Sambo Meas

Sam (Sambo) Meas was born in Cambodia, Kandal Province, sometime between 1970 and 1972. As a result of the civil war and the genocidal regime of the Khmer Rouge that drove Cambodia back into the Stone Age, all institutions and birth and death records were destroyed. The United States Immigration and Naturalization record lists December 31, 1972, as his official date of birth, but Sam could actually be two years younger or older. In 1983, Sam and his oldest cousin escaped the war zone along the Cambodia-Thai border and made their way to Kao I Dang refugee camp inside Thailand. After several months of living in the camp, Sam’s cousin left Sam in the camp alone, went back to Cambodia, and never returned.