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Where We Live

Yehyun Kim’s ‘A Diaspora in Focus’ puts a lens on Connecticut residents with Asian roots

By Katie Pellico,
Catherine Shen
Published January 29, 2024 at 8:22 AM EST
Jennifer Heikkila Díaz laughs while holding their child, Gabriela Mi-Ja Díaz, then 6, at home. As an activist-in-residence at the Asian and Asian American Studies Institute at the University of Connecticut, Jennifer has worked with public school teachers across Connecticut in the past two years to develop resources for AAPI studies in their classes.
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Jennifer Heikkila Díaz laughs while holding their child, Gabriela Mi-Ja Díaz, then 6, at home. As an activist-in-residence at the Asian and Asian American Studies Institute at the University of Connecticut, Jennifer has worked with public school teachers across Connecticut in the past two years to develop resources for AAPI studies in their classes.
Yehyun Kim / Ct Mirror
ennifer Heikkila Díaz, far left, and their family have a dinner to celebrate the sixth birthday of their child, Gabriela Mi-Ja Díaz, center.
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ennifer Heikkila Díaz, far left, and their family have a dinner to celebrate the sixth birthday of their child, Gabriela Mi-Ja Díaz, center.
Yehyun Kim / Ct Mirror
Magdalena Yoon-Jae Diaz, then 9, picks up tonkatsu with a Pororo Kids Training Chopsticks. The chopsticks with a South Korean animation series are designed for children to practice using the utensils.
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Magdalena Yoon-Jae Diaz, then 9, picks up tonkatsu with a Pororo Kids Training Chopsticks. The chopsticks with a South Korean animation series are designed for children to practice using the utensils.
Yehyun Kim / Ct Mirror
Sachiyo Langlois, 49, lives in Marlborough and was born in Kumamoto, Japan. She is the founder and owner of Kooma Massage Therapy in Glastonbury. One thing Langlois loves about living in Connecticut: Riding a mountain bike with her husband. “When you ride a bicycle on the trail, you have to focus on things in front of you, right? To me, that's a very intuitive meditation.”
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Sachiyo Langlois, 49, lives in Marlborough and was born in Kumamoto, Japan. She is the founder and owner of Kooma Massage Therapy in Glastonbury. One thing Langlois loves about living in Connecticut: Riding a mountain bike with her husband. “When you ride a bicycle on the trail, you have to focus on things in front of you, right? To me, that's a very intuitive meditation.”
Yehyun Kim / Ct Mirror
Sachiyo Langlois puts a pin on Japan, where she is from, at a naturalization ceremony in Mystic on June 14, 2022. "Because I am Japanese or Asian, they like to give me Asian things," Langlois said of people in general. "No, no, no, I like American things," she said, laughing.
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Sachiyo Langlois puts a pin on Japan, where she is from, at a naturalization ceremony in Mystic on June 14, 2022. "Because I am Japanese or Asian, they like to give me Asian things," Langlois said of people in general. "No, no, no, I like American things," she said, laughing.
Yehyun Kim / Ct Mirror
Dari Jigjidsuren lives in Middletown, Ct., was born in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia and works as Assistant Director of International Student Engagement at Wesleyan University. Having lived in Mississippi before moving to Connecticut this year, she appreciates the diversity of Connecticut. “I feel like I'm in a better place, feeling like I belong to the state.” Walking on Main Street in Middletown, she finds a range of restaurants from Tibetan and Vietnamese to Ethiopian and Italian food. “Wow, there must be somebody from Tibet really, to open the Tibetan restaurant,” Jigjidsuren thought.
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Dari Jigjidsuren lives in Middletown, Ct., was born in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia and works as Assistant Director of International Student Engagement at Wesleyan University. Having lived in Mississippi before moving to Connecticut this year, she appreciates the diversity of Connecticut. “I feel like I'm in a better place, feeling like I belong to the state.” Walking on Main Street in Middletown, she finds a range of restaurants from Tibetan and Vietnamese to Ethiopian and Italian food. “Wow, there must be somebody from Tibet really, to open the Tibetan restaurant,” Jigjidsuren thought.
Yehyun Kim / Ct Mirror
Dari Jigjidsuren and her son, Bryson Tsogt-Erdene, 17, head to a library in Wethersfield. "I'm feeling like I belong here," Jigjidsuren said of Connecticut, to where she recently moved.
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Dari Jigjidsuren and her son, Bryson Tsogt-Erdene, 17, head to a library in Wethersfield. "I'm feeling like I belong here," Jigjidsuren said of Connecticut, to where she recently moved.
Yehyun Kim / Ct Mirror
Dari Jigjidsuren looks for books about knitting, one of her hobbies these days. She learned knitting when she was about 6 years old while she went to school with Russian children in Mongolia.
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Dari Jigjidsuren looks for books about knitting, one of her hobbies these days. She learned knitting when she was about 6 years old while she went to school with Russian children in Mongolia.
Yehyun Kim / Ct Mirror
Attorney General William Tong's mother, Nancy Tong, waves after William gave a celebration speech at Dunkin' Park in Hartford after his election in November 2022. "Because of this great state, our wonderful neighbors, our friends, our family, we've made a long trip from Park Street, a long trip from a hot Chinese restaurant kitchen to the attorney general's office," he said. "It is my honor as your attorney general to help make us stronger."
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Attorney General William Tong's mother, Nancy Tong, waves after William gave a celebration speech at Dunkin' Park in Hartford after his election in November 2022. "Because of this great state, our wonderful neighbors, our friends, our family, we've made a long trip from Park Street, a long trip from a hot Chinese restaurant kitchen to the attorney general's office," he said. "It is my honor as your attorney general to help make us stronger."
Yehyun Kim / Ct Mirror
Attorney General William Tong, left, walks with his wife, Elizabeth Hotchkiss Tong, towards the stage to celebrate his reelection in 2022. Tong is the first Chinese American to be elected attorney general nationwide.
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Attorney General William Tong, left, walks with his wife, Elizabeth Hotchkiss Tong, towards the stage to celebrate his reelection in 2022. Tong is the first Chinese American to be elected attorney general nationwide.
Yehyun Kim / Ct Mirror
Catherine Shen, the host of Connecticut Public’s morning talk show and podcast Where We Live, gets ready for her show.
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Catherine Shen, the host of Connecticut Public’s morning talk show and podcast Where We Live, gets ready for her show.
Yehyun Kim / Ct Mirror
Catherine Shen hangs out at home, texting a friend, reading a book and practicing Mandarin handwriting.
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Catherine Shen hangs out at home, texting a friend, reading a book and practicing Mandarin handwriting.
Yehyun Kim / Ct Mirror
Arunan Arulampalam starts with volunteers visiting Hartford residents door to door. Arulampalarm, CEO of the Hartford Land Bank, is running for Hartford mayor.
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Arunan Arulampalam starts with volunteers visiting Hartford residents door to door. Arulampalarm, CEO of the Hartford Land Bank, is running for Hartford mayor.
Yehyun Kim/Yehyun Kim / 30268382A
Arunan Arulampalam jokes around with his son, Dayanand, 8, in the morning as his family gets ready for the day. His kids have a Tamil name and call him "appa," the Tamil word for ‘father.'
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Arunan Arulampalam jokes around with his son, Dayanand, 8, in the morning as his family gets ready for the day. His kids have a Tamil name and call him "appa," the Tamil word for ‘father.'
Yehyun Kim / Ct Mirror
Parvez Bandi sets up a pop-up cricket goal post at the Parvez Cricket Field in East Hartford. Bandi grew up playing cricket with his father and brother in India, where cricket is one of the most popular sports.
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Parvez Bandi sets up a pop-up cricket goal post at the Parvez Cricket Field in East Hartford. Bandi grew up playing cricket with his father and brother in India, where cricket is one of the most popular sports.
Yehyun Kim/Yehyun Kim
Parvez Bandi watches and coaches younger cricket players. The team practices every week and joins a tournament with other cricket teams in Connecticut.
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Parvez Bandi watches and coaches younger cricket players. The team practices every week and joins a tournament with other cricket teams in Connecticut.
Yehyun Kim/Yehyun Kim
Parvez Bandi chats with his friends while watching a live cricket game in Windsor. ÒMy peace of mind comes when I'm on the field. I let go of everything in life, whatever happened a few hours ago,Ó Bandi said.
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Parvez Bandi chats with his friends while watching a live cricket game in Windsor. ÒMy peace of mind comes when I'm on the field. I let go of everything in life, whatever happened a few hours ago,Ó Bandi said.
Yehyun Kim/Yehyun Kim
Chandani Khatri Chhetri, Ramess KC, center, and Mana KC spend time together at the rose garden in the Elizabeth Park in West Hartford. Chandani's parents visited the U.S. for the first time and said they were surprised at how clean and spacious everything is.
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Chandani Khatri Chhetri, Ramess KC, center, and Mana KC spend time together at the rose garden in the Elizabeth Park in West Hartford. Chandani's parents visited the U.S. for the first time and said they were surprised at how clean and spacious everything is.
Yehyun Kim/Yehyun Kim / 30268382A
Chandani Khatri Chhetri distributes Nepali and American flags to the Nepal day participants. Chandani is one of 50,000 people who won the lottery that grants green cards a year to people from countries with traditionally low rates of immigration to the U.S.
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Chandani Khatri Chhetri distributes Nepali and American flags to the Nepal day participants. Chandani is one of 50,000 people who won the lottery that grants green cards a year to people from countries with traditionally low rates of immigration to the U.S.
Yehyun Kim/Yehyun Kim / 30268382A
Kamran Kami stocks up products at his market. ÒI was working all the time,Ó Kami said. ÒGod gave me money, but what for?Ó
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Kamran Kami stocks up products at his market. ÒI was working all the time,Ó Kami said. ÒGod gave me money, but what for?Ó
Yehyun Kim/Yehyun Kim
Dany Khan, left, greets her friend, Cheav Peak, after the lunch at the Cambodian Buddhist Society of Connecticut in Bristol on Aug. 14, 2022. Ever since Khan moved from Cambodia to Connecticut late 2019, she has actively volunteered at the Buddhist temple and became closer to the Cambodian community.
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Dany Khan, left, greets her friend, Cheav Peak, after the lunch at the Cambodian Buddhist Society of Connecticut in Bristol on Aug. 14, 2022. Ever since Khan moved from Cambodia to Connecticut late 2019, she has actively volunteered at the Buddhist temple and became closer to the Cambodian community.
Yehyun Kim/Yehyun Kim
Dany Khan, left, prays at the fundraising event at the Cambodian Buddhist Society of Connecticut in Bristol on Aug. 14, 2022. Khan also introduced monks to other temple members before the pray.
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Dany Khan, left, prays at the fundraising event at the Cambodian Buddhist Society of Connecticut in Bristol on Aug. 14, 2022. Khan also introduced monks to other temple members before the pray.
Yehyun Kim/Yehyun Kim

This hour, photo and video journalist Yehyun Kim joins us to discuss A Diaspora in Focus, a three-part project she launched for the Connecticut Mirror in 2023. The project was in response to landmark legislation passed in the state that will require public schools to offer Asian American and Pacific Islander, or AAPI, history.

Yehyun interviewed and photographed one resident from each of the 21 Asian ethnicities as defined by the U.S. Census Bureau, and this included our very own Catherine Shen. This hour, she joins us to discuss this moving series for the Connecticut Mirror.

As Yehyun explained, "It would be impossible for any single project to capture the totality of the Asian American experience in the state. But, when woven together, the lives of the people represented here provide a glimpse into the richness and diversity of Connecticut’s Asian residents."

Jenny Heikkila Díaz, or JHD, also joins us, to discuss their role in the photo project, as well as the state's AAPI curriculum development.

GUESTS:

  • Yehyun Kim: Freelance Photo and Video Journalist
  • Jennifer Heikkila Díaz (JHD): Professional Development Coordinator, Connecticut Council for the Social Studies; Activist-in-Residence, UConn Asian and Asian American Studies Institute; Co-Chair, Asian Pacific American Coalition of CT; Co-Founder, aapiNHV; Steering Committee Member, Anti-Racist Teaching & Learning Collective

Where We Live is available as a podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, TuneIn, Listen Notes, or wherever you get your podcasts. Subscribe and never miss an episode.

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Katie Pellico
Katie is a producer for Connecticut Public Radio's news-talk show 'Where We Live.' She has previously worked for CNN and News 8-WTNH.
See stories by Katie Pellico
Catherine Shen
Catherine is the Host of Connecticut Public’s morning talk show and podcast, Where We Live. Catherine and the WWL team focus on going beyond the headlines to bring in meaningful conversations that put Connecticut in context.
See stories by Catherine Shen