A Sense of Community

I asked Van during the interview, of all the possible names, why Mekong Market and without hesitance, she responded "my husband actually came up with the name. It represented our [Southeast Asians] history and it connected us. We are all apart of the experience and were all affected by the war." I later realized, the market represented more than the superficial obvious. The market serves at an architectural destination for first generation as well as second generation refugees. For those of us who have been displaced from Southeast Asia, the market embodies the necessity of that environment however with contemporary venues: a place where the elders could congregate as well as ridicule one's inability to speak its native tongue, a place of multi-generational activities where mixed political and social views can be shared while purchasing pho noodle and tri-colored tapioca, a place that ties one to Southeast Asia with photos and maps of villages and camps, but most importantly, a space for faces that resemble oneself and family members.

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