Youth Group

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The DVAN Youth Group’s on-going project has been co-facilitating workshops at the Vietnamese Youth Development Center in the L.I.F.E (Leadership, Identity, Future, and Empowerment) Skills program.Since September 2011, teaching artists Anvhu Buchanan, Danny Thanh Nguyen, and Khoi Nguyen represented DVAN by facilitating workshops alongside VYDC staff. These workshops engaged participants to critically and creatively examine their understanding of community, family/social life, communication skills, health and wellness, and their own personal experiences.

L.I.F.E. Skills’ graduated a class of 10 youth participants, ages 16-21, most of whom are Southeast Asian immigrants living in San Francisco’s Tenderloin neighborhood, home to the city’s Vietnamese community.

 

Check out this poem by Bryan Tran, a participant in the L.I.F.E. Skills program, who recapitulates his daily routine that reminded him of Viet Nam.

Bryan shares, “When I thinking about my date so I write down this five moment, and that makes me compare to Vietnam”

 

FIVE MOMENTS IN A DAY

 

1.
When I wake up in the morning I see the sunshine slashing through the window and onto my face. It makes me think of mornings in Vietnam. My mom is making bread with eggs, reminding me of my grandpa cooking breakfast back home.
2.
I hear the people driving cars around my building. When I step out of the J Muni car I hear construction workers around my school at 18th street and Church. In Vietnam, everyday, my grandpa rode me to school on his motorcycle and that same sound of construction around my school.
3.
When I smell books and papers at Mission High School, I am in Vietnam again, sitting on the left side of the classroom. Only the temperature is different: San Francisco is cold and Vietnam is so hot that I sweat when I write.
4.
I smell Chinese and Vietnamese food when I walk around Chinatown and Little Saigon. I feel that of my old hood is all around me again. My grandpa and grandma are throwing a Lunar New Years party. When the party is over at 10pm, my family and I go to the Central Square of Saigon to watch fireworks in the sky.
5.

When I touch the walls of my school in Vietnam it is hard stone and cracks. Mission High’s walls are orange and strong for earthquakes. The soccer field in Vietnam is brown dirt and the football field in America is green grass. I like my teachers here. My friends are kind and help me with my life. We have a community.

 

Michelle Huynh (Thanh), another participant in the L.I.F.E. Skills program, wrote a poem reflecting the memories of Viet Nam which she recently adapted into video.

Here’s what Michelle had to share about her process: “The reason this poem exist is because there is a person told me writing poem is can express our feelings towards what we love and miss. This is why i am rewriting poems again. The following spoken words below is the poem in this video.”

 

A Flash of Vietnam in My Eyes, by Thanh

Vietnam reminds me of the hot summer morning
Vietnam reminds me of good pho that everyone loves
Vietnam reminds me of my childhood with my lovely grandmother.
Vietnam reminds me of beautiful places like Nha Trang paradise
It reminds me of people living a difficult life and working hard; yet, have no complaint about life.
Vietnam reminds me that a person must have a good heart
Vietnam reminds me of our people living in a communist country
Vietnam reminds me how beautiful Vietnamese ladies are
Vietnam reminds me of the quiet sound of a wave
Vietnam reminds me the sound of the bell in a temple
Vietnam reminds me of the small lake behind my uncle’s house
Vietnam reminds me ladies wearing traditional dresses (Ao Dai)
Vietnam reminds me of woods and forest
Vietnam reminds me of the farmer market with fresh fruits and meats daily
Vietnam reminds me of Buddhists blessing us from heaven

For most of all, Vietnam is my home”