Faraj, Part I: Saigon to Sana'a
Kerning Cultures
Kerning Cultures Network
4.9 • 529 Ratings
🗓️ 1 December 2018
⏱️ 19 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
The little-known, intertwining of history between Yemen and Vietnam, told through the lens of a single family. Part one of a story told in two parts.
Thank you to Faraj and his family for being so open and warm with us despite us poking around in their family history. To Adam Sjoberg who directed the film Shake The Dust that features Faraj and other amazing breakdancers from around the world. And to all the Yemeni scholars and researchers who helped us unpack some of the complex history, especially Najwa Adra, Hasan Al Ansi, and Jon Swanson.
Part I was produced by Dana Ballout and Alex Atack, with editorial support from Hebah Fisher. Sound design by Alex Atack. Kerning Cultures is a Kerning Cultures Network production.
Support this podcast on Patreon for as little as $1 a month.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | I was born raised in Sana'yemen, the capital of Yemen. |
| 0:06.0 | Thriving city, lots of traffic, lots of cars. |
| 0:09.0 | It was a very busy scene. |
| 0:12.0 | I come from a mixed background where mom was born raised in Vietnam. |
| 0:16.0 | So she grew up closer to her Vietnamese route than anything. |
| 0:20.0 | So it was brought up as a Yemeni Vietnamese, which is pretty hard to come back. |
| 0:24.6 | Do you know any other Yemeni Vietnamese? |
| 0:28.6 | Yes, there is actually a, so all the Vietnamese that migrated out of Vietnam, |
| 0:35.6 | they were captive in a camp. |
| 0:41.2 | It was lived there and all that, but they're all, like, you know, just restrained in there. |
| 0:45.0 | After a while, the camp was taken over by military coup. |
| 0:45.9 | They spread out. |
| 0:47.9 | But all those families kept in touch with each other. |
| 0:51.1 | So we do know a bunch of other Vietnamese Yemeni families. |
| 0:52.9 | We need to back up. |
| 0:54.3 | What? |
| 0:59.2 | Can you tell me, like, in more detail? |
| 1:07.6 | Hey, everyone, this is Dana. I'm a producer at Kernan Cultures. I'll be taking over from Hibba for this episode. This story will be told in two chapters. This is chapter |
| 1:12.1 | 1. All of it begins and ends with one person, 24-year-old Farage al-Badani, who you just heard. |
| 1:19.7 | He is a Yemeni Vietnamese living in California. And when I first met Farage, I thought, |
| 1:25.6 | whoa, that's a cool mix. A Yemeni married a Vietnamese in Yemen, they had kids. |
| 1:30.3 | Interesting, not a mix I've heard of before, but it's not insane, right? |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Kerning Cultures Network, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of Kerning Cultures Network and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.