Yani Rose Keo oral history interview and transcript

This recording and transcript form part of a collection of oral history interviews conducted by the Chao Center for Asian Studies at Rice University. This collection includes audio recordings and transcripts of interviews with Asian Americans native to or living in Houston.Yani Rose Keo was born in Phenom Penh, Cambodia on April 10, 1939. With her husband, Mr. Saroth Keo, the couple raised four children. However, in April 1975, when the Khmer Rouge continued their expansion across the country, she fled along with her children, eventually settling in Paris, France. Mrs. Keo believed her husband dead until learning of his presence in the United States, prompting her to move once again to Houston, Texas. After working as a writer and as a HISD teacher, Mrs. Keo eventually co-founded the Alliance for Multicultural Community affairs in July, 1985. She currently serves as the Executive Director of the organization