Youth Program Director Phalen Lim Speaks at CBP-LAX for API Heritage Month

*All credit goes to CBP-LAX

CBP-LAX Celebrates Asian-Pacific American Heritage (06/14/2012)

“On May 31, CBP staff at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) commemorated Asian Pacific American Heritage Month with guest speaker, Ms. Phalen Lim, Youth Director of The Cambodian Family and 2009 recipient of the California Peace Prize sponsored by the California Wellness Foundation.

CBP-LAX Diversity & Inclusion Committee (DIC) with guest speaker:
(L-R) Section Chief Anthony Owens, Ms. Phalen Lim, CBPOs Mary Gonzalez, Debbie Fifer, and Ivan Eustaquio.

LAX Port Director Todd Hoffman welcomed attendees and thanked the LAX Diversity & Inclusion Committee. The Honor Guard presented the American flag, and the Pledge of Allegiance was recited, followed by the reading, by CBPO Ivan Eustaquio, of the Proclamation from President Barack Obama acknowledging the myriad contributions made by Americans of Asian and Pacific Islander heritage.

Ms. Lim shared poignant facts about her life journey. She spoke of her family’s hardships during the reign of Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge, vividly portrayed in the book and motion picture, “The Killing Field.” Between 1975 and 1979, Cambodians were terrorized by their tyrannical rule, with the most highly educated executed first, followed by professionals and teachers. Her husband’s father was among those who went “missing” permanently; presumed dead. Others were moved from the capital, Phnom Penh to the country, where they were forced to work in the fields 10 hours each day.

When the cruel regime was crushed by the Vietnamese army, Ms. Lim’s family decided to make their way to the U.S., a year and a half odyssey through refugee camps in Thailand and Singapore. Her entire family’s survival was an anomaly. She immigrated as an eight-year-old Cambodian refugee and was assisted by The Cambodian Family where she later volunteered, and then became Youth Director, after graduating college.

For the past 20 years, Ms. Lim has worked as a teacher and youth counselor for at-risk children of Cambodian immigrants, attempting to recruit them into positive programs before gangs get a chance. She described her “background and experience” as her “driving force and strength.” She believes in leading by example, and said she accepted the Peace Prize “for all those I serve.”

The Cambodian Family agency aims to help immigrant families adjust and assimilate. While Ms. Lim exclaims “the U.S. is heaven for us,” many refugees feel out of place. She said children immigrants have embraced the American culture; they have different goals and values than their parents’, some of whom remain uncomfortable with the differences and have never adapted.

She tries to convince the kids who struggle with identity issues that they are not poor and that they have enormous opportunities if they stay in school and away from the gangs. The Cambodian Family offers career counseling and health instruction as well.

Ms. Lim credits her years of service in the non-profit Cambodian-American community organization, as following her “passion,” instead of seeking a more lucrative career. Her closing advice: “Let your passion lead you.””