on, participants learned what happened to the person whose profile they were assigned.
“Not all of you will make it out,” Ouk warned the audience.
Ouk’s own family survived the Killing Fields, and immigrated to the U.S. in 1982. Ouk grew up in the Rochester area, which is now home to a community of Cambodian refugees.
He said he began interviewing survivors and working on the simulation exercise about 11 years ago to help connect young people with their families’ history.
“It’s a story I felt should not be forgotten,” Ouk said.
Monday’s simulation showed participants three different parts of the experiences of Cambodian refugees who settled in Rochester. In the first part of the simulation, participants were each given the role and life story of a Cambodian person during the brutal Khmer Rouge regime in the 1970s.
“The profiles and the scenarios you get to do today happened to someone,” Ouk told participants.
About 1.7 million people — a quarter of Cambodia’s population — died under Khmer Rouge rule, Ouk said. Many people were killed or tortured, including people who were educated, people who were religious, and people accused of having ties to foreigners. Children were safer during that time, but they were indoctrinated by the regime, he said. The Killing Fields era was ended when Vietnam invaded Cambodia in the Third Indochina War.
As participants went through the simulation, they also learned what happened to their assigned person, and whether they survived.
In the second part of the simulation, participants broken up into groups and took on the roles of family members choosing to flee their homeland. Groups were given only a short time to make decisions affecting the survival of their family members, like deciding who would be able to make the dangerous journey on foot to a refugee camp.
The last part of the simulation would look at the experiences and struggles of refugees as they adjusted to life in a new country, Ouk said.
Participants in the simulation said it helped them connect with the stories of the people they were learning about.
“I think it really puts us in their shoes, as well as we can be,” said participant Marissa Brown.
“I think he made me feel the story a little bit more,” said Rene Martinez. “It would be shocking to live through something like that. I think he’s doing a good job explaining.”