Personal Essay: Hmong Refugees

“It was the last time I would see them for 14 years.” Uong, who is a Vietnamese refugee, fled his home at the age of 10—being separated from his family for 14 years (Uong). Being a refugee is rough as it requires one to leave his home country and to start a new life in a completely different world. According to Yen Le Espiritu, a "refugee" is described as a person who harbors "a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion" (Espiritu 209). There are many variations of refugee groups as countless minority groups have left their homeland due to reasons such as persecution. Cambodian Refugees and Vietnamese Refugees are both minority groups in the United States today whom have fled their homeland to escape communism and persecution. These groups have suffered many conflicts and overcome many obstacles in order to rid themselves of persecution and in order to gain the freedom that all humans should possess. Although Cambodian Refugees and Vietnamese Refugees are two different groups, they possess both similarities and differences. Cambodian Refugees and Vietnamese Refugees share differences when it pertains to the topic of war, when it pertains to the topic of hardships faced while fleeing one’s homeland and to the topic of adjusting to life in America—while also sharing similarities when it pertains to adjusting to life in America.

Before moving to Saint Paul, Minnesota, two and a half years ago, I lived in Storm Lake, a small rural town located in northwest Iowa. There was no big Hmong population there, only a few family friends. I was very hesitant to share my culture at school because I did not know how to explain the elaborate traditions and its purposes. For example, sacrificing animals to ancestors is an outdated practice and not understood by many people. Traditions like this only exist in historical textbooks. I was scared of being judged and looked on as weird. I did not know the purpose of dressing up in traditional clothing for new years, or what was the purpose of celebrating Hmong new year. I envied other cultures, for they had a history that was widely known and written down in text. I had no appreciation for my culture.

The Hmong people are originally from rural mountainous areas in Laos and they still inhabit that country to this day. Laos is a country that is located in Southeast Asia. Hmong people are divided into clans or tribes that share the same paternal ancestry. The Hmong people inhabited all parts of Laos but all carried pretty much the same cultures and livelihood with them as many immigrated to the United States in the past few decades (Ohio State University, 2005).

In the summer of 2007 I served a Hmong child who had pain and limited movement in his left arm.. The emergency room physician ordered an x-ray. While performing the X-ray, I talked to him in Hmong. He answered my questions and told me the whole fiasco that led up to his injury. He had fallen off his bike while attempting to jump a home made ramp and landed wrong. He threw his left arm to attempt to break his fall, however, his body landed on top of it causing a snapping/popping noise to occur. He told me his story, all the while looking down towards the ground with little eye contact. He guarded his injured limb closely, preventing me from positioning or moving it to accommodate the X-ray specifications. Instead, he insisted on

For my Religion Research Project, I decided to research the religion of Hmong. To me the Hmong religion is very interesting and I have always wanted to know more about them. The Hmong people were believed to have come from the Yangtze River basin area in southern China. They were originally known in China as the Miao. These days there is debate on the usage of that name by Hmong in the west because they believe it to be derogatory, even though it is still used by the Hmong in china to this day. It is said by Chinese scholars that the Hmong people were a proud and independent people. The history of the Hmong people is hard to trace, they have their oral traditions but there are no written records of them.

My dad was an orphan, and is yet to relocate his family. He immigrated to America in 2000, with nothing but the clothes on his back and immediate family. His purpose was to resettle, raise a family, and see his kids pursue an education to be the best of themselves.Working in ignominious jobs in factories to provide. Life as a whole was a problem. Places like grocery stores, public airports, and the fast economy of America were complications. Indoor plumbing, electricity, television, showers were all a brand new concept to comprehend. Learning English was the biggest challenge my family overcame. In my household growing up, my father emphasized education. He always said to me in our native language Dinka, “Lino, you get out of life, what you put into it”. Those words evoke nostalgic memories of my youth. Up until 3rd grade I was in ESL because I was struggling learning English. How did I get out? My dad would point and ask me to read or spell out objects to practice and become fluent. After one I excelled drastically passed the ESL exam and moved out of ESL. This was meaningful to me, many of the influences in my life can’t be able to say they hold a diploma, but they’ve showed me if you work for it you can achieve anything. Currently I'm the second in my family who will be going to college to get a degree, and it's the second greatest achievement to my father. I plan on improving the lives of my family, and my

Families around the world all have different beliefs and religions that they follow. Some move to America just so they can give their families a better life, but that doesn’t mean that they leave behind the traditions that they followed. It just makes it difficult sometimes for them adjusting to the American ways compared to how they were used too back in their country. Especially when it comes down to how people get sick and how they are treated so that they can get better. Here we discuss about the Hmong culture and how there’s a difference with how they heal people compared to how it’s done in America. Healing someone can be through medicine or any type of treatment from some kind of doctor or as the Hmong heal, they use a shaman. A shaman is a person with a

My parents always encouraged my siblings and I that we were capable of doing anything that we set our minds to. It didn’t matter where or what we wanted to do; all that mattered was if we had the passion to do it and succeed. From that, I was always set on becoming a doctor. It didn’t matter what kind; I just knew I wanted to help people. From a young age, I knew that my parents worked hard so that my siblings and I might have a better life than my parents. Both of my parents came from Vietnam with little to nothing. They both got jobs at Excel before they were twenty, and, after ten years, they met each other and got married. They and bought a motel and restaurant, and managed that for another ten years. They were

Further, the Hmong families are divided by which clans and subgroups they are a part of. There are 19 clans identified within the Hmong culture (Kou 2012). It has been said “The clan acquires its membership through a patrilineal system, identifiable by the male’s last name and therefore, lineage” (Tatman 2004). The clans acquire their names based on the relationship to the father. For example, “Marriage by two individuals within the same clan is not allowed, despite genealogical distance between members” (Tatman 2004). The men are typically the individuals to leave their clan and find a wife suitable for them because in the article it explained, “Under the clan system, wives, and subsequent children, become members of the husband’s clan, and total loyalty to this new clan is expected” (Tatman 2004).

My vision of integrating academics and our Hmong cultural values is to incorporate the cultural aspects into the students’ daily schedule. I understand that time is crucial for academic, but it would be ideal to incorporate cultural aspects in the specialist’s area. As a Hmong focused school, I envision HOPE to include more specialists that would focus on the Hmong culture and traditions. Two new specialists that I think would be benefit our students are a Hmong music/instrumental class and a Hmong dance class. In adding these new specialties, the goal is to promote and encourage students to learn Hmong talents and traditions. Many students of this generation are losing interest or do not engage in these traditions anymore (I have a schedule

As a first-generation American student, I have had the opportunity to commit to my education while making positive contributions to better the well-being of my family. My father served as the sole financial provider and caretaker of the family during the absence of my mother. He also became afflicted with various health conditions including a heart attack and stomach ulcers. In addition, my father's physical and psychological condition worsened with age and I, as the eldest child, procured the responsibility of making sure that all of his needs were taken care of.

Countless people come to America for a better life; this was also the case for my parents. After the Vietnam War, the ruined landscape left them with a choice: either stay in the destroyed country, or start a new life elsewhere. Coming to America was their only option. Imagine traveling on open water in a small boat crammed with as many refugees as possible. There was a cloud of worry constantly looming over their heads when fending off pirates who robbed and raped the Vietnamese refugees. The conditions were nearly impossible to imagine. At the age of 17, I am filling out college applications; when my parents were teenagers, they fled their home country with nothing allowing me to have this opportunity.

When I was young I remember moving cities and I thought it was going to be the end of the world for me. One of the thoughts that always went through my mind was what if I do not fit in? or will I be able to make any friends? Luckily for me I was able to speak English and I knew I could communicate with people if I had to. This was not the case for Cambodian refugees when they moved to the United States because the Khmer Rouge was attacking Cambodia. Thousands of people moved to the United States and many of these people were kids who did not have a saying whether they wanted to stay or come with their parents because they could not take care of themselves. Many of these kids are now suffering because they fell into the wrong crowds and committed a crime when they were young and due to the antiterrorism and death penalty act they are now being deported back to Cambodia, which they know nothing about, and some of them do not even know how to speak the language. I will be talking about the Cambodian kids that were affected by their parents moving to the United States and how the antiterrorism and death penalty act has affected some of them.

America’s government felt responsible for Vietnamese refugees due to its history of being a colony, motivating them to give the refugees a place to stay. Many Vietnamese refugees came from southern Vietnam, as they didn’t want to be ruled by a communist government. However, many of them “were dying at sea and losing their manners” (Gavin) as they crossed the sea to other countries where they tried to find solace. By risking one’s life to gain freedom, refugees proved to America and other countries how troublesome the Vietnamese government became. Because of the growing refugee population, America “took in 14,000 refugees per month” as a means to aid them. By increasing the amount of refugees that America takes in per month, the American government

The family of my mother and my father both came from poverty. They did not have all the resources I have today. That is why they motivate me to take advantage of these opportunities and accomplish the unimaginable. Without my family, I feel empty inside and that is when I begin to fall down. I understand that I should not depend on them for motivation but they are just what keeps my engine running. The background of my family and of my childhood has created this ambition inside of me. It is not a bad type of ambition; on the other hand, it is an ambition to seek better academic excellence and great things in life. I want to prove myself by taking the most demanding classes that put my knowledge to the test and makes me think more and work harder. In the future, I want to be a better man that is strong in his faith and in his capabilities. The person that does not give up and works even harder just to accomplish his goals. I just want my parents to have the opportunity to observe me with pride and joy for graduating college and having the career and life of my