This image shows five members of the Thongdy family on an 85 acre plot of land they plan to turn into a farm. The Thongdys were from Cambodia, but the brutal Khmer Rouge regime forced them to flee. The family hid in the jungles for several months before escaping to Thailand. They spent several years in a refugee camp in Thailand before making it to the United States. Part of the Thongdys’ difficulty in getting to the US was that their group of 52 wanted to immigrate together.

Eighteen months after the family arrived in the United States, they faced unemployment and the end of funding from the federal government. The Thongdys were lent this plot of land in Snohomish County by an anonymous landowner, who charged them no rent and agreed that the Thongdys would keep all income from crops and half the income from selling firewood in the first year. They planned to clear the land, sell firewood, and plant fruits and vegetables. Eventually, some family members planned to move onto the farm land. Pictured clockwise from front are: Deit Khamma (with axe), Davoth Un (with chainsaw), Lon Ramma, Bounchan Un, and Khamma Thongdy (with glasses).

Caption information source: “Cambodians dig into a dream,” by Rita Hibbard, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, April 13, 1982, page C1.
Caption information also derived from captions written by Post-Intelligencer staff and attached to the back of the photograph.