Vietnam native coming to Medicine Hat to share extraordinary story
From fleeing Vietnam in 1980 and settling in Brooks, to extraordinary accomplishments in extreme athletics, it is an inspirational story and one you can hear first-hand in Medicine Hat.
Linh Huynh will be speaking at Chinook Village’s Terrace Room March 27 at 6:15 p.m. and everyone is welcome to attend.
Huynh will use a powerpoint presentation to tell her personal story of leaving Vietnam with her family and arriving in Canada as “boat people” and settling in Brooks.
She has pursued unconventional goals in athletics and is one of very few women to complete the 4Deserts Grand Slam.
After the end of the Vietnam War, about a million people were prepared to risk everything for a safer place to stay. Many used tiny boats on the ocean as a means of escape, leading to the term “boat people.” Some lived in refugee camps for years.
Between 1975 and 1976, about 5,600 Vietnamese immigrants arrived in Canada. By 1985 there were tens of thousands more. Many could not speak English or French, making settlement that much harder.
The second youngest in a family of eight children, Huynh says she is incredibly grateful for the opportunity to “grow and flourish in such a great country.”
There is no charge to attend the event of Monday and hear Huynh’s story.