Spring Break
UA Hmong students take stand against genocide
Niketa Reed
Issue date: 4/18/08 Section: Life & Style
"HSOA is the voice and channel for the Hmong students to be heard on campus and northwest Arkansas, and to be part of that is just amazing," Vang said. "Despite little recognition and funding on campus, we've managed to somehow continuously come up with innovative ideas to keep our culture alive and help spread awareness about the Hmong.
"The Hmong community in Arkansas is small, so every Hmong student is usually encouraged by each other to join as a way to connect and socialize with each other and also the UA campus," she said.?
Before the semester ends, the HSOA will hold a "Coins for Change" fundraiser for the Give and Live's Project Brainfood. Funds raised go to needy children in Thailand for food and shelter.
"In Thailand, many poor children get to go to school free, but several are too poor to buy lunch," Vang said. "There have been some cases where children would resort to eating wild poisonous berries and ending up in the hospital just because they can't afford to buy lunch. The sad thing is that a lunch and a snack costs a mere 50 cents a day per child. HSOA is planning to ask people for their spare change, and whatever funds we raise will be sent to the Give and Live Organization [based in Minnesota], who will then direct the funds to several Hmong children."
Recently, HSO held "The Cultural Show" on April 3rd to share Hmong culture with the UA campus. The show included a live interactive walkthrough called "A Forgotten Journey" that simulated the Hmong journey to America.
"'The Cultural Show' basically entailed every little detail about Hmong - their origins, their terrors, their traditions/culture, activities, food, and so forth," Thao said.
"It's just great to know that at least a small fraction of the UA population now knows about who the Hmong are, and what they have done for America," Vang said.
"An additional factor I particularly enjoyed was collaborating with the Vietnamese Student Association, whose members did their best to help us out with the Hmong Cultural Show," she said. "We are both small groups, so it was a wonderful experience to work together."
After the cultural show in the Alltell Ballroom, the walk-through engaged participants with a movie about the Hmong background, which featured tour guides presenting a hut house with traditional everyday tools, a passage through the Laos jungle and a run to safety through the Mekong River into the Thailand refugee camps.
"Our main goal towards the end of the event was to inform our audience that there is currently a Hmong genocide going on right now in Laos," Thao said. "Although many of the Hmong made it through the journey to freedom, there are still many out there stuck in the jungles in Laos waiting, crying for help.
"It's been 30 years since the Vietnam War, yet those still in the jungles believe that the war is still going on since the Laos Communist Soldiers are still hunting them down," she said.
For more information about the organization or "Coins for Change," please contact the HSOA at hsoa@uark.edu.
"The Hmong community in Arkansas is small, so every Hmong student is usually encouraged by each other to join as a way to connect and socialize with each other and also the UA campus," she said.?
Before the semester ends, the HSOA will hold a "Coins for Change" fundraiser for the Give and Live's Project Brainfood. Funds raised go to needy children in Thailand for food and shelter.
"In Thailand, many poor children get to go to school free, but several are too poor to buy lunch," Vang said. "There have been some cases where children would resort to eating wild poisonous berries and ending up in the hospital just because they can't afford to buy lunch. The sad thing is that a lunch and a snack costs a mere 50 cents a day per child. HSOA is planning to ask people for their spare change, and whatever funds we raise will be sent to the Give and Live Organization [based in Minnesota], who will then direct the funds to several Hmong children."
Recently, HSO held "The Cultural Show" on April 3rd to share Hmong culture with the UA campus. The show included a live interactive walkthrough called "A Forgotten Journey" that simulated the Hmong journey to America.
"'The Cultural Show' basically entailed every little detail about Hmong - their origins, their terrors, their traditions/culture, activities, food, and so forth," Thao said.
"It's just great to know that at least a small fraction of the UA population now knows about who the Hmong are, and what they have done for America," Vang said.
"An additional factor I particularly enjoyed was collaborating with the Vietnamese Student Association, whose members did their best to help us out with the Hmong Cultural Show," she said. "We are both small groups, so it was a wonderful experience to work together."
After the cultural show in the Alltell Ballroom, the walk-through engaged participants with a movie about the Hmong background, which featured tour guides presenting a hut house with traditional everyday tools, a passage through the Laos jungle and a run to safety through the Mekong River into the Thailand refugee camps.
"Our main goal towards the end of the event was to inform our audience that there is currently a Hmong genocide going on right now in Laos," Thao said. "Although many of the Hmong made it through the journey to freedom, there are still many out there stuck in the jungles in Laos waiting, crying for help.
"It's been 30 years since the Vietnam War, yet those still in the jungles believe that the war is still going on since the Laos Communist Soldiers are still hunting them down," she said.
For more information about the organization or "Coins for Change," please contact the HSOA at hsoa@uark.edu.
Viewing Comments 1 - 9 of 11
dai thao
posted 4/18/08 @ 12:49 PM CST
HSOA,
Thanks for your advocacy work! In 2004, we did the long walk for freedom, the 1200 miles march from st. paul to DC, to bring attention to the plight of the secret war veterans in the jungles of laos, it is energizing to see HSOA taking on and standing up for justice and equality - keep up the good work!
Sincerely,
Dai Thao
Ying vang
posted 4/19/08 @ 3:00 PM CST
We, the older Hmong generation, feel much relief when our young Hmong generation starts waking up now to realize what has been going on to their people since the last half century ago. (Continued…)
hamiltongrad
posted 4/24/08 @ 11:05 PM CST
this is such an interesting and moving article. Thank you.
Sandra
posted 4/30/08 @ 12:07 PM CST
hi.. umm..i would like to learn more about the genocide. im doing a research paper on it and i can't really find any info on it..but..i'm trying
to make the gencode known to people. (Continued…)
Pam Vang
posted 6/19/08 @ 4:49 PM CST
Hi, I am thinking about starting a project to help the Hmong people in Laos. I want to make everyone more aware of the issue and ask for the state of minnesota to help. (Continued…)
Cindy
posted 6/20/08 @ 1:41 AM CST
Hi I wanted to learn about this organization and how you work. I also wanted to know if there is anything we can do to help. I live in texas and have a few friends who want to join in this effort as well. (Continued…)
Gao
posted 10/27/08 @ 11:51 PM CST
I am a student at San Jose State University in California. I am majoring in Social Work and would love to have a fundraiser for the New year celebrations we have in California and was wondering where I would be able to send the money that I raised to help the Hmong community back in laos or thailand?
Kelly
posted 12/17/08 @ 5:25 PM CST
Please. I am Hmong. I want to help so bad. I watched a video on Youtube and I cried hard, like I've never cried before. It broke my heart to watch it. (Continued…)
Mai Xee Lee
posted 4/15/09 @ 2:53 AM CST
I know that God brought some of us Hmong to the Us for a reason. It is to educate us and so that we can bring hope to the hopelessness back in Asia. Those are our ancestors suffering. (Continued…)
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