XREF 2016
HMC Architects 3546 Concours St Ontario, CA 91764 If Hmong don’t love Hmong, who will love Hmong? You may or may not know about the Hmong, therefore, I want to take this time to share with you about who I am and my people. This will explain the soul purpose of my travel. The Hmong live deep in the hills and mountains of Asia, such as, China, Laos, Vietnam and Thailand. The Hmong are considered nomadic, which means they have no permanent home - they travel from places to places until they can find a safe dwelling. The Hmong live with their livestock and harvest their own food; therefore, they are great farmers. (I grew up farming my own food) The Hmong people settle in America after the Vietnam War. During the war, in 1957 America soldiers enter Laos and recruited the Hmong as allies to help them fight the communist country. In 1960 the war was known as the “Secret War” because of the Hmong’s involvement and partnership with the CIA. During this time, boys ten and older were recruited to be soldiers. The Hmong worked closely with the United States until 1975 when America completely withdrawn their troops from Laos leaving the Hmong to fight the war by themselves and the massacring of my people began immediately. The Hmong were persecuted by the Laotian government for their anti-communist involvement and till this day, the backlash is still felt by my people. My dad, 19 at the time was a soldier, my mom and older sister crossed the Mekong River to find safety in Thailand. In 1976, America came back to Thailand to aide the surviving Hmong and the first wave of Hmong immigration began. In 1980, the second wave of Hmong migration arrived in America and my parents were among them. They arrived in Missoula, Montana in 1980. For many years after, America continues to help bring thousands of Hmong people to America until the last wave of Hmong in early 2000. Today, the Hmong are finding ways back to help their people in the mountains of Asia with the saying, If Hmong don’t love Hmong, who will love Hmong? Destination: My destination will depend on the time of the year I go, but it will be to visit the Hmong people with my mom. We will meet up with OTS team (Oversea Tribal Services) that will help us travel through the Hmong villages in Laos or Thailand. I was blessed to be born in America and to live the American dream- to not knowwhat my life could have been if not for the war. My childhood dream was to become an architect to build my mom a house and to assist my Hmong people in anyway
possible. I hope that with my visit, I will have a better understanding of how I can utilize the skills that I have obtain to help others. Purpose: I want to continue the good works by those who have gone before me. I want to bring water and electricity to as many villages that I can, but my long term goal is hoping to build an education system to enrich the Hmong people, building them the opportunity to learn and be educated about the world. Documentation: I will be working with the Oversea Tribal Service, OTS group to see what my influence can bring in the future. Even though they have many projects available, they will see what will best work for me and the short time that I am there. OTS, is a Christian Missionary Alliance group that has been helping the Hmong people for over 15 years and now that I have my opportunity, I would like to see how I can influence my Hmong people and the younger generation after me. If the Hmong don’t love the Hmong, who will love the Hmong? I would like to thank HMC Architects for the XREF program.
Pictures Oversea Tribal Service, OTS group
Pictures Hmong Clothes
Pictures Hmong Village
Pictures Hmong History