From Left to Right: Ambassador Sichan Siv, Anna Mallett, Martha Pattillo-Siv

The Vietnam Archive is pleased to announce that on September 14, 2010 Mrs. Martha Pattillo-Siv participated in its Oral History Project and was interviewed by Ann Mallett, Vietnamese American Heritage Archivist.

Martha Lee Pattillo was born and raised in Pampa, TX. Her parents, both educators, helped instill in her a lifelong love of languages, reading, education, libraries, and helping others. These lifelong loves have been a constant and binding thread throughout her life.

During her career she worked at the Atlantic Institute in Paris, France (1972-74), UNESCO in Bangkok, Thailand (1974-76), various agencies of the U.N. (1977-89), and the World Bank (1989-2006). While working for UNESCO in Bangkok she visited Thai refugee camps. Upon seeing the conditions of the camps, she helped provide the refugee women with an income by buying their handmade goods and then selling them outside the camps at no profit for herself. In 1988 she formed the South China Seas Company to help impoverished, displaced women sell their textiles. In 2000 Mrs. Pattillo-Siv became the Vice-President of Friends of Khmer Culture. In 2005 she became a member of the Board of Directors of Teachers Across Borders, Inc.

Martha Pattillo-Siv resides in San Antonio with her husband, Ambassador Sichan Siv, former U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. They met when Siv was a new immigrant from Cambodia, where his entire family had been killed by the Khmer Rouge, and have been married since 1983.

Listen to the Complete interview here