Katharine Payson Senior Project

Today I interviewed my two friends, Mai and Tola. They are both 18 years old and adopted from Cambodia. I started out with basic questions such, what do you want to do for college, do you have any hobbies, where are you from? But then I asked some harder questions; I asked them questions like what their stories of adoption are and what struggles they face from being adopted. It was interesting to me that Mai and Tola both knew their entire birth story because I, myself do not know much about my birth family. All I know was my birth mother died and gave me to the neighbors to give to the neighbor. I don’t even know their names. I asked Mai if she would ever want to go back and meet them. And she spoke very passionately about going back and reconnecting with her family. Personally, I don’t know if I’d want that. I don’t feel the need to meet my birth father, but I would like to know his name and where he is. It was interesting that Mai and Tola seemed so intrigued in learning more about

Today I went to the Cambodian Mutual Assistance Association (CMAA) in Lowell, MA with my dad. This nonprofit aids Cambodian Americans. CMAA can help them with anything from renewing their green card to teaching young kids how to play a traditional Cambodian drum. We were warmly greeted, when we stepped into the building. We had a solid tour and met many smiling faces. I had the pleasure to meet the executive director, Sovanna Pouv. We sat down and he told me a little bit about his story about growing up in America as an immigrant after the Cambodian Regime. I also talked to two young women who were raised in cambodia and migrated to America. Afterwards, I interviewed my friend Vanny. She is seventeen years old. She was born in cambodia and she was adopted and raised in America. It was great to see an old friend and I got some interesting answers that you all can see when you come see me at expressfest! Hours: 8

Today I did some research on the Cambodian Mutual Assistance Association (CMAA). It is a nonprofit in Lowell, MA designed to support Cambodian Americans through culture, education, and social and economic programs. Lowell has the second highest Cambodian population in America, behind Long Beach, California. They even call part of the town “Cambodia Town”. This worked out perfectly for me because living in Manchester I am only half an hour away from Lowell. I plan to go to Cambodia Town tomorrow and interview a few families and people for my project. I made a set of questions for them and I am excited to see how they respond tomorrow! Hours: 4

Today I read a book called,  How Not to Start an Orphanage by Tara Winkler. It is about about a young woman and her journey to founding a nonprofit for Cambodian orphans. I was compelled to read this book because I am very interested in learning about Cambodian orphans and adoption. I have always been in support of adoption (mainly because I am adopted myself) and thought this book looked interesting and strange. So I bought it and read it. It opened my mind and gave me new ideas and angles. It was an easy read and it was full of great content for my project. I also created a set of questions for a couple Cambodian families I am going to interview in Lowell, MA on Wednesday. Hours: 4