Jacky Kasheta

In 1949, my grandmother, great grandmother, and great great grandmother all traveled to Hong Kong. They only planned to stay for a few days, but during their stay, the Chinese Communist Revolution happened, and they were unable to go back home. They only brought enough supplies for a few days, but they ended up staying for a few years. They had very little money, causing them to live in poverty. In 1953, there was a huge fire in Tiu Keng Leng, destroying their shelter, leaving them on the streets. Fortunately, they were able to get in contact with their relatives, and they lived with them for a few months after. Because of the communist revolution, their family was separated, leaving them broken. Fortunately, their life turned around and they moved to Taiwan in 1954 where my grandma eventually got married and lived a mostly stress free life.

In the beginning of the Chinese Civil War, my great-grandfather graduated from Kuomintang’s military academy and fought for them until 1949, when they were defeated by the Chinese Communist Party. After their defeat, the Kuomintang fled to Taiwan, so my great-grandfather as well as my grandfather and his siblings went with them too. Moving to Taiwan was a relief to my grandfather because he felt much safer there than in China. At that time, almost everyone was in poverty due to the state of the war, so naturally, my grandfather’s situation was the same. After this point, he remained in Taiwan until he married my grandmother in 1972. After their marriage, they moved to Singapore where they lived for 13 years. A major difficulty in moving to Singapore for my grandfather were the cultural differences. Fortunately, he soon overcame them and lived peacefully for 13 years before moving back to Taiwan.

My mother, as a deaf immigrant, has experienced many difficulties when she moved to the U.S. from Singapore. An obstacle overcome while in Singapore was the lack of resources for the hard of hearing. She had to attend public schools which only catered to the hearing, so she had a very hard time learning. A major difficulty my mother endured was the isolation she experienced because she was unable to hear. In her junior year of high school in 1989, she moved to the United States. Moving to a big country from a small island, she definitely experienced a lot of culture shock. For school, she attended Mission San Jose High School, and was provided with an interpreter. By not going to a deaf school, she was once again isolated and only had her interpreter as a friend. Despite the fact that the School for the Deaf in Fremont was nearby, her parents felt as if a public school was better for her. Fortunately, she now works at the School for the Deaf and is a part of the deaf community, where she has many close friends.