Metal Guigoz milk can. The can belonged to Nguyen Duc Trach, who was imprisoned in a re-education prison camp for ten years until 1988 in conditions of extreme hunger. Produced in the Netherlands, Guigoz powdered milk was a common dietary staple for children of civil servants, military personnel, and affluent families before 1975. Several prison camp inmates would keep these cans and use them to secretly cook insects and other critters to supplement their meals. Nguyen Duc Trach used this can to secretly boil water and make extra meals to avoid starvation.
During his ten years of imprisonment, he attempted to escape or commit suicide multiple times, and after his release he also made several unsuccessful attempts to flee Vietnam by boat between 1988 and 1990. He was eventually resettled to the US in 1990 through Orderly Departure Program (ODP), and went on to become a poet.
