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Three children on a deserted island

Carina Hoang and her siblings thought they were heading to a refugee camp, but ended up stranded on a beach in the middle of the South China Sea, fighting to survive.

In 1979, a teenage Carina Hoang and her siblings boarded a rickety boat with other refugees fleeing Vietnam after the end of the war. They thought they were heading to a refugee camp but, when their boat was turned away from Malaysia, they found themselves stranded on an uninhabited island in the South China Sea. They awaited rescue while more and more boatloads of people filled up the beach. Sleeping out in the rain and fighting off starvation and disease, Carina knew that she had to stay alive to keep her younger siblings safe, but holding onto hope proved almost impossible. (1/2)

Dr Carina Hoang's聽book is called Boat People: Personal Stories from the Vietnamese Exodus 1975-1996.

Presented by Emily Webb
Produced by Mariana Des Forges

Picture: A tropical island in a brewing storm
Credit: Liu Nian, Getty Images

Available now

27 minutes

Last on

Mon 4 May 2020 00:32GMT

Broadcasts

  • Sat 2 May 2020 21:32GMT
  • Sun 3 May 2020 08:32GMT
  • Sun 3 May 2020 09:32GMT
  • Mon 4 May 2020 00:32GMT

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Podcast: Lives Less Ordinary

Podcast: Lives Less Ordinary

Step into someone else鈥檚 life and expect the unexpected