Kao's Birth Family
Kao was born into a High Lao family. His mother
became very ill and was unable to care for him, so his
older sister cared for him until she was afraid he would
die.
He was adopted by a Mien family and had to flee Laos 3
years later at the end of the Vietnam war. He lived in a
refugee camp in Thailand until he was given citizenship
in the United States at the age of 18 and moved to
California with his wife and two children.
This was the first time he had seen his Lao family since
he had left as a 6-month old infant.
