Our mother, Mang Lee, was born in Pa Kay, Xiangkhouang province in Laos in 1968. Her father’s name was Fa Yia Lee and mother’s name was Mai Youa Vang. Unfortunately, our grandmother died from labor complications after giving birth to mom. Our grandfather, a soldier in the Secret War, died from an unknown health issue when mom was a toddler. She was later separated from her only sibling, her brother. Mom was initially cared for by grandmother’s relatives. Shortly afterwards, grandfather’s relatives adopted her. Mom did not stay long with her Lee family as she was taken away by the Colonel who grandfather served under during the Secret War. The Colonel later sold mom to the Thao clan. 

 

Our mom met our dad, Xao Long Vang, when she was 15 years old and dad was 19 years old in 1983. Hmong people usually marry outside of their villages in Laos. After two days of getting to know each other, mom left with dad to his village called Cong Thua where they got married. Mom gave birth to our first sibling in 1984, and continued giving life to the rest of our 6 siblings every two years after that.  

 

In the years following the end of the Vietnam War in 1975, communist soldiers began murdering Hmong people for our alliance with the United States. Our family fled to Thailand for safety. Mom told us she had to give opium to our oldest two siblings during the dangerous journey of crossing the Mekong River,  which separates Thailand from Laos. Parents were forced to drug their children with opium to make their children sleep or become drowsy so they would not make any noises in the dark night. Communist soldiers patrolled the shore and shot down refugees who attempted to escape to Thailand. Fortunately, our family crossed the river safely and found asylum in the Thailand refugee camps. 

 

Our family lived in Ban Vinai Refugee Camp for 6 months then Chiang Kham Refugee Camp for 4 years. Mom gave birth to two more children in the refugee camps. Our family later spent one year in the Phanat Nikhom district, where the refugee processing center was located. Our family went through a tedious immigration process that started with the successful petition made by our grandpa Vang Xang Vang to bring our family over to the US. In 1992, our family arrived in Fresno, CA. Mom gave birth to three more children in the US, making us a total of 7 children. Mom was never reunited with her brother; he passed away a few years after our family came to the US. 

 

Mom stayed home and took care of her children for a long time. After some time, she decided to seek out work. In 2000, mom started working at the Foster Farms in Fresno, CA, a poultry factory. She was hustling, putting food on the table and ensuring her kids would have a home while still cooking for our dad and making her own meals for work. Mom worked at Foster Farms for a little over 20 years and was only making slightly over minimum wage when she contracted COVID-19 on the job. The factory had an outbreak of the virus in early December 2020 but continued to remain open.

 

On December 8th, 2020, after a few days of minor symptoms, mom tested positive for COVID-19. On December 14th, 2020 our family rushed our mom to the emergency department because she had difficulty breathing. On December 28th, 2020 mom was intubated. Unfortunately, on January 18th, 2021, our mom passed away due to complications from COVID-19. Mom was only 52 years old.   

 

While our family is grieving the death of our mother, we are angry and confused. We wonder if Foster Farms did enough to protect our mom from contracting such a deadly virus. Why did they allow overtime when it increased the duration of exposure for employees? Were workers provided with adequate personal protective equipment, and did the company have protocols in place to ensure workers were being safe? Were there any attempts to decrease the number of workers per shift to reduce the risk of transmission? 

 

While there are many unanswered questions, we know this much is true - our mother’s story is shared by many refugee and immigrant parents. They work hard to provide for their families, raise children who may break the chain of poverty for an entire generation to come while taking care of our nation’s needs. Our mom was an essential worker, not just providing for our family, but for all families that bought Foster Farms products. It is the poor and marginalized that are disproportionately affected by and dying from Covid. 

 

We will remember our mother for her many humbling qualities. Her love for her children and talent as a Hmong mother manifested in the abundance of Hmong clothes she made for her children. She loved her family deeply. She was known to be a great cook by many in our clan. It was always a feast every time one of our siblings came to visit home from out of town. She had magical hands and could grow vegetables anywhere there was soil. Her voice was distinct - it was naturally loud which made her voice powerful, and when she spoke, she spoke with conviction. Her laughter was always genuine. Our mom was a hardworking person who put 100% effort into what she did. Mom was such a giving person. She always said her greatest gift to us is one another. 

 

Although mom was an orphan at such a young age, she defied the odds and made a life for herself. We are extremely proud of our mom. While her death is tragic, our mother will continue to live on in us, in every act of love, courage, and justice.

 

We love you, mom.

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May you go in peace, mom.

 

Our mother is survived by her husband, 7 children, and one granddaughter. 

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If you would like to help us honor our mom, here are some ways to do so: 

• Wear a mask! Wash your hands! Stay home! 

• Demand that poultry workers and animals are treated with respect! Currently there is not an existing petition targeted at Foster Farms. If the largest poultry producer Tyson Foods implements policies and practices that respect their workers and animals, we hope that smaller poultry producers like Foster Farms will follow suit. To add your support for this advocacy effort, please sign the following petition: https://www.change.org/p/tyson-stop-neglecting-workers-animals-and-public-health 

• For resources to help and advocate for the protection of all essential workers, visit the National Employment Law Project at https://www.nelp.org/publication/worker-safety-health-during-covid-19-pandemic-rights-resources/ 

• Donations will be used to support our family during the grieving process and purchase sanitizing products (masks, gloves, wipes, and hand sanitizers) to ensure guests are safe during our mom’s funeral. A large portion of the donations will be used for our mom’s Hmong traditional funeral.  

  • For GoFundMe click on this link: https://www.gofundme.com/f/celebrationoflifemanglee

  • If you like to avoid donation cuts, use Venmo or PayPal. Please look for a profile picture of a purple hibiscus flower for both accounts.

    • Venmo: @mang21 

    • PayPal: @be1le5

 

Thank you for taking your time to honor our mom. May you and your family stay safe.

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