The 15-member Saechao family, shown here, arrived in Seattle in early 1983. They had fled from the Vietnamese army in Laos in 1975, leaving the Mien village where they were prosperous farmers, to walk for 15 days to Thailand. The family spent six years in Thai camps before being sponsored to come to Burien, Washington. There, the large family lived in two adjacent apartments. The adults studied English at Highline Community College while the younger chilldren attended school and the older children worked. The family patriarch, Fou Tong Saechao, was an accomplished musician and played several traditional Mien instruments.

The Saechao family was photographed at their apartment in Burien and are identified as: Front row, left to right: Choy Fuey, 11; Ta Chan, 10; Kao Than, 2; Choy Chio, 9; Man Tong, 5; Meuy Chieng, 9; and Muang Tong, 7. Back row: Choy Chieng, 27; Choy Wong, 13; Choy Orn, 16; Choy Chong, 22; Fou Tong, the father, 56; Feuy Chieng, the mother, 49; and Fahm Tong. Daughter Than Tong was at work and is not pictured.

Caption information source: "The big refugee family that won't give in to hard times" by Mary Rothschild, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, June 18, 1983, p. C1