Family that fled Khmer Rouge regime 3 decades ago reunites with Manitoba sponsors

"Hi, Mrs. Bennett!"

Three words. Three simple words in a voice from the past. And just like that, Marge Bennett was reunited with a family from Cambodia that she helped to sponsor to Canada more than three decades ago.

"It's incredible, this is amazing," Bennett said after her surprise reunion with Hong Chau on Information Radio Monday morning.

"All those memories are flooding back now."

Hong Chau was just two when he, his parents Chuong and Linh, grandparents and siblings arrived in Toronto, Ontario from Cambodia.

They were among the more than 200,000 people that Canada allowed into the country as war-affected refugees, fleeing from the Khmer Rouge's residual damage and the bloody so-called "killing fields."

But it was Marge and Dave Bennett, along with members from two church congregations, who helped them restart their lives in a small Ontario community.

"To think it was 35 years ago that we were driving that family to a prepared house from the Toronto airport," Bennett said. "I remember [Hong] bumping around in the van, while the baby slept and his mom and I talked together. Just incredible."

Theirs is a connection that she described as mutually beneficial.

She, with the "team" of sponsors, did what's expected of private sponsors: They spent a full year helping them with everything from housing to health care.

"It was daily and nightly, we worked in shifts," Bennett recalled. "We were there for them all the time. We became friends."

They also marvelled at the new family's ability to adapt.

"We were all amazed at how hard they worked and became independent," she said. "They wanted so much to work, to support themselves. They were wonderful, really."

Which is why, despite the fact that the Bennetts moved away and lost touch with the Chaus, they were often in their thoughts.

"We always wondered how they were doing, whatever became of them," she said from her Steinbach, Manitoba home.

"We were sure they'd done well for themselves, but we didn't really know."

Until now. When the CBC tracked down the Chaus in Cambridge, Ontario and reunited both families on radio, when Hong Chau greeted her like the old friend she is.

"Hi, Mrs. Bennett, how are you?" Chau said — a long-awaited greeting that was "incredible," Bennett said later.

"Honestly, this is awesome."

It's a sentiment echoed by Hong, who got to share the joyous updates of his family's Canadian milestones.

His grandmother, whom Bennett helped to sponsor, just turned 100. His mother and father? Longtime homeowners, retired and happily enjoying their own new role as grandparents. As for his sibling: All working, all with families and all of them grateful, Chau says, for the "opportunities" the Bennetts gave them.

"I just like to thank her for everything her family and the church has done for us," Chau said.

"I was talking to my mom last night and she was really appreciative and remembers everything that you've done for us. The opportunities for me and my family have been tremendous."

It's also a reflection of the mutual benefits of both sponsoring refugees into Canada, and giving them the support to not only survive, but thrive here.

"It feels wonderful to know they've done well," Bennett said, after both made plans to reunite them with Chau's parents.

"This is why we should give refuge to others."