Let's get some publicity and aid for Vietnamese evacuees
One of the aspects of Hurricane Katrina that is not making big headlines is the large Vietnamese population which has been affected.
Laurence Simon has mentioned this several times on his blog, most recently yesterday when he highlighted a USA Today column:
In the early '80s, Vietnamese refugees started settling into enclaves around New Orleans, Biloxi and Mobile, attracted by the familiar humid climate and seeking to earn livings as fishermen and shrimpers. They learned English and passed citizenship requirements. They worked multiple jobs, put children through school and saved money to buy homes. They established businesses, temples and churches. According to the 2000 Census, more than 25,000 Vietnamese lived in Louisiana, nearly 6,000 in Mississippi and about 5,000 in Alabama. They considered these places home when Katrina destroyed everything.
One advantage in being a former refugee is understanding when help is needed. As news of Katrina's devastation spread, Vietnamese-Americans across the country rallied to contribute to relief efforts. With the help of Vietnamese-language radio stations, newspapers and religious organizations, they donated money, food, supplies and even their homes to evacuees.
About 15,000 Vietnamese have fled to Houston, but instead of heading to the Astrodome, many have sought refuge in Asian-American community centers, churches and temples, straining their resources. Thousands more are expected. There is concern the community might be trying to do too much on its own and that evacuees need government help.
The news media coverage and critique of Katrina response have largely been a black-and-white issue. But the recovery of the Vietnamese-Americans is important too, given their long history of displacement. Their experiences and successes should not be forgotten just because they need to be repeated.
And here's a Philadelphia Daily News story about one woman's efforts to help Vietnamese evacuees:
Word came last week to Au Huynh, a professional Vietnamese translator living in Grays Ferry.
"I thought since I was an interpreter I could help," Huynh said.
But Huynh quickly learned that the bureaucracy was too powerful despite her ambition.
[snip]
[Huynh] went to the hub of the relief efforts for the approximately 15,000 displaced Southeast Asian evacuees - a shopping mall 17 miles from the Astrodome.
Boat People's offices were on the second-floor of the shopping center.
"There are people sitting with all their belongings in a shopping cart," Huynh said, describing to this reporter in Philadelphia what she was seeing as she walked around the Hong Kong City Mall.
"The line here is insane," she said.
During the first few days after Katrina, Southeast Asian evacuees flocked to Houston because the city and its surrounding areas house more than 150,000 Vietnamese-Americans, a community leader said, making it one of the largest enclaves in the country.
Hong Kong City restaurants began to offer free food. Then strangers started dropping clothes, diapers and bottled water at the mall. Yesterday, a Houston councilman's office said a lawyer and a psychologist were at the mall offering their services for free.
But only a handful of Vietnamese evacuees are getting help.
"We are serving the same amount of people held in the Astrodome but with no services," Huynh said.
Before the hurricane, about 30,000 Vietnamese-Americans were living in Louisiana, 5,000 in Mississippi and 5,000 in Alabama. It is estimated that about half of them went to Houston.
As of yesterday afternoon, Huynh said she still had not seen workers from the Red Cross or the Federal Emergency Management Agency at the mall aiding the evacuees who pass through its doors daily.
She was so frustrated that she drove to a Baptist church where Red Cross workers were helping evacuees and demanded to speak with a supervisor. Huynh said the woman refused to see her.
She also sought help from a friend, Jim Kenkelen, in Philadelphia, a Center City stock trader. Kenkelen said he went to the Red Cross office on Chestnut Street near 22nd Tuesday and told several employees about the problems Huynh was seeing in Houston.
"I was just asking them to make a call" to Texas, he said. "I felt shut out."
When this reporter called the press offices of the two agencies, workers said they would notify the officials in Houston about the lack of support at Hong Kong City.
But Huynh's obstacles to help the evacuees never stopped.
Local reporting on the plight of Vietnamese evacuees has been underwhelming to say the least. Local media could make a difference here so this large group of evacuees can get some help.
We would encourage anyone helping Vietnamese evacuees to post in our forum, about how Houston-area residents can help, or send us an email at bloggers@blogHOUSTON.net. Also, if anyone is interested in a blog being set up for the Vietnamese-evacuee community, please contact Laurence Simon (who has offered to make this happen, including setup and hosting) at laurence@isfullofcrap.com.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 09/17/05 08:30 AM | Hurricane Stuff | Print | Comments (3)
Previous Entry | Home | Next Entry
ADVERTISING
DISCLAIMER
All content © 2004-09, blogHOUSTON and the respective authors.
blogHOUSTON.net is powered by Nucleus.
Site design and Nucleus customization are by Kevin Whited.