Greetings,

My name is Alex and I am a workforce development coordinator for Boat People SOS in Westminster, CA. I am hoping that you would assist me in helping our VN Asian community.

This Thurs. we will conduct a H.S. & college student focus group survey to find out what are the needs in our Vn community. What kind of services/resources are needed and currently offered and how can we make it better? This is the first of its kind of survey that focus on Vn Asian in OC. This will help us better understand our community as well as to offer those needed services and asking for additional grants/funds. So it is crucial that we get a good representation.

So if you are able to attend or knew of someone who is in the HS or college age group then please forward them the information. The focus group will be held here at BPSOS @ 4p to 5:30p. Please ask them to either email me or call me if they are able to attend.

Attached is our upcoming events and survey questions for the focus group. If you are not able to attend and would still like to do the survey, then please feel free to complete them and email it back to me. Thank you for all your help and I applaud you for your commitment and dedication in helping our VN community and our future.

Have a great week!

Warm Regards,

Alex Pham
Workforce Dev. Coord.
BPSOS
9191 Bolsa Ave Ste 110
Westminster, CA 92683
(714) 897-2214

We are located across the street from Phuc Loc Tho and a few ste down from Vua Kho Bo.

Attachments:

http://www.vsubruins.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/Survey-in-English2.doc

http://www.vsubruins.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/Workforce-Flyer.doc

http://www.vsubruins.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/Mixer-Flyer-1.doc

Washington, DC – The Walter Leitner International Human Rights Clinic
of the Leitner Center for International Law and Justice at Fordham Law
School, the Returnee Integration Support Center (RISC) and Deported
Diaspora announce the release of a new report, Removing Refugees: U.S.
Deportation Policy and the Cambodian-American Community.  The report
highlights the human rights impact of our current immigration policies
through the lens of the Cambodian-American community and is based upon
interviews conducted in Cambodia with individuals who have been
deported. The Southeast Asia Resource Action Center (SEARAC), a
Washington, DC based advocacy organization, has long called for the
restoration of fairness to immigration policies and values the
important contribution of this report to the comprehensive immigration
reform discussion. The report can be accessed at
http://tinyurl.com/Removing-Refugees

Two 1996 Immigration laws, the Antiterrorism and Effective Death
Penalty Act (AEDPA) and the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant
Responsibility Act (IIRIRA) expanded the categories for mandatory
deportation and eliminated judicial discretion from the removal
process for all “aggravated felons.”  The Cambodian American
community, largely refugees who arrived in the U.S. in the early
1980s, has been hit especially hard by these laws following the
signing of an expansive repatriation agreement between the countries
in 2002.

Chi Mgbako, director of the Walter Leitner International Human Rights
Clinic, states “The laws are currently inhumane, unjust, and in many
instances at odds with international human rights norms. Immigration
reform provides an opportunity to address these overly punitive
measures.”

“These important voices reveal grave acts of human rights violations
in our country’s broken immigration policies” states Dimple Rana,
Co-Founder and Director of Deported Diaspora. “Due process is a core
American value. This report demonstrates how essential it is to
restore due process to the people and families who seek asylum,
freedom and citizenship in the United States.”

Doua Thor, executive director of SEARAC, states,  ”As a country that
values justice and the human rights of individuals, we cannot put off
tackling some of the country’s most pressing issues such as
comprehensive immigration reform – and making sure that reform
includes the restoration of judicial discretion.”

###

The Leitner Clinic aims to train a new generation of human rights
lawyers and to inspire results-oriented, practical human rights work
throughout the world. We work in partnership with non-governmental
organizations and foreign law schools on international human rights
projects ranging from legal and policy analysis, fact-finding and
report writing, human rights training and capacity-building, and
public interest litigation. www.leitnercenter.org/programs/WLIHR/

SEARAC is a national organization that advances the interests of
Cambodian, Laotian, and Vietnamese Americans by empowering communities
through advocacy, leadership development and capacity building to
create a socially just and equitable society. www.searac.org

CONTACT:
Zaid Hydari

212-636-6862

Pang Houa Moua

202-667-4690

Attachment:

http://www.vsubruins.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/062910-Release-of-Removing-Refugees-Report.pdf

We are looking for Vietnamese American families who may have been affected by Agent Orange, and who may be willing to share their stories with us. We know it is a very sensitive issue within the community, and it’s exactly because of this that there’s often silence on the issue. We are hoping to change that.

I am attaching a health survey in both English and Vietnamese, as well as a flyer in Vietnamese and English that gives more information on Agent Orange and its effects. Send your completed surveys to either myself or Oanh Ha ()? Please contact us if you or your family members are willing to share your stories.

Thank you very much,
Katherine Tolentino
KQED
408 795 5428

Or

K. Oanh Ha
Reporter
KQED/The California Report

408 795 5428
VietnameseAmericanHealthSurvey_Engl
AOflyer_vietnamese
VietAmHealthSurvey_Vietnamese
agentorangeflyer_engl

Goodwin Liu is Taiwanese-American and has a historic record of socially liberal stances on political issues. He was a Professor at Cal Berkeley’s Law School, Boalt and received his J.D. at Yale University. He has published numerous articles during his tenure in favor of Same-Sex Marriage and Affirmative Action. Currently, Republicans in the Senate are threatening to Filibuster since they fear his liberalism will interfere with his decision-making as a judge–we’ve all heard this argument before by right-wingers. They cry “judicial activism” when liberal people of color are up for nomination.

This will be a huge achievement for increasing representation by Asian Americans in the U.S. Government.

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-ed-liu-20100423,0,5722070.story

Study participants will be interviewed about their family responsibilities and college experiences.  Students will be paid $10 for the interview and may have the opportunity to participate in an additional phase of the study which involves a photography exercise (payment for participation – $40).

Please contact:Fanny Yeung, M.A.UCLA Graduate School of Education &Information Sciences (GSE&IS)

The City of Lowell has announced their search for residents to serve on the newly established Immigration Commission.  This is a great opportunity to serve your community and your city, by advocating for immigrants and advising our city leaders on policy issues of concern to the immigrant and refugee communities in Lowell.  The deadline is May 7th at 5:00pm.  This is an amazing opportunity for newcomers to Lowell to have a voice in those policies that impact their lives, and will be a vital step in developing leadership in newcomer communities that can lead to elected representation.

You can find the announcement and application form on the City of Lowell website here:

http://www.lowellma.gov/newsitems/city-of-lowell-seeks-members-for-newly-established-immigration-assistance-commission

If you have any questions, you can contact Donna McIntosh at:

You can view the ordinance itself on the ONE Lowell website here:

http://www.onelowell.net/Documents/immigration-commission-ordance.pdf

We are looking for both male and female singers of all ranges, styles,
personalities, and ethnicities. If the two fridays don’t work for you, I’ll
be happy to arrange a better time if you request

If you or someone you know is interested in auditioning, simply reply to
this message or message me directly (Chad Poon – ,
310-650-2994) so we can send you more information – specifically time,
place, etc.

Auditioning is easy You simply need to prepare any song of any length (or
any language) that demonstrates your vocal strengths. We’ll also do some
quick drills to observe your range, sense of rhythm, tonal memory, etc.

So again, if you would like to audition or know someone who would like to
audition, just reply to this thread or e-mail me directly so we can send you
more information. Hope to hear from you soon!

“Those protests on the U.C. campuses were the tipping point,” the governor’s chief of staff, Susan Kennedy, said in an interview after the speech. “Our university system is going to get the support it deserves.”

Thanks everyone for your support in protesting the fee hikes! Your efforts are paying off!

To read the entire NY Times article, click here.

Here are the facts from the gallery walk during our GM meeting featuring health issues afflicting our community.

The powerpoint featuring information about CAPS can also be downloaded by clicking here: CAPS.

-Native Hawaiian men have higher rates of lung cancer than white men do, and the incidence of cervical cancer among Vietnamese women in the United States is more than five times greater than that among white women (Kuo & Porter, 1998).

-Historical events and circumstances shape the mental health profile of any racial and ethnic group. For example, refugees from Cambodia were exposed to trauma before migrating to the United States because of persecution by the Khmer Rouge Communists under Pol Pot after the Viet Nam War. During the four years of Pol Pot’s regime (1975–1979), between 1 and 3 million of the 7 million people in Cambodia died through starvation, disease, or mass executions. This national trauma, as well as the stressors associated with relocation, including English language difficulties and cultural conflicts, continues to affect the emotional health of many Cambodian refugees and other immigrants.

-Culture shapes the expression and recognition of psychiatric problems. Western culture makes a distinction between the mind and body, but many Asian cultures do not (Lin, 1996). Therefore, it has long been hypothesized that Asians express more somatic and internal symptoms of distress than white Americans.

-Mental illness is highly stigmatizing in many Asian cultures. In these societies, mental illness reflects poorly on one’s family lineage and can influence others’ beliefs about how suitable someone is for marriage if he or she comes from a family with a history of mental illness. Thus, either consciously or unconsciously, Asians are thought to deny the experience and expression of emotions. These factors make it more acceptable for psycho-logical distress to be expressed through the body rather than the mind (Tseng, 1975; Kleinman, 1977; Nguyen, 1982; Gaw, 1993; Chun et al., 1996).

-Many Southeast Asian refugees are at risk for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) associated with the trauma they experienced before they immigrated to the United States. Refugees who fled Vietnam after the fall of Saigon in 1975 were mainly well-educated Vietnamese who were often able to speak some English and prosper financially. Although subsequent Vietnamese refugees were less educated and less financially secure, they were able to join established communities of other Vietnamese in the United States. Cambodians and Laotians became the second wave of refugees from Indochina. The Cambodians were survivors of Pol Pot’s holocaust of killing fields. Several groups of Laotians, including the Mien and Hmong, had cooperated with American forces and left Laos after the war from fear of retribution. One-third of the Laotian population had been killed during the war, and many others fled to escape the devastation.

-Studies document high rates of mental disorders among these refugees. A large community sample of Southeast Asian refugees in the United States (Chung & Kagawa-Singer, 1993) found that premigration trauma events and refugee camp experiences were significant predictors of psychological distress even five years or more after migration. Significant subgroup differences were also found. Cambodians reported the highest levels of distress, Laotians were next, then Vietnamese. Studies of Southeast Asian refugees receiving mental health care uniformly find high rates of PTSD. One study found 70 percent met diagnostic criterion for the disorder, with Mien from the highlands of Laos and Cambodians having the highest rates (Kinzie et al., 1990; Carlson & Rosser-Hogan, 1991; Moore & Boehnlein, 1991).

-Some subgroups of Vietnamese refugees may also be at high risk for mental health problems. Hinton and colleagues (1997) compared Vietnamese and Chinese refugees from Vietnam 6 months after their arrival in the United States and 12 to 18 months later. The ethnic Vietnamese had higher depression at the second assessment than did the Chinese immigrants.

-Two studies have found high rates of distress among refugee youth. Cambodian high school students had symptoms of PTSD and mild, but prolonged, depressive symptoms (Kinzie et al. 1986). Researchers also have noted high levels of anxiety among unaccompanied minors, adolescents, and young adult refugees from Vietnam (Felsman et al., 1990). Likewise, in a study of Cambodian adolescents who survived Pol Pot’s concentration camps, Kinzie and colleagues (1989) found that nearly half suffered from PTSD, and 41 percent experienced depression approximately 10 years after this traumatic period. Clearly, because many Southeast Asian refugees experienced significant trauma prior to immigration, rates of PTSD and depression are extraordinarily high among both adult and youth refugees. The Plight of Southeast Asian Refugees A Khmer woman (mid-40’s)

-Because of premigration traumas and the adjustment to relocation in the United States, many Southeast Asian refugees are experiencing great stress. The following excerpts were elicited in a mental health interview of a mid-40-year-old, Khmer woman from Cambodia by Rumbaut (1985).

-“I lost my husband, I lost my country, I lost every property/fortune we owned. And coming over here, I can’t learn to speak English and the way of life here is different; my mother and oldest son are very sick; I feel crippled, I can do nothing, I can’t control what’s going on. I don’t know what I’m going to do once my public assistance expires. I may feel safe in a way— there is no war here, no Communist to kill or to torture you—but deep down inside me, I still don’t feel safe or secure. I feel scared. I get scared so easily.” (p. 475)

-Gee and Ishii (1997) describe a case that illustrates the difficulties that some Asian Americans have in using mental health services. An was a 30-year-old bilingual, Vietnamese male who was placed in involuntary psychiatric hold for psychotic disorganization. After neighbors found him screaming and smelling of urine and feces, they called the police, who escorted him to a psychiatric emergency room. An had been hospitalized several previous times for psychotic episodes. He was the oldest of five children and was living at home while attending college.

-His parents had a poor understanding of schizophrenia and were extremely distrustful of mental health providers. They thought that his psychosis was caused by mental weakness and poor tolerance of the recent heat wave. They believed that they themselves could help An by providing him with their own food and making him return to school. Furthermore, the family incorrectly attributed An’s facial injury, sustained while in the locked facility, to beatings from the mental health staff.

-These misconceptions and differences in beliefs caused the parents to avoid the use of mental health services.

-About 21 percent of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders lack health insurance. However, within Asian American subgroups, the rate varies significantly. For instance, 34 percent of Korean Americans have no health insurance, whereas 20 percent of Chinese Americans and Filipino Americans lack such insurance. Furthermore, the rate of Medicaid coverage for most Asian American and Pacific Islander subgroups is well below that of whites. It has been suggested that lower Medicaid participation rates are, in part, due to widespread but mistaken concerns2 among immigrants that enrolling themselves or their children in Medicaid would jeopardize their applications for citizenship (Brown et al., 2000).

-AA/PIs have the lowest rates of utilization of mental health services among ethnic populations. This underrepresentation is characteristic of most AA/PI groups, regardless of gender, age, and geographic location. Among those who use services, severity of disturbance is high. The explanation for this seems to be that individuals delay using services until problems are very serious. The unmet need for services among AA/PIs is unfortunate, because mental health treatment can be very beneficial.

-The low utilization of mental health services is attributable to stigma and shame over using services, lack of financial resources, conceptions of health and treatment that differ from those under-lying Western mental health services, cultural inappropriateness of services (e.g., lack of providers who speak the same languages as limited english proficiency clients), and the use of alternative

-1 in 6 UCLA students received clinical treatment – more than 7,000 students last year

•        35% screened positively for harmful levels of  alcohol or drug use

•        3 to 5 students per week were seen in the ER for psychiatric or substance abuse crises

•        47 students were treated as psychiatric inpatients (FY07-08)

•        Suicide

–     22% of women, 9% of men seriously considered suicide at UCLA

–     1.3% reported at least one attempt in past year

–     Incidence = 7 in 100,000 =  half of non-student rate

•        Stalking:

–     13% of female students stalked in study year

–     25-30% of college women and 11-17% of college men report ever being stalked

-Vietnamese Manicurists have been exposed to skin infections, toxic chemicals, and HIV/AIDS through the work that they do on a daily basis.

- Vietnamese-Americans ages 56 and older are twice as likely as whites to report needing mental health care and also less likely to discuss such issues with a professional, according to a study published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, the Los Angeles Times reports.

-Researchers found that 21% of Vietnamese-Americans reported having depression or anxiety, compared with 10% of whites.

-Twenty percent of Vietnamese-Americans discussed the health issues with a medical provider, compared with 45% of whites.

-One out of two Vietnamese students have a family member affected by Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome, depression, anxiety, or other mental health illnesses. (Surgeon General Report)