Getting to know your neighbors

         The Montagnard Dega Association  is a non-profit organization formed in 1987 to assist Montagnard refugees resettle in the United States. The term Montagnard means "mountain people" in French and is a carryover from the French colonial period in Vietnam. Many of the first group of Montagnard refugees in the United States adopted the term Dega as their name instead of Montagnard because of the latter’s colonial associations. Dega comes from the Rhade language and refers to a creation myth in which the first two Montagnards were named De and Ga. As the indigenous peoples of the Central Highlands, the Montagnards are completely different in their culture and language from the mainstream Vietnamese.
         On last Tuesday April 5th, 2011, My degital media class had a skype conversation with two Montagnard Dega people. Kayinn and Kwol and they were answering questions that my class asked them, and that was a great learning expierence. What better way to find out about someones history then asking them questions personally. 

       My question to the Montagnard Dega people where why did they settle in North Carolina out of all places?
 answer: Most of us settled in North Carolina and by 2000 our population reached about 3,000. In 2002, the largest single group resettlement, 900, arrived in NC. Once again, these were mostly men without their families. Since then, Montagnards continue to be resettled as family members make their way here, families are reunited, and new refugees flee persecution by the Vietnamese government.
      Today, the Montagnard Dega population in the North Carolina is about 10,000. Most live in Raleigh, Greensboro, and Charlotte. Greensboro and the surrounding area, located between the two other cities, is a natural meeting place with the largest concentration of families and individuals.
    
          I think it will be interesting to see what they day in a life for the Montagnards would be like. Their hobbies their daily spiritual routines daily diet and things of that nature. excited to see where this journey leads me.