A Letter from VAYA's 2008 Miss Vietnam of San Diego

This past summer I have had the opportunity to board the USNS Mercy to participate in a multi partner nations humanitarian mission in Southeast Asia. Vietnam was one of the destinations. For the first time in 12 years, I came back not only to visit my homeland but also with a meaningful purpose and that was to provide health care to the underserved Vietnamese. Along with the Navy personnel, I also welcomed the opportunity to work with Operation Smile International, Project HOPE, International Medical Relief Team, and doctors from all over the world.

Despite the fact that Vietnam is one of the fastest growing countries in Asia for the past decade, it is undoubtedly still one of the poorest in the world. The Vietnamese deserve and are in desperate needs of basic healthcare especially those in the suburban areas. Being born and raised in Vietnam until 9 years old, I was proud to be back and help the people in my country. What else connects healthcare providers with their patients better than words of encouragement and compassion? It is exactly what I did in Vietnam. My job as a translator in Vietnam proved to be extremely helpful as I was able to break the language barrier between doctors and patients. Being able to speak the language allowed me to have better interactions with the patients. Many Vietnamese though receiving healthcare for free, are nevertheless afraid of the sophisticated machines and the technology that the US Navy is providing. I made sure the patient understands their conditions as well as their options before they opt for surgery. Communication was imperative for this mission because without effective communication between patients and doctors, the mission would not have been as successful. Being able to communicate in the same language, I got the chance to meet people who touched my heart deeply.

When I was at Dien Son clinic, bac Sau, an 88 years old woman whom had lost one eye to cataract, came in with a broken pair of glasses tied together by a string. The glasses were badly broken in the middle with yellow stained on the rims. Bac Sau was a nice and mellow lady and was so poor that she could not even afford a pair of sandals. I liked her instantly because she reminded me of my dear grand mother whom I had the chance to visit a few days earlier before the mission started. The daughter took her to the clinic hoping to get a pair of glasses so her mother can see better. After the exam, the optometrist gave the proper prescription and despite needing this new pair of glasses more than anyone, Bac Sau declined with a simple explanation, "My daughter has been asking me to come and get new glasses for free even after I repeatedly declined. I know it's almost my time, please save it for someone else who needs more than I do. I've been using this broken pair of glasses for the past 10 years, so it makes no difference whether it's broken or not." I stood there feeling heartbroken as tears swelled up in my eyes. I began to realize how lucky we are to be living in the United States. Basic healthcares some of which are taken for granted such as removing a decayed tooth, glasses, medicines... are a luxury for these poor people.

I left Vietnam with a promise to myself to come back on more humanitarian missions in the future not only as a translator but a dentist as well.

Having gone to Vietnam, Timor-Leste, Papua New Guinea, and Micronesia, I choose to focus on Vietnam because I felt it made the greatest impact on me in terms of patients' interactions and also my role in Vietnam as a translator was unique. My responsibility in each country was different whether it's renovating schools and hospital in Micronesia, and putting fluoride varnish on the Timorese children in Baucau, assisting in extracting root tips in betel nuts land (PNG). I personally learned they all had one thing in common and that was just lending a hand to a stranger in need of help halfway across the world is very satisfying and rewarding.

Overall, the ship provided health care for over 90,000 patients, 1,600 surgeries, 14,500 dental works, in a five months long mission in 5 different countries. However, this once-in-a-life time experience would not have been possible without my family, U.S. Navy, UCSD Pre-Dental Society, and Miss Vietnam of San Diego hosted by VAYA. During last year's Miss Vietnam of San Diego, part of the top 5 question asked, "What would you do after you win the pageant?" I will be joining the US Navy on a humanitarian mission this summer in Southeast Asia and will be providing healthcare and dental work for the underserved," I answered with confidence. Today I am proud to say that having participated in Miss Vietnam of San Diego provided me the opportunity to fulfill my dream and look at the world from a different perspective. I would like to share my gratitude to VAYA and I hope the next Miss Vietnam of San Diego winners will continue this tradition by doing something meaningful regardless of how big or small it is.

About the Author: Van Nguyen was the winner for VAYA's 2008 Miss Vietnam of San Diego.

Dear Members and Supporters,

The month of November will be an extremely busy month for most high school seniors as they apply for college. As most of us in VAYA are either current college students or college graduates, we are glad to assist those who need help with their college application(s) (which includes college application to UCs, CSUs, and various San Diego Community Colleges). If you're a high school student and would like to get some help or advice on your college application, please RSVP to VAYA's External Vice President, Nikki Lam, at collegeinfo@vayasd.org. In the RSVP email, PLEASE SPECIFY WHAT YOU SPECIFICALLY NEED HELP WITH. If you're CURRENTLY a college student and would like to help a high school student out with his/her application, contact Nikki to get involve. FROM NOW ON, Application Assistance is provided EVERY SATURDAY IN NOVERMBER (starting on 11/1/08) @ Tea N' More (Clairemont Mesa Blvd, next to 99 Ranch Supermarket) at 1:00 PM. PLEASE NOTE that there will be NO "College Application Assistance" workshop on Saturday 11/29/08 due to the Thanksgiving Holiday. For more information or if interested in participating OR helping out with this event, please contact VAYA's External Vice President, Nikki Lam, at collegeinfo@vayasd.org.

Please save the date for Sunday November 23, 2008. VAYA will be hosting our annual Thanksgiving "Potluck" Dinner that day and we would like for you to join us. VAYA Thanksgiving "Potluck" Dinner will be Sunday 11/23/08 from 6:00 - 10:00 PM at the Santa Fe Room at Balboa Park. Please be on the lookout for a special eVite which will include further details and an option to let us know what you'll be bringing to the Potluck Dinner. Location: Santa Fe Room (Balboa Park Club) - President Way / San Diego, CA 92101. For more information, please contact VAYA Internal Vice President (VAYA Thanksgiving "Potluck" Dinner Coordinator), Michael Thai, at ivp@vayasd.org.

On behalf of VAYA's Executive Board and Staff, thank you for your continual support.

About the Author: Anthony (Vinh) T. Nguyen serves as Secretary for VAYA.

My Fellow VAYAnese,

First and foremost, I would like to thank those of you who took part in the VAYA 5th Annual Street Clean-up. You are the future; and you have empowered yourself to take on the great challenge of making your community a cleaner and better place. In particular, I would like to congratulate the organizing committee (Toni, Kristiana, Reinhart, Nick, Duy) for all their vision, hard work, and outstanding achievement in making this year's event one of the best Street Clean-up ever. A few volunteers even asked me, "Why don't we do this more often than just once a year?" This goes to show that your effort and sacrifices have instilled a greater sense of community engagement and responsibility in the heart of the youths today.

Secondly, I commend those of you who have worked late on the same evening as the Street Clean-up and early the next morning in a last-ditch effort to register many Vietnamese-Americans to vote in the upcoming presidential election. You all have empowered the Vietnamese community by giving them a voice through the opportunity to cast ballot.

My dear friends and colleague, the future of the community is in our hand. Strong or weak, the choice is ours. Clean or Dirty, the choice is ours. Whether we register to vote in the upcoming election or bend down to pick up a cigarette butt on the street, the choice is ours. The little things that we do will leave a great impact on our community. This is why VAYA has chosen to attach to the Street Clean-up event a special message of community empowerment through voting.

Four years ago, our founding leaders and members registered some 6000 Vietnamese voters (half of the total Vietnamese registered voters). They also fought for and secured for our community the access to Vietnamese Language ballot materials. Today the Vietnamese Language program is still in place and the number of Vietnamese registered voters is over 13,000 strong. This is a great legacy that we can all be proud of. And we are still writing the pages of history with the annual Street Clean-up, the VAYA Lunar New Year Tet Festival, and many other projects.

Just as there is no nobler intention than keeping our democracy strong by voting; or keeping the election fair and effective by working the polls, there is no purer intention than the desire to keep our community clean and healthy by picking up trash. If every one of us does our little part on a regular basis, then our city will always be clean. By volunteering our own time to participate in this Street Cleanup event, we declare that "we will not stand for dirtiness", that our community's well being is our priority, and that we challenge all residents, all businesses, all visitors, and all government officials to take responsibility for keeping our environment green.

And finally, by registering people to vote, or volunteering to be poll workers, or working as ballot scanners or supply-pickup specialists, we declare that "we will not go silently into the night; that our voice will be heard because we are speaking not only with words, but with realistic, measurable actions, and that the Vietnamese community will remain strong for as long as there is a single Vietnamese youth picking up trash, or registering people to vote, or working the polls, etc..."

Yet there are still great challenges ahead...but to find out more, come to the VAYA Meetings and the Tet Community Forum this Sunday!

About the Author: Frank H. Vuong serves as President for VAYA.

Hey guys,

I just wanted to send out a thanks to all of you who managed to come join us for the VAYA staff retreat in Julian. I feel like we all came away with a deeper understanding of VAYA and the processes it takes to maintain such an organization. Thanks goes to Nikki (EVP) and Frank (President) for finding an awesome, not to mention spooky, house for us to crash in. If you just look around, I'm sure you'll be seeing pictures of the house we spent two nights in popping up on the web.

I'd also like to thank some of our special guest speakers/coordinators, Anh Bao, Anh Quoc, and Anh Su, on helping develop some great discussions on the future of VAYA as well as better defining our roles within the organization. Lots of inspirational talk and some compelling discussions occurred over the weekend, Let's not forget their role in spooking the heck out of us in the middle of the night.

And last, but not least, I'd like to thank Julian for the reminder that it really is Autumn now and for the warm and delicious apple pie. Hmmm... Pie...



About the Author: Michael H. Thai serves as the Internal Vice President for VAYA.