克城消息

追夢路上砥礪前行

克利夫蘭越南華僑Gia Hoa Ryan 女士,明年將是她來美國50 年,她 1971 年代表越南政府到美國做訪問,按她説的,50年就是一瞬間。
    12月23日,與來自底特律的Joseph Gyulay和他的太太Marisha 會面,Joseph Gyulay是伊利華報多年的支持者,這是Joseph Gyulay第一次把他的醫生太太介紹我認識,我們一起在Pier W 餐廳午餐,我贈送了福字蘋果,感恩大家給我多年的支持。他們是醫生、律師和企業家,還加上Ryan社會公衆人物,今天我們一起慶祝Ryan 在克利夫蘭洛克菲勒公園越南花園將迎來的雕塑奠基活動(如果不是疫情早就運到美國了)。
    我們一起回顧我們來美國的夢想,Ryan説:時間一晃就是50年,她發起的越南公園就等雕塑到美國,還有她投資的越南學校已經開業,我們都爲她對社區的貢獻而感動,她的多年律師朋友Joseph Patrick Meissner表示:做社區服務不容易,他目睹了他在美國的成長過程和看到我們新移民在美國的勤奮努力。

   Ryan 自強不息,不靠別人,敢於面對所有的困難,她現在已經是當奶奶的人,在克利夫蘭她是一個名人,她參政,曾經是克利夫蘭市長辦公室協調人員。Ryan 創辦了 friendship 基金會,關心幫助他人,尤其對來自越南的優秀靑年,幫助他們來美國留學,畢業後回越南開醫院做貢獻。還有她將自己在越南的家人和朋友 40 多人帶到美國來,她要求他們在沒有成 美國公民之前 絶不能依賴美國。
    Ryan 出生於一個良好家庭,父親是個商人,他有兄弟姐妹 12 人,她是老大,她説:她的一生很感謝父親,她的父親給她足夠的自由,在越南像她這樣的女孩,13 歲家庭就讓你出嫁結婚,但她沒有,她接受最好的敎育 ,現在她在越南最窮的地方開設學校。她的一句話:人要對自己有信心。而我學到的:人生在不同階段,跟着覺悟做不同的事情。Ryan是最好的榜樣。 浦瑛
　

The Dream is coming true….

    “For many years I have had a dream,” declared Director Gia Hoa Ryan, the Executive Director and Founder of the Friendship Foundation of American Vietnamese. I wanted to build something which would honor both our Vietnamese people and the many veterans—both American and Vietnamese--who had sacrificed so much to help my country.”
    She had seen others who had similar memorial dreams, (in the spirit of Dr. Martin Luther King. )

    “In the early 1990’s,” she recalled, “Some Vietnamese veterans applied to the Cleveland Cultural Garden Federation to establish a garden in memory of Vietnamese veterans. This effort was led by Mr. Le Nguyen, a Vietnamese veteran who worked on resettlement for almost thirty years under the direction of the Cleveland Community Relations Board. Despite the hard work of the Vietnamese community and veteran leaders, unfortunately their vision of a statue and soldiers memorial was rejected. ‘These are ‘cultural” gardens,’ not for ’war memorials’ they were told.”
An effort was launched by American veterans to honor their comrades and provide a memorial. “I studied and looked into this,” remembered Ms. Ryan, “The project was headed by a brilliant Attorney--Patrick McLaughlin. Other veteran leaders included ever-persistent Ray Saikus and Judge Michael Jackson (the quiet-spoken inspirer) supported by many others. They did achieve some success and remade the Veterans’ Memorial quadrangle near Cleveland Public Square.”
   That inspired Ms. Ryan and others in the Vietnamese and American communities. “We concluded it’s time for us to promote a project to honor both Vietnamese veterans and US veterans as well as the Vietnamese people in the US. This would be called ‘The Vietnamese Cultural Garden.’”
   But how could this be accomplished? “We were still looking how to contact the right persons to get the best location and how to build a garden for veterans--American and Vietnamese. One day I mentioned my dream to some people who had started the International Hall of Fame. This was the Hanson Family—Dan and his sister Debbie and Mama Hanson.”

   The group needed to get permission from Cleveland City Council who are in charge of the Garden lands. “We were so fortunate,” remembered Ms. Ryan. “We had support from Councilperson Matt Zone whose family has always been so helpful to our Vietnamese Community. He would shepherd our enabling resolution through City Council.”
   But where would be the Garden’s site? “We know exactly where to establish this garden,” the Hansons smiled.
   “So,” continued Ms. Ryan, “on January 12 in 2014 on my birthday we met at the sites of many gardens along Dr. Martin Luther King Boulevard. This included Dan and Debbie Hanson and Sheila Crawford, past President of the Federation and the dynamic dean of Cleveland’s Irish Community. There were three lots available at that time--the first was pretty big, and the second was okay, but Dan kept saying to me: ‘I know you would like this other third site.’ He took us all to that site.
   “When I first saw Dan’s site, I knew right away this would be the home for our garden at 711 Dr. Martin Luther King Boulevard, under the hill of the Cleveland Greenhouse gardens. This reminded me of the geographic shape of Viet Nam and included the hill like our country’s mountains.”
   Now the birth place was found. But the group had to get the drawings, designs, permits, and definitely lots of money. They sponsored an international competition for design. From all over the world they received many design submissions and ideas.

   “Since 2014,” Ms. Ryan summarized, “We did find a great garden designer. She has helped us develop the birth place for a great cultural garden. This is Charlene Crowley, who is a Landscape Industry Certified Manager and James Freireich, her co-worker at Eastside Landscaping, Inc. They have lots of know-how and proficiency from working on other gardens as well.”
Community support moreover had to be gained for the garden. “At first, many in our neighborhoods did not even know what a cultural garden was,” Ms. Ryan noted. “Some, when they thought of a garden, pictured a garden growing vegetables. We had to educate everyone on the concept of a cultural garden. Actually, this gave us an idea that we should add vegetables, Vietnamese ones that have form and beauty, to the garden plantings.”
   As for the permits, the group had to go thru the Federation Design and Planning Committees to present all plans and gain approval. Then they had to appear at Cleveland City Development and the Park committee for presentation and a vote on the project. Through this time-consuming and tedious, but absolutely necessary process, the Vietnamese group had good support from Charlene Crowley and Lori Ashyk, Executive Director for the Federation.
“Our Committee,” recalled Ms. Ryan, “had spent three years working on the design. Eventually the idea was to have a statue in the garden center, sculpted by artists from Viet Nam, using exquisite classic Vietnamese white marble. The statue would be 14 feet tall from the base to top, of a Vietnamese woman. Surrounding the garden center would be a plaza, beautiful artistic concrete walkways, a curved stone sitting wall, and spacious gardens of Asian flowers vegetation, and trees including a small bamboo forest. There would be stone monuments at the entrance and exit, one showing a map of Viet Nam with cultural and historic sites and the other cultural remembrances.

   “Unfortunately, in 2019,” Ms. Ryan sadly stated, “my 93-year-old mother living in Viet Nam passed away. So, while I am there in Viet Nam taking care of my mother’s funeral, I also took time to search for the right marble and the skillful artists for carving the statue. As I said earlier, we planned for a woman’s statue, remembering our Vietnamese race who according to legend descended from the loving union of a divine prince living in the mountains and a heavenly princess born in the seas. Our statue will show off her beauty to everybody as the ‘Lady of Viet Nam.’
    “She is the symbol of Vietnamese women, of wives and mothers and daughters, as well as all women in the entire human family. We will also have sculptural items and meditating marble benches to celebrate our people and our veterans, both American and Vietnamese. We will furthermore remember all those who have helped our community over the decades.
    The Vietnamese-American Community, after fifteen years of planning and work, has finally started the physical building of its cultural garden. The community scheduled a ground-breaking ceremony on May 30, 2020, which was attended by some thirty people including Committee members, President Kha, and Vice-President Thi. All gave very fine congratulatory speeches.
   Ms. Ryan thanked all who joined in the groundbreaking: “It was so gratifying to see and hear everyone who came to witness for our grand dream to have a Vietnamese Garden installed on Dr. Martin Luther King Boulevard in the middle of some forty other ethic gardens celebrating our many Cleveland cultures and histories. First, we have wanted to build this garden for all the American Vietnam Veterans who gave their lives for us. Except for their sacrifice we would not have been able to come to America. Many millions of lives around the world owe their freedom to America veterans. Second, this garden is dedicated to the veterans of Vietnamese background who bravely gave their lives for us. Third. in the future when people visit this garden, especially our youth, they will see the sacrifice of all our peoples. Fourth, the Garden will celebrate our 4,000-year-old culture and achievements. It will educate future generations about the heritage, beauty and traditions of Viet Nam.”
    Now the garden foundation is completed. The bull-dozers have come and gone, the bricks have been laid, and the base constructed with concrete. The garden base is complete.
   “Throughout the past seven years, while working on our garden,” declares Ms. Ryan, “we have participated in the Federation’s activities including One World Day’s. We march in the nations’ parades, carrying our traditional flags. We sponsor displays, performances of dance and singing, raising of flags ceremony, and feature Vietnamese Foods and cuisine, contests and puzzles for the youth, and other activities.
    Lastly, our Garden Committee with the leadership of the Friendship Foundation, The Vietnamese Community of Greater Cleveland, Veteran Vice-President David Thi, President Kha, and others, will be working to raise the necessary donations. We estimate we will need at least half a million dollars and even more for the Garden Construction Fund and the ongoing maintenance duties..
   In the last 27 years the Friendship Foundation has conducted many missions not only to build the garden, but also to aid the poor and the children in Vietnam. The Foundation has sponsored some 2,000 volunteers who spend up to a month or more in Vietnam to do charity work. A number of these continued their work after our annual missions, spending years teaching in Vietnam. We assisted over two million Vietnamese students from kindergarten to high school and some college so they could continue their education.
The Friendship Foundation has also been busy with seeking a "Sister City" to partner with the City of Cleveland. "Sister Cities" is a worldwide organization which joins cities together from all over. A city in Europe might partner with an African city. A city in the USA would partner with a city from China. They work on sharing ideas and programs. They also work on joint projects for the two sister cities which can improve their economies, their systems of education, and cultural endeavors. The goal of the Friendship Foundation, whose Sister Cities Project is chaired by Attorney Thomas Similie is to unite Cleveland with a city in Viet Nam such as the coastal city of Nha Trang or a tourist city such as Da Nang. "We have already been in contact with leaders in these areas," reports Attorney Similie. "I myself journeyed to Viet Nam last year to make person-to-person presentations. I am hoping that leaders from Viet Nam will be able to come to Cleveland in this upcoming year of 2021 so we together can further our plans."
   The Foundation has trained doctors, built schools and houses, provided medical care and operations, foods, clothing, mosquito nets, school uniforms, books and school supplies, medications and medical equipment, and provided thousands of scholarships. The best mental health hospital in Vietnam is headed by Dr. Thanh Dang whom the Foundation trained and provided schooling for in the United States so he could manage this mental health hospital which employs over one hundred workers, six doctors, and five psychiatrists—providing mental health services for over three thousand patients. The Foundation has trained other physicians from Vietnam in America, including urologists. It has helped train teachers, built schools, provide funds for institutions for the handicapped,, and helped women with their health problems. It has set up nurseries, provided housing for the elderly, built bridges in rural areas, built teacher housing for those serving minority groups, and provided classes and instruction for law students, lawyers, and teachers.

    The Foundation has erected schools and educational buildings. Currently the Foundation is completing its seventh school construction project, this one near the Laotian border. (See accompanying photos of school work in Viet Nam.)
What does the Foundation need today? All we need are money donations and your support for our humanitarian work and to make our “dream garden into reality.” You can send any help and contributions to the Friendship Foundation, 2234 West Boulevard, Cleveland, Ohio 44102.