2 Khmerican Sisters

It is bittersweet to announce that we are officially ending our podcast. We are grateful for the opportunity to spread our voices and messages on this platform and create a community on our podcast and Instagram where we could connect with other amazing Khmer/Khmer American individuals and teach non-Khmer people about our stories, cultures, families, and struggles. We want to thank anyone who has ever listened to our podcast, shared an episode, interacted with us on social media, guest appeared with us, and supported us along our journey these past two years. It’s truly special that we’ll have these recordings to live on forever for new listeners and future generations within and outside of our family! Let us know what your favorite episode(s) were and please leave us a review on Apple Podcast. This has been the 2 Khmerican Sisters Podcast. We encourage you to use your voice to tell your stories and ask questions with loved ones and strangers to engage in deeper conversations. 💕

The burning question we have been wanting to ask ourselves is: what will be our legacy? It’s quite sad to think about but also enlightening due to the fact that we get to dig deep about the meaning of our lives. Reflecting and discussing this important topic helps us uncover our true north - our purpose - and how we each want to be remembered one day! Thank you for following our life journeys so far; we hope this helps you think about the marks that you want to leave in the world.

More teachers of color are needed in America. In this episode, we recount our experiences as students growing up through the school system where we did not have many or any teachers who looked like us and came from similar backgrounds. With schools becoming more diverse and teaching staff remaining predominantly white women, we discuss the benefits of schools having more teachers of color and how to best retain them in this crucial profession. We also discuss the challenges of becoming an educator and the qualities all educators should have nowadays to be anti-racist and advocates for social justice & racial equity. Thank you to our friend, Laura Houcque Prabhakar, who is a teacher of 10 years and shares some insights around being an educator of color and the importance of teaching about AAPI communities for our younger generations.

Ba takes us back to the late 1960s-1970s to share what it was like growing up in the rice fields to hiding in his classroom from bombs and missile attacks during the Vietnam War at only 5 years old, and witnessing the horrific events that took place when the Khmer Rouge Communist Party took over Cambodia. He had lost many family members, including his own father (who was a General for the former Government) in the killing fields. It was also not an easy process for him to talk about his mother, who had to care for 5 kids as a widow. Ba has had a very hard life, and this was the first time for him to share his story with us and with the world. Thank you for listening.

Putsata Reang, seasoned journalist and author, is releasing an honest and beautifully written memoir “Ma & Me” on May 17th, 2022 that explores her family’s journey of escaping Cambodia by boat from the Khmer Rouge Genocide in the 1970's to adjusting to their new lives in the U.S. Putsata grapples with her identities and relationships growing up as Khmer American, gay, a woman and a child of refugees. In our conversation, Putsata touches upon topics such as what she uncovered about herself and her family, advice for those who are caught in-between who they are and what others want them to be, and her thoughts around how we can maintain our culture and language away from our family's country of origin. We felt a deep connection with her experiences, as our Khmer family also faced unimaginable trauma, loss, and financial troubles which permeated into intergenerational trauma, shaping the way we were raised and how we view the world.

What’s the emotional toll of frequent moves during childhood & teenhood? For us, moving to a different school meant that we needed to embrace the unknown and adapt to our new situation fairly quickly. In leaving our established lives behind, we sometimes lost connections with our old friends whom we had seen regularly before. In order to survive as a new kid in town, we had to figure out how to fit in, make new friends, and integrate into the new school culture and system. It wasn’t easy to embrace change, but it gave us the ability to have a growth mindset and to persevere through tough and uncomfortable situations.

Who rescued who? This episode is dedicated to Amumu, Mellissa's 6-year old rescue dog from the Seattle Humane Society. We talk about the importance of rescuing animals who need their furever homes rather than supporting breeders. Rescues have gone through trauma so they just require a little more love, time, and patience. In the end, it's ALL worth it.

As Millennials, we grew up during the explosion of the internet aka the DotCom Bubble and, in a way, we were able to experience the best of both worlds. We recalled our childhood memories of playing outside and coming up with creative games to experimenting with xanga and myspace during our teen years. Our lives have changed drastically as technology continues to advance. 

Life is unpredictable and fleeting. Losing someone you love and care about is a difficult and major life transition. At some point in our lives, loss is something we will all have to face. In this episode, we will talk about our experiences dealing with loss, how it has influenced our perspectives on life, and how we have been able to move forward with peace and acceptance.

As 2nd generation Khmer-Americans, we deal with intense pressures and expectations to do well academically and professionally to honor our family's sacrifices and make them proud. We were taught to put others before ourselves, follow the status quo, work hard to survive, and internalize our behaviors and emotions. Tough love, tiger parenting, whatever you may call it… has impacted us in a number of different ways. In this episode, we share more about our learnings and how we would approach parenting if we were to start a family one day.