News & Observer | newsobserver.com | No Ordinary Day: 2005

October 12, 2005 Takaaki Iwabu [/assets/story/image_buynow.comp]
H’Dung R’mah, 5, a newly arrived Montagnard refugee, waits Monday for classmates to guide her to the right lunch table on her first day of kindergarten at Reedy Creek Elementary School in Cary. She has never attended school and does not speak English. H’Dung (pronounced Yung) and her mother arrived in the United States on Oct. 29 and reunited with their family for the first time in four years. Her father, Nap Siu, fled Vietnam in 2001 to escape government persecution of the Montagnards, ethnic minorities who live in the central highlands of South Vietnam. The family now lives in Cary. Pam Prather, a volunteer with Lutheran Family Services in the Carolinas, said support for Montagnards and other immigrants is slower now because resources have been stretched thin since the Gulf Coast hurricanes.
About This Project


Takaaki Iwabu
"No Ordinary Day" is a visual diary of the events, both large and small, that serve as milestones in people's lives. It debuted on March 24, 2002 and concluded on Aug. 29, 2007. We hope you continue to enjoy looking at our archive of “No Ordinary Day” images.


Travis Long
The column is a celebration of the struggles, triumphs and tears we experience as we travel from birth to death. Our goal was to document moments in time that might otherwise be missed; sometimes it's the tiniest incident in one's life that has the most profound effect. When on assignment for the column, we looked for that one photo that tells a whole story. Some are the result of a found moment we came across on our daily assignments or our daily existence. For others, we thought of a specific event, like a first haircut or last dance, and sought out a subject who might illustrate the idea.

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