My-Van Tran grew up in middle-class Saigon family and then left South Vietnam when she won scholarships to study overseas, first in the United States and then in Australia. Living in Canberra in 1975, she was separated from all of her family when Saigon finally fell to communist North Vietnamese forces. Exiled from a country that, in a real sense, no longer exists, My-Van supported many family members to join her in Australia. She continues to help other members of her extended family still living in Vietnam today.

Most of my suffering derives from the war and from the victory of the communists. My family lost everything….