Nammi Le

Nammi Le was born in Saigon, Viet Nam and at three months old, she, her parents and older brother left their home-land by boat. Her father had secretly converted a fishing boat to sea-worthiness to enable them to escape along with other family members and some local villagers. On the voyage, the tiny and leaky fishing boat was boarded by pirates who confiscated all valuables from the passengers. One item that one pirate tried to take away was Nammi's older brother. After much pleading from Nammi's mother to the pirates' 'captain', the year-old boy was returned to his family. Eventually, the boat completed its journey on a Malaysian beach, where locals helped the passengers burn the boat to ensure the coast guard could not tow them back out to sea. After several months in a detention camp, the whole family flew to Sydney where they have lived ever since.