Refugee Awareness Day Keynote Address (June 20, 2008) By Jenny Do

Ladies and Gentlemen:

Twenty-four years ago, the person who is now standing before you was a young refugee. She was intimidated. She was afraid. She was uncertain about her future. Today she stands before you to speak and to share with you her personal experience. Thank you for giving her that opportunity.

We are here today to celebrate World Refugee Day. For me, this is first and foremost a day of appreciation. As a former refugee, I would like to take this opportunity to thank America and the American people for accepting me and providing me with a new home. I was living in darkness, starvation, discrimination, with little to hope for when I was given the opportunity to go to the United States. America is not only a shelter, it is a refuge for my dignity, an incubator for my potential, an academy of generosity and compassion. I was fed, taught, given the opportunity to thrive and the privilege to contribute as a full-fledged member of the community. I was bestowed rights which I did not know existed, and from there I learned to understand my fundamental responsibility as a community member: that which calls for the recognition and promotion of the simple principle that “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.”

My journey to resettlement, however, was not an easy journey. I was vaguely aware that I had bought a one-way ticket to a different life and this realization was a painful experience to go through, especially when I had left friends, family, and people and things that are dear to me in that dark corner of the world I once called home. No matter how bad home was, it was my mother country, the cradle of my childhood, the mold of my identity, the first chapters of my existence, and the archives of my cultural and traditional backgrounds. It was and has remained part of me, and during those early years, my life was torn between the two contrasting ways of life, between the past and the present. I woke up at night thinking I was still in Vietnam, then found myself in a strange new world. I was not at home, I was taking refuge in a foreign land. There were moments that I regretted the predictable instability of my home country as I was lost in the uncertainty of this new stable environment. Life became two different fragments of a same existence. I measured everything against my past and was never able to concentrate on my present or to plan for my future.

As in the case of many refugees, I came to this country unequipped. I spoke no English and had no transferable skills. I still don’t fully know how I managed to become self-sufficient and independent within months, but I know for sure that I could not have grown without the kindness of the people I met, the dedication of the agencies that provided me with that very much needed foundation on which I now build my life.

I remember the kindness of Mrs. Dzung Tran, the Social Worker who worked for Santa Clara County Social Services Agency. Mrs. Tran went out of her way to help me. She came to visit me one day at my empty apartment and found me sitting on the floor eating ramen noodles, using a cardboard box as a table. She treated me like her child, and on her return visit, she bought me chairs. She never talked down to me, but always praised my ability to learn and my will to become independent. She truly restored my faith in humanity.

I remember the dedication of that institution known as VIVO, the Vietnamese Voluntary Foundation. It was VIVO that taught my first skill of typing and helped me search for work. VIVO staff not only prepared me for the job market, they helped me regain my self-confidence. With its limited resources, VIVO has helped many refugees like me through the years. They treated refugees with that rare combination of understanding, compassion and respect. Thank you, VIVO.

I remember working with refugees when I was at CIU, the Refugee Program’s Central Intake Unit. They received help from Catholic Charities, IRC (International Rescue Committee), IRCC (Indochinese Refugee Resettlement Center), CSEARR ( Center for Southeast Asian Refugee Resettlement), OTI (Occupational Training Institute), AACI (Asian American for Community Involvement), CET (Center for Employment and Training), and many other organizations that have helped refugees through the years. The list is long and I cannot mention all the names here. The fact that refugees have now successfully resettled in the area is a great testimony to the kindness and dedication of these agencies. On behalf of all refugees in the area, I thank you all.

Of course, refugees would not receive adequate help without an effective and sensible federal refugee program. The policy regarding refugees have changed through the years, and it is up to refugee advocates to ensure that newly arrived refugees have a strong opportunity to establish a new home in this country, so that they may become valued contributors to this society. After all, this is what America is about. We must influence refugee policy to ensure that America remains the beacon of hope for refugees around the world.

Many of the people who helped me and other refugees were themselves refugees. Yet when I received their kindness, I did not think of them as refugees. I thought of them as members of a kind and contributing society. Then it dawned on me that I, too, could belong to that community if I returned such kindness, not directly to them, but by reaching out to others who faced the same difficulties as I had in my early years.

From a young girl who could not understand English, I have now become an attorney. From a recipient of public assistance, I now run a nonprofit organization taking care of the needy and the poor. If that is a magical transformation, then the magic wand is the spirit of the people who helped me. Their kindness and dedication unlocked my potential and gave me wings. Without receiving such kindness and dedication, I do not know where I would be today.

Through my long journey, I have found myself. I am where I return my kindness. And I have found “home.” But I now realize that “home” is not merely a house or shelter but membership in a contributing community. The contribution does not need to be much, but simply a sincere willingness to engage. A little kindness. A little understanding. A little compassion. A recognition of the dignity and the rights of others. In the spirit of World Refugee Day.