Meet Sokho Eath, NYP Volunteer & Committee Member

Sokho Eath, (far left) Photo credit (Eastpdxnews.com)

My name is Sokho Eath and I am Cambodian-American. I was born in Portland, Oregon and have lived on throughout the metro area, Oregon coast, and Willamette Valley. I work with the Cambodian community through the Cambodian-American Community of Oregon (CACO), and have served as President since 2015. CACO has been a close partner with New Year in the Park since the first year of the celebration. 

New Year in the Park is significant to our community because of the cross community, multigenerational effort to put on one of the most important holidays in Southeast Asian culture for all of the Portland area.

I first started attending New Year in the Park committee meetings, and quickly became a part of the organizing team. As a part of a generation born here in the United States, I feel that this major community event is a time where we respect the culture and heritage of our families to celebrating, learning, and growing together what it means to be Southeast Asian American. So often, our identities and cultures are overshadowed. But on this day, we are able to showcase our community efforts to preserve, empower, and unite our community together. The energy, the food, the culture, the music and dance - all of this is what makes our cultures unique and exciting to share with pride to everyone around us.

Much of our culture, heritage, and knowledge of our own language, is sometimes lost among young people when we grow up here. Working together, with our elders, we’re able to help keep our cultural heritage alive. It’s all about keeping a sense of community; coming together to represent our cultures and preserve our heritage. I think this one of the most important parts of this celebration.
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Join us for our 5th year. New Year In The Park will be held on April 27th, 2019 at Glenhaven Park in Northeast Portland. We hope to see you all there!

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