Somaly is a 16-year-old Cambodian girl who has lived with her mother on the west coast of Tasmania since she was a toddler. Somaly's mother was a nurse in post-Khmer Rouge Cambodia when she gave birth to Somaly. When Somaly's father is killed by a land mine, Somaly and her mother leave the country for Tasmania. Juxtaposed with Somaly's life in Tasmania is the life of Keo, a traumatised Cambodian who works as a hospital orderly on the Thai border. About the time Keo is informed that he'll finally be allowed to return to Cambodia, Somaly's mother in Tasmania finds out she has MS. She has yearned to return to her country and decides she must do it soon. So Keo from the Thai border, and Somaly and her mother from Tasmania, return to a war-ravaged country.
NCACL Cultural Diversity Database