Flashback and Nostalgia - A True Story

Translated and Edited by Andrew A. Taylor  

Reconneting with VRC 1982

AUSTRALIAN-VIETNAMESE 

Born in WESCOM Hospital

My name is Nhu Viet Dang and I am from Sydney, Australia. I came across your blog today after I began doing some research on the history of where I came from after a recent trip to Palawan for the first time. My father, mother, sister and brother were Vietnamese boat people who arrived in Palawan in 1981. I was born there on December 23rd, 1982 at Wescom Hospital on the north side of the Puerto Princesa Airport. My family were then resettled in Australia in 1983 and have resided here since. I have always promised myself that I would one day return to my place of birth and recently made the trip just last week.

I was told by my parents that the hospital was part of a military base. As I arrived at the gate, the soldiers guarding the entrance asked what my purpose was there, to which I explained that I was born in Wescom Hospital and wanted to visit and take photos. I showed them my birth certificate as proof and passport for identification. After further discussions with their superior Officers and clearances, I was allowed in to the base to see the hospital; however, I was not allowed inside the hospital itself due to the base being a restricted area. The officers that I spoke to where actually happy and excited that I was there and thanked me for coming back to visit. They recognised the history and significance and took a photocopy of my birth certificate for the hospital records.

I was only a few months old when I left Palawan, so I have no recollection of being there at all. I've gone through your PFAC blog and found it very interesting and touching to find out what life was like in the camp from different perspectives, so thank you for creating that as a means of connecting and reflection for those that had a history with the camp.

Attached is my Filipino birth certificate, Australian passport and a photo of myself taken on February 5, 2016 in front what was formerly known as Wescom Hospital. If you have any further information or photos of the hospital that you are able to share, I would love to see them.

Kind regards,

Nhu Viet Dang

PFAC Volunteer Danny Mendiola

DANNY MENDIOLA

This is me in California at the Oakland Cathedral in 2012.

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The photos below were taken from my old camera in 1986 to 1987 at PFAC while I was Coordinator of the Special Enhancement Program for Long Stayer Refugees and also as Education Coordinator.

UNHCR Field Officer, Mr. Greg Wangerin

HTC-PFAC School Director Sis. Bernadette, O.P.

I was brought by CMHS to the VRC in April 1986 to coordinate the Special Enhancement Program for long stayers. I worked closely with Gary Autencio and PCCS, who implemented the program. 

Gary Autencio, PCCS/ARMDEV School Coordinator

After a year, I left VRC in March 1987 and was transferred to PRPC Morong, Bataan to take the post of Social Services Director.

In 2013, while I was based in Castro Valley, California as an immigrant, I wrote an article published by the Philippine Daily Inquirer titled: “Once upon a Vietnamese Refugee Camp”. Here is the link to the article:

https://opinion.inquirer.net/53835/once-upon-a-vietnamese-refugee-camp

OOO