Bataan Philippine Refugee Processing Center

" PRPC, located in the mountains of Bataan, was about a 3-hour bus ride from Manila. The PRPC opened in 1980 and closed around 1995. I worked there from 1984 to 1988. More than 400,000 Indochinese refugees (Vietnamese, Khmer, Lao, ethnic Chinese, and some other minority groups) passed through its gates. Almost all of them had already been accepted for resettlement in the U.S., and almost all of them had already spent months and years in first asylum camps in the Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand, Hong Kong, and Indonesia. During their stay in the PRPC, the refugees underwent final processing, health screenings, and studied English and U.S. culture. Most of the photos in this album were taken on one day...the day before I left. They're not the most beautiful, and they don't include ceremonies or friends' faces. I took the photos to remember the look of the camp. What the photos can't express is what the PRPC felt like...the amazing mix of languages, backgrounds, and cultures, the old hatreds and loyalties, the night sounds from the forest, the steam rising from the earth after a sudden downpour, the sound of students repeating an English phrase, the sound of prayers from a temple at sunset..."
~Gaylord Barr~

WE ARE HAPPY TO SHARE ALL OF THE PHOTOS PRESENTED HERE. HOWEVER, IF YOU DO RE-POST ANY OF THEM, PLEASE GIVE US CREDIT.

Saturday, February 11, 2012

Pictures of Bataan PRPC by Gaylord Barr (17)

81. In a Neighborhood

Đường đi giửa những dãy nhà

82. Attending Sunday mass

Đi lễ Chủ Nhật.

83. Lizard meat was a delicacy to some of the refugees. This one had been caught in the nearby forest.

Kỳ đà là món ăn ngon. Con kỳ đà này đang được rao bán cho dân tị nạn

84. Mormon Service Center, PRPC

Văn phòng và nhà thờ của đạo Mormon

85. A tombstone for Mrs Maria Nguyen thi Thanh Thuy at PRPC cemetery, called neighborhood 11 among the refugees

Mộ của cô Maria Nguyễn thị Thanh Thúy tại nghỉa địa PRPC mà dân tị nạn gọi là vùng 11

86.Charcoal was sold by local Filipinos to the refugees. Here some is being dried.

Dân tị nạn xài than củi để nấu nướng

87. Inside the Cambodian Temple

Bên trong một chùa người Khmer