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Let me provide some personal background before
reaching the substance of article as well as my requests for your
readers.
My name is Luong Thi Gia Hoa Ryan. I am a daughter of my First
Motherland, Viet Nam. I was the oldest of 12 children. I have four
brothers and seven sisters. My Mother was from the South of Viet
Nam. My Father was from the North just outside Ha Noi. I was born in
the South and grew up in the center of Viet Nam. So I call “all”
Viet Nam as my home. My father named me after the small town where
he was born, namely, “Gia Hoa.” My father gave me so much wisdom
through his sayings. For example, he said, “When you eat the fruit,
remember who planted it.” Another time, he told us children, “When
you are drinking the water, never forgetwhere it’s coming from.”
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My parents were always very generous, especially to people in need,
which included many people who had to go to the South. My parents
would provide the poor with food, and assistance, and even a little
money, despite the fact that we were not that rich. We children also
learned about the value of hard work. When I was only eight years
old, Ilearned how to have a “business.” My neighbor’s son helped me.
I went to the train station early in the morning to sell bakery
which we had made.Later on I continued to make foods and sell these.
Of course, all the money went to our Mother who carefully managed
household finances and always seemed able to set aside some
emergency money.
As the oldest child, I of course helped with all the others. My Mom
always had anew baby each year to take care of. So I became the
“mom” for the others. I always helped them with their school
lessons. In fact, if I remember correctly, I even had to do my
brother’s homework. He got the credit, I got the headaches as well
as knowledge to carry through my life.
In school our family also had to learn how to take care of
ourselves. I remember there were these two other kids—a brother and
sister-- who always were harassing, threatening, and hitting us.
They did this because we were of the north. They would laugh and
make fun of us. So one afternoon, my brother Van and I followed
them. Van said we need to teach them a lesson. We ran along one side
of the train station building and waited until they came along the
other side. Then we jumped out and surprised them. We taught them a
“a physical lesson” and they never bothered us again
These are thus some of the seeds my parents planted that blossomed
into wondrous fruit. Let mealso tell about the water I have drunk.
My parents gave us a good model for taking care of children. She
taught us life’s lessons from the beginning. As the oldest of
twelve, it is my duty to be a second mother to all my brothers and
sisters, and my nieces and nephews. I teach them to stand tall, talk
straight, and above all to respect yourself, your heritage, your
family, all our elders, and your country. My father too had his
words of wisdom that we children learned well.
So why do I recount all these early childhood experiences Because
these lessons helped all of us later, including the virtue of
working hard, respecting our elders, and preserving their wisdom. It
is these values which I have tried to remember and apply in life,
which includes all the jobs and positions I have held, the
businesses I owned and managed, and the charitable work carried out
by the Foundation I established which is called, “The Friendship
Foundation of American-Vietnamese.” My parents had taught us how we
should always help others, especially those in great need, including
from poor rural areas. These are also the values I want our youth to
learn, especially through the Vietnamese Cultural garden we are
creating on Dr. Martin Luther King Boulevard near Cleveland’s
magnificent Art Museum. These lessons it is especially appropriate
to recognize now as we celebrate the Twenty-Fifth anniversary of the
Friendship Foundation. Let me discuss my early encounters with
employment. Already I mentioned how I worked from when I was very
young to earn money. I was now only sixteen years old. Other young
women at this age were already married and had children. But I
wanted to obtain a full-time job with the Americans who had come to
Viet Nam in the mid 1960’s. Many Vietnamese were seeking such
employment. I told my parents, “I want to apply for these jobs.” I
talked to a girl friend of mine who told me how to apply. I bravely
walked across the park and into an Officers’ Club in the city of Nha
Trang during the non-business hours. Here I was, only 16, and not
that old looking, although I was tall for a Vietnamese individual.
I walked past the guard and asked for whoever was in charge. I was
told to sit down and wait. I waited for half an hour until the
lady-in-charge lady came back from the market.
“You want a job?” she asked.
“Yes,” I replied.
“What kind?” she asked, her eyes questioning my capability. “There
were only two jobs available: housemaid or bar tending.”
“Maybe bar tending.”
One older sergeant just looked at me and appeared negative toward my
request. But a young NCO said, “Oh, sergeant, give her a chance.”
“She has to learn all about tending bar and learn the drinks,” the
older one explained, “and what about speaking English?”
“Let’s see,” said the younger one. He placed several beverages on
the bar top. He mixed up some beer and pop. Then he told me, “This
is Coke, this is orange, this is RC cola, and cream soda. This is
Pabst beer, this is Budweiser beer. This is Hamm’s. ”
Then he waited a minute. He played the part of a customer and asked
me to identify each beverage as he held it up. I called off each one
correctly.
“See?”he told his partner NCO, “she can remember what she learns.”
Little did he know that I may not have known that much English then,
but I could read the labels on the beverages.
“Okay,” said the senior sergeant, “she can start on probation. But
if she cannot learn English, we cannot use her.”
So I went home and my brother helped me practice some phrases over
and over. Four days later I return to the Officers’ Club. I greeted
them and waved. “Hi Johnny, Hi Sergeant. How are you today?”
“See,” exclaimed Johnny excitedly,”she knows English. She knows
English. She has learned.”
That was about the extent of what I knew then, although of course I
picked up much more English as the weeks went on. They would let me
go for English classes while they all went off to see the night time
movie. So I worked there in the evenings, then also at the NCO
clubs, and my main job I got later was as a secretary at the
soldiers’ pay office. Eventually I took various courses taught by
the US army, including in Saigon, and I wound up as an interpreter
for the US government, as well as the supervisor for some two
hundred Vietnamese workers around the base.
Later when I left for US, I gave my job to my sister.
I want to sum up what I learned from Viet Nam as I decided to come
to America in 1971. I begin by urging all of us to pay tribute to
our parents, especially our Mothers. We may think of them as living
in tiny universes within their households and taking care of the
family. But this is the most important universe of all. Here is
where our Mothers influence us children and prepare us for later
life. Here is where we learn about love and truth and hard work. We
need to talk to our own children, telling them both the positives
and negatives about this world. Our children need to know where they
come from. They need to know about their language, culture, and
customs so they in turn can pass these on to their children. They
need to realize the hundred Vietnamese generations that have gone
before them. In all of my work in America from 1971 to present, I
tell our community these ideals. These also motivate me in my work
to build a Vietnamese Cultural garden and these especially inspire
our choice of the center statue of a Vietnamese woman to complete
the first phase of five construction phases for our garden.
I have faced many challenges in this Second American Motherland and
I can see many in my generation who confront the same burdens. Let
me begin with the challenges in education. Many in my older
generation never had the opportunity to attend advanced schooling.
Some never even learned to read and write. Today this is changing
everywhere and all of our Vietnamese and Asian communities have
contributed to those changes. You are now teachers and doctors,
Lawyers, Scientists, research experts, and business owners. Our
newer generations are attaining high positions in the world and
society. We still have far to go, but we are making progress in
schools and universities everywhere.
Let me tell a little of my struggles as a woman.
In 1971, as I mentioned above, my overseas journey began when I
followed my heart to the United States of America.
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In America, I have had to find ways to support myself, my daughter,
and my son. I have owned and operated a number of restaurants and
food services. You know, we Vietnamese women can always survive on
our great cooking skills and tasty foods. I also had worked for a
Hotel in Foods and BeveragesDivision with the title of Executive
Director of foods and beverages,and then I owned various others
businesses. I have also bought houses and buildings, and managed my
Community Center and Banquet Hall called Saigon Plaza. But making
money, while necessary in America, has not been my only activity.
In 1993, after returning to America from my first trip back to Viet
Nam in twenty years, I decided to start a humanitarian foundation to
help people, in both Indochina and America. Our mission was “to
build bridges of friendship between the people of Viet Nam and
people of other countries including the United States.” I recruited
others including many Vietnam veterans to help carry out this dream.
During the past twenty years, our organization of the Friendship
Foundation of American-Vietnamese has sponsored over eleven hundred
volunteers recruited from over ten different nations who have
journeyed to Vietnam for a month or more to carry out charitable
work. Some of these volunteers were sons and daughters of Vietnamese
people who had earlier come to America. Others were young people of
different countries who wanted to learn more about Viet Nam. They
all wanted to help in Vietnam and we placed them in positions for
teaching, for doing work in hospitals, for working with people and
youth in remote rural villages, and for assisting in other social
work including with the elderly.
A number of these volunteers have remained in Viet Nam where they
have served for years as teachers and social workers. At the same
time, I worked in my American community where I lived; I helped the
local people as well as raised my children.
Our Foundation has raised over twenty-seven million dollars in
funds, medicines, operations and surgeries, food, clothing, school
supplies, and other beneficial services. In carrying out our mission
to build bridges of friendship, we have also hosted and sponsored
some 250 people from Viet Nam and other countries to come to America
for professional, medical, legal, governmental, business, and
educational projects. I must mention one doctor who came here and
eventually learned to do kidney transplants. He returned to Viet Nam
where he was the first Vietnamese surgeon who could do this. All
this humanitarian activity was one way for me to pay back my First
Motherland for all she gave me.
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I have also served on various community boards and government
agencies in America for over twenty years. I was President of the
Asian-Pacific Federation for seven years which was active in
Northern Ohio. For several years I was a member of the Alcohol and
Drug Board in Lorain County. I also taught professional cooking
there at the local college. For 20 years I have served on the
Community Relations Board of our City of Cleveland in the State of
Ohio. I have been appointed to this Board by three successive
mayors: Mayor Michael White, Mayor Jane Campbell, and Mayor Frank
Jackson. Our Board oversees the activities of 130 different ethnic
and nationality groups. Our goal is to promote good relations among
all these people, encourage them to live peacefully with each other,
and help all appreciate and celebrate their heritages as well as the
heritages of other groups. ..
I have worked with our US government and the IRS to set up one of
the oldest tax clinics in America. This helps many immigrant
newcomers to understand and obey American laws for filing taxes.
This also helps these families participate in various helpful
government programs.
In 1997 I established an Asian Community Mental Health agency as
part of the West Side Community Mental Health Services to attendthe
mental health needs of our Asian communities. I was fortunate to
recruit a young psychiatrist, Dr. Thanh, from Viet Nam who came to
Ohio, helped establish the agency, and then gained a graduate degree
with honors in psychology which is still a relatively new field of
study in Viet Nam. He is now the director of one of the largest
mental health establishments in Viet Nam, helping both patients and
their families. He has more than 3,000 patients, a staff of over one
hundred professionals which includes five psychiatrists and six
doctors.
For the Asian and Pacific groups I have been proud to sponsor our
annual Asian Heritage Month which is highlighted by Asian-American
Heritage Day at Cleveland City Hall where we celebrate our history
and culture. This is crucial for all of us from around the world who
have Asian backgrounds. This Asian heritage we expanded to a weekend
of dancing, singing, and exhibits including at the Sai Gon Plaza.
Eventually this grew into the Asian Festival celebrated annually in
Cleveland which attracts 30,000 or more people of all races.
We people of Viet Nam have always appreciated learning. Continuing
this tradition of scholars, my Friendship Foundation has welcomed
students who come to the United States from Viet Nam, study in our
universities, continue our Asian drive for scholarly excellence, and
then return to their homeland. My organization has provided them
with advice and guidance as well as housing and good Vietnamese food
so they can study harder.
I must mention more about the Sai Gon Plaza. This was a hundred year
old building on West 54th and Detroit. For many years it had been a
furniture store; then a church acquired and used it for a bingo
hall. Finally, as peopleof that Church left the community, it was
abandoned for several years. Then I heard it was for sale. But when
I tried to buy, suddenly somebody else came along and bid more on
it. So I lost this building. I thought, “If God had wanted me to
have and use that building, He would do so.” However, two weeks
later, Alex the building manager called me and asked if I was still
interested.
I said, “Yes” and I gathered together all my life’s savings. About
that same time I was diagnosed with kidney cancer and had to undergo
major surgery at the Cleveland Clinic. I must thank the Good Lord
for bringing me through that surgery and the long recovery. That
could have led me to desert the whole building project. But I said
no, I will buy it, and my Friendship Foundation will find a home
there. We did buy the building and spent hundreds of thousands of
dollars and in-kind labor to rehabilitate the building including the
hard wood floor, redoing the walls, renovating the very valuable tin
ceilings, refurbishing the outside brick work, and replacing the old
windows and boards with brand new environmental plate glass.We
revitalized the building with its 22,000 square feet of usable
space.
We also added other property, parking areas, and buildings to this
complex. We hosted many community events, usually at least two or
three a month. This included educational programs on many issues,
such as taxes, immigration programs (such as the EB5 program),
social and governmental services, and cultural events. Many other
community groups held their events and programs in the Sai Gon
Plaza. We welcomed all. For the Vietnamese community we were always
available for major events such as Tet, the Children’s Fall
festival, and Community remembrances of our Viet Nam country.
At this time we are searching out new ways for how this historical
building can be used. A very prominent East Side school has been
interested in using the building and preserving its grand
architecture. There are many challenges for all these plans, but I
will continue to devote myself to insuring the building is properly
appreciated and used. This includes paying respect our great
Cleveland Municipal Court Judge, Raymond Pianka, for whom the
building tower is dedicated. Judge Pianka was a great help to our
Vietnamese community. He did so much to preserve our neighborhood in
Detroit-Shoreway as well as all the neighborhoods in Cleveland.
We were very proud recently to dedicate three newly built teacher
facility buildings in the mountain area surround the Dien Bien Phu
city. This was a site of a world famous battle in 1954 between the
Viet Minh forces led by President Ho Chi minh and General Vo Nguyen
Giap and the French forces and their Vietnamese and Montegnard
Allies. We have also been asked by the local communities there to
help build two kindergarten buildings for the children. The three
Teacher facility buildings were dedicated in a Grand Opening
ceremony in February 2018 to thehonor of Judge Raymond Pianka. We
were very proud to escort the Judge wife Karen Pianka and Daughter
Kirtsen to this Grand Opening along with Jan Rybka, and other
members of our Mission team. Now Judge Pianka’s Photograph adorns
the wall of the main building and there is a tribute to this great
judge who unfortunately and unexpectedly passed away in early 2017.
Another major project of our Friendship Foundation is the
construction of a Vietnamese Cultural Garden to join the forty other
gardens that now are located on Dr. Martin Luther King Boulevard. I
have been working on this project for almost twenty years. In 2012,
we finally were awarded the garden’s space very near Highway 90 in
the gardens We have joined the Cleveland Cultural Garden Federation
for a number of years in celebrating One World Day along with all
the other gardens and the entire city of Cleveland. Our celebration
has always included a tribute and raising of the flags over our
garden, speeches by leaders of various communities, exhibits of our
heritage and culture, fashion shows to show of our arts, cultural
shows, and a cuisine display, preparing of food on site, and making
this available to all the attendees numbering twenty five thousand.
We have also through our garden participated in other events which
celebrate our heritage, history, and culture.
Currently we have planned to place a fifteen-foot tall statute of a
Vietnamese woman in the center of the garden as Phase One of the
project. This woman will celebrate not just Vietnamese women
(including mothers, and wives, daughters, and grandmothers), but
also women worldwide. The statue will be made by Vietnamese artists
using the finest of marbles from Vietnam. There will be four other
phases also to display our history and culture.
In conclusion, I urge all in our communities to remember all that
our parents have provided for us, especially their wisdom and
teachings. Remember how hard all of our ancestors have work, how
much they never got to enjoy including educational opportunities. It
is not just the rich and famous people we should celebrate, but all
the many ordinary people who worked so hard so we could find
success.
By Joseph Patrick Meissner
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