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| okha and Matthew Yos, middle, befriended Loch Kull, right, about a year ago through Facebook. The Buddhist monk is now their adopted godson. |
shawneedispatch.com
It’s now been decades since Matthew and Sokha Yos called Cambodia home.
But the couple still clearly recall the poverty and starvation they suffered in the 1970s under the brutal Khmer Rouge regime that ultimately caused millions of deaths.
“My heart cannot forget,” Sokha said last week in between assisting customers with their donut selections at Yos Donuts, 7170 Renner Road, the western Shawnee business she and her husband own and operate.
So the trip the two recently took back to Cambodia was more than just about seeing anew the country they both fled as refugees years ago. As Matthew said, “It’s time to give back.”
Though the Khmer Rouge no longer terrorizes Cambodia, poverty and homelessness are still very much a way of life for many of the Southeast Asian nation's citizens. And Matthew and Sokha know well what that’s like. In Cambodia, the two lived in the same city and knew each other. They lost touch, however, after the Khmer Rouge came to power in 1975, by and large turning the country into a brutal labor camp. Both Matthew and Sokha made their escapes separately in 1979.
“When I left the country, it was chaos. No food, nothing. We were starving,” Matthew recalled. “Our family walked through jungle, cross the border to Thailand, through the minefield and all that. And we stay in a refugee camp in Thailand for two years.”
Matthew immigrated to the United States in 1981. He and Sokha later reconnected and got married, having two children, Amanda and Anthony, who are now young adults.
But the Yos’ years and lives in the states haven’t diminished those early memories, nor their desire to help those in Cambodia who are suffering today.
“It’s so heartbreaking,” Matthew said. “Some of the kids, they die in the street because they go hungry.”
In trying to lessen that burden in any way they could, the couple spent two weeks in late December and early January, donating and handing out a stockpile of clothing, money, food, medicine, blankets, even mobile devices to the men, women and children they came across on their visit. It was a journey of giving the couple had been preparing for since about the time they opened their donut shop 13 years ago, Matthew said. Over the years, they saved up what funds they could. By frequently hitting store sales, they gathered clothing and shoes. Through a growing regular clientele base, word got out to others of the Yos’ plans, with a total donation of $1,700 coming in from members of two area churches — one in Olathe and Good Shepherd Catholic Church in Shawnee.
The Yos ultimately raised more than $7,000 and were able to donate six suitcases full of clothing, blankets, medicine and other items to the poor in Cambodia. Sokha also made up dried meat to take along, because “over there, they’re so poor they … couldn’t afford to buy meat,” Matthew said. A handful of tablets and laptops were part of the donation spread, too, as well as four shopping carts full of food the Yos purchased after their arrival.
Many of the donations, Matthew said, were simply made by driving through town and stopping and handing out envelopes of money or other items whenever they saw someone in need along the streets — a common sight in Cambodia, Matthew said. But contributions were also made by the Yos to members of the Cambodian Army, as well as a 20-year-old Buddhist monk named Loch Kull whom Matthew befriended about a year ago through Facebook. A Buddhist himself as a youth in Cambodia, Matthew has since converted to Christianity. But despite their differences in faith, Matthew and Sokha developed such a strong bond with Kull, whose family is poor, that they ultimately adopted him as their godson.
“I told him that we have different beliefs, but I care about you, I want to help you,” said Matthew, adding that getting the chance to finally meet Kull in person was another big incentive to take the trip to Cambodia.
Making the journey even more meaningful for the Yos was having their daughter, Amanda, who lives in Chicago, accompany them on the trip for her first visit to her parents’ homeland.
“I want her to see her roots, because she was born (in the states),” Matthew said.
Though they’ve been back at home and to business as usual at Yos Donuts for a couple of months, Matthew and Sokha still talk excitedly about their experiences giving back in Cambodia. And they are already saving for a return trip, probably to be made years from now when they retire, Matthew said — though, all financial practicalities aside, Sokha would be ready to return yesterday.
“I want to go back right away,” she said with a wide smile. “It’s fun.”
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