on our way to Cowrie Island on Honda Bay, Puerto Princesa City. Seen in the pictures are Lien, Marian, Tony, Andrew, Zeny, Josie, Leny, Diep, Rubi, Evelyn, Lesley, An Thu, Huy and Letty. (I forgot the names of all the others.)
My friend Dr. Luis Medrano
Father Kenneth and Andy
My friend and colleague Ann Cussack
ANN CUSACK
Ann Cusack brought some innovative ideas to our school. Anne was an excellent poet and she brought poetry into the classroom. She incorporated poetry in her lessons and her students loved the poems that she herself had written. I love music and Ann enjoyed my company because of my singing, which she described as outstanding. I believe she and I became best friends because we both loved arts- I music and she poetry. One day I fell ill and Ann wrote a poem and dedicated it to me to brighten my day. In return I wrote her a poem describing how fortunate I was to have her as a friend. Since then I have been writing poems and getting better as time goes by.
ADRIAN SEVIOUR
Adrian was a quiet person. He would socialize with us but wouldn’t normally speak unless spoken to first. I am the kind of person that will always approach someone whom I see is feeling left out. I decided to always sit and talk with Adrian at school meetings or during parties or social functions in the camp. One day, Adrian found a best friend in the person of Rubi Diao. Ann also found more comfort socializing with her Vietnamese friends. I then focused my attention on my Vietnamese friends. After a year, Adrian returned to England wrote a letter once and then we lost contact. The following year, Ann returned to Australia. The next thing I knew was that she had moved to California and married her Vietnamese fiancé that she met in the camp.
Adrian is the gentleman sitting next to Sammy.
*****
I'm lucky, and i'm proud of being a Palaweno! Thanks a Andrew for that wonderful POEM.
ReplyDeleteI was a UNHCR education volunteer at the VRC in 1982-83. I think it's impossible to forget the VRC. Last month RoseDogBooks published my book NOT ONLY A REFUGEE by Eleanor Grogg Stewart. It is available on rosedogbooks.com. It is 300 pages with 80 photos and dozens of essays written by my Vietnamese English students. It is available as print-on-demand or as an e-book. I tried to get it published commercially many years ago, but finally I did it this way. Also, for a 3-minute oral reading from the book, go to DukeCityDimeNovels.com. Also, for a summary and interesting story from those days, go to Publishaletter/guestletters.com. I would like to get back in touch with Adrian, Bob Groelsema, Anne, Nguyen Huu Sy, Hoang Dinh Chau, Than Trong Ai, and many others. My e-mail is eleanorgrogg@hotmail.com
ReplyDeletePeople who know a little about VRC, but who would like an in-depth look at the environment, events and people who worked for there in 1982-83 should take a look at NOT ONLY A REFUGEE. Sample pages are available on RoseDogBooks.com or on Amazon.com. As a UNV in education, I had access to all the programs for teaching English and cultural orientation. Also, my English students wrote essays about their true feelings, not just meaningless exercises. I loved them and miss them very much. I visited many of them after resettlement in Canda, Australia, France, Germany, Japan and the U.S. Also, I visited Adrian Seviour in Bristol and Ann Cusack's family in Melbourne. I spent 1984 and 85 writing the book and many years revising it. I was unable to get commercial publication so I put away the ms. and continued to teach. Last year, I realized that I had to publish it even though I had to pay a subsidy company to do so, as the VRC is a unique part of history now gone. You will get a clearer understanding of what happened in the US resettlement program that resulted in unnecessary rejections during that time. You will see the contrast with VRC and PRPC and learn of a tragic death at PRPC. Most of all, you will get a glimpse of the intense and varied life in the refugee camp--not just from one point of view. The VRC was the best refugee camp in Southeast Asia--partly because it was in the Philippines where the welcome mat for Vietnamese refugees was never pulled out from under them. Believe me, I saw hell on earth when I visited the Hong Kong camp, so I know. I want our camp to live in history as an honorable place to wait for resettlement and the place where I learned so much as Co Eleanor: eleanorgrogg@hotmail.com
ReplyDeleteEleanor, I don't know if you had forgotten me but to remind you of who I am, please look back to the time when you organized a series of workshops on how to incorporate American Culture to your lessons. I presented a one-hour workshop on Table Manners. You liked my workshop; you said it was culturally sensitive and was vividly presented. That was me in 1982 or 83, a young skinny dark-skinned teacher who came to the camp for fun but wound up falling in love with the Vietnamese refugees.
ReplyDeleteAndrew, sorry it took me so long to get back to your blog. Yes, I remember you now. That workshop got me in hot water with one of the teachers from Mindanao. Do you remember what happened to some of the other teachers--especially Antonio Cinco--"Toto"? He was a good friend to me when I needed one. My version of that workshop is in the book.
ReplyDeleteI have recently gotten in touch with a man who was a 13-year-old child in the camp. His name is Lan T. Dalat and he's in the U.S. Army. He wrote me after reading my book. He has posted his family's boat escape story on YouTube. I believe it's called "Freedom At Sea".
Eleanor who only knows how to post as anonymous.
Eleanor, you can reconnect with Toto Cinco on Facebook by typing Toto Cinco on the search box or by following this link:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1641834551#!/profile.php?id=100000151338330
Andrew
I haven't responded in a long time. I'm sorry. I had surgery and was ill for a few months. I'm much better now.
DeleteFirst of all, I did contact Antonio Cinco on Facebook and got a response from him. I'm not good at keeping up with Facebook, even my book's page. However, I have been contacted by Than Trong Ai and Nguyen thi Nga in Sydney, Australia. Ai (Andrew) Than is an attorney there. He purchased 20 copies of the book to give to people there. Nga and her husband are now social workers helping immigrants and refugees in Australia.