Kwol Ksa, Montagnard Cook

Kwol demonstrating to an American dad how to use the baby blanket.

We have been friends with Kwol Ksa for about three years. Through her eyes we saw how refugees adjust to Piedmont life, how they obtained jobs, the work conditions they faced, what they told their kids about America, how they dealt with the health system, schools, rent, bills, and why preserving culture and language was so important to them, even as they, like herself, struggled to learn English and keep their families safe.

When she and her family brought in smoked ants and fresh river snails for us to try during ESOL class, we knew had a special friend. As a Montagnard Koho woman, she came to the North Carolina in 1992 to escape violence and war that continued long after America left Vietnam in 1975. Like many Montagnards here, she suffers from an abundance of talent, knowledge, and life experience for which there are few jobs. We were very eager to get Kwol connected to Table 16 because we thought her food knowledge would be appreciated.