Sam's story is just one of many. It illustrates some of the common difficulties immigrants and refugees face when coming to Australia. Nguyen Dinh Duc, known as Sam Nguyen, was born in Hue, the cultural capital of Vietnam in 1961. He is the seventh of 14 children.
Samuel James Newton Nguyen
When Sam was 14 he escaped Vietnam with two of his brothers, his sister-in-law, two nieces and two friends. They fled on a barge his brothers had bought from a village 14 kms from their hometown. They set off down the Mekong River with enough water and food for the two day trip to reach Thailand. It wasn't long before trouble struck the escapees. They were only four hours into their journey when the barge's engine broke down and as there weren't any tools to fix it, they could not restart the engine. They drifted on the barge for 15 days down the Mekong River before they saw land. As the barge was propelled towards the land by the tide, all the passengers climbed onto the roof. The barge was tossed around from all sides and then suddenly broke into pieces. Sam was thrown into the water.
"I was being pushed in and out of the beach by the waves, but I wasn't fearful. Just as I had given up all hope of survival, a nail sticking out from part of the roof of the boat dug into my wrist and floated me onto the beach. We were all so tired and were staggering around. That's when we discovered that my brother and niece were missing."
The boat had been washed up on a beach called Ban Nge Nge in the southern part of Thailand near the border of Malaysia. Sam still feels a lot of grief about the loss of one of his brothers and niece, particularly as their bodies were never found.
The weary group were taken to Song Khla Refugee Camp about 100kms from the coast where they were washed up.
Sam eventually arrived in Australia where he faced dislocation from family and his home country. He also encountered problems with language and his new, unfamiliar surroundings.
Despite this, Sam completed his HSC and went on to University where he received his Bachelor of Community Social Services. He now works in Canterbury as a Community Youth Worker. He serves on the Canterbury Hospital Multicultural Advisory Board and is an active member of the Vietnamese Australian Prisoner Association. Sam is also a migration consultant, a marriage celebrant and runs martial arts classes for local children.
