Success stories - Closing the Circle

September 2008

Florence was only a small child when her family fled Vietnam in 1979, but the memories of that sometimes harrowing journey are vivid. Crowded into a small boat, the family spent four days on the South China Sea.

“We were attacked by pirates three times,” says Florence. “I was too young to know exactly what was happening or to understand the danger, but I do remember the feeling that something very serious was happening, that something was not right.”

Plucked from the sea by Malaysian authorities, Florence, her sister, mother and father spent the next six months in a crowded refugee camp with thousands of others who’d taken the same chance on freedom.

Eventually, Florence and her family met with a Canadian immigration official, who left a lasting impression.

“He was the first Caucasian person I had ever seen,” she says.

Florence recalls the feelings more than the actual events. “There were medical examinations, the dentist, interviews. I remember feeling the seriousness of the situation,” she says. “I could tell my parents were very concerned, very worried.”

Florence also remembers her father being very upset when the immigration officials said that the refugee family would be going to Québec City — a place of which he’d never heard.

“He begged for us to be allowed to go to Toronto or Montréal,” Florence says, laughing. “He said, ‘I cannot have my family living in an igloo. We must have electricity.’ ”

Once the matter of electricity was cleared up, the family went to Québec City.

“Our first home was very simple, and not in a very good part of the city,” says Florence. “But the people who lived in the neighbourhood, even though they had little themselves, were so generous, so welcoming.”

“The man who lived next door to us built me a little toy car from wood. I will never forget that little toy car.”

Today, Florence, a graduate of Laval University, works in Ottawa with Foreign Affairs and International Trade.

“I always wanted to be in public service of some kind,” she says. “I felt this was the best way to thank Canada and Canadians for taking us in, for giving us a new and better life—by working to make Canada even better.”

Florence is also deeply grateful to her parents.

“I realize now how difficult and what a struggle it was for them,” she says. “They did such extraordinary things for my sister and me to give us a better life.”

In January of 2008, Florence and her sister travelled to Vietnam.

“After all that time I spent as a child feeling sort of disconnected, to be back in the country where I was born, standing in front of the embassy of my new country—it’s hard to describe the feeling: strange and wonderful at the same time.”

Florence hopes that some day she will be able to work for Canada in another country, perhaps even in Vietnam.

“It’s such a thriving, vibrant place,” she says. “I believe our two countries have a great deal to offer one another, and I would love to play a part in bringing us closer together. It would be like closing the circle for me.”

Read more Protecting Refugees stories.