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A Vietnamese Boat People Story

By Louisa Gerber and Trung Trinh, St. Matthew’s United Methodist Church

The events that brought Trung Trinh and his wife to the United States were quite long ago, but I think they still resonate. Below is his story of escape as part of a group of boat people fleeing Vietnam in 1981. 

The addendum to the story is that he and his wife ended up as our church custodians for over a decade, until they both retired. They were very dedicated and were loved and respected by our church community. His wife even hand painted the stripes marking the parking spaces in our church lot. 

When we began looking at reopening our ESOL program in January 2022, after the COVID shutdown, Trung volunteered to help me restart the program and to teach ESOL at St. Matthew’s United Methodist Church. The ESOL resource room had been used for storage for several years and was in total disarray. He had been helping with English classes in a local Vietnamese charitable support organization. He said he wanted to give back to his adopted country, and to help new immigrants trying to learn English in their new, adopted country. He helped us for two years until family health concerns caused him to retire from teaching in our program. He is certainly an inspiration to me.

On Sunday, October 4, 1981 at around 11 a.m., the US Destroyer FF-1053 Roark was on the way from Subic Bay to the Indian Ocean when it rescued a group of 60 Vietnamese refugees from a small boat in the middle of the South China Sea. That day is still vividly in my memory since my wife, my youngest brother, and I were among those 60 fortunate people.

I always consider that day as my second birthday and the FF-1053 Roark is like my second mother. Without it, I really do not know how my life would have ended up.

The Vietnam War ended on April 30, 1975 with the fall of Saigon under the invasion of the North Vietnamese Army. Even though there was a great effort from the US government to evacuate the Vietnamese people closely associated with the United States or the South Vietnamese government, there were still a lot of people who were left behind and had to suffer under the new regime. The most common punishment applied to those who were working for the previous South Vietnamese government was to be kept in the so-called re-education camps which in reality were hard labor camps.

After graduating from the National Institute of Administration in January 1973, I was appointed by the South Vietnamese government to work as a Director of Social Services in a province in the Mekong Delta. My job was mainly to coordinate various programs to provide financial, food, and building material assistance to the war victims, the orphans, and the elderly within the province. And because of that position, I was kept in the “re-education camp” as punishment from April 1975 to August 1980.

Upon my release from camp, I returned to my family in Saigon, which was now re-named Ho Chi Minh City, and I was placed under close surveillance by the local government. Every week, I had to report my daily activities to the local government officials.

Realizing that I would never become free under the new regime, I decided to look for ways to escape from Vietnam either by boat or by land via Cambodia and then Thailand.

After three failed attempts, on September 30, 1981, my wife, my brother, and I went down south from Saigon to join a group of people waiting for the right time under a dark night to navigate down the Mekong River to get out to the South China Sea. The trip was organized by a group of my friends’ former students. Since they were locals, we did not encounter any major problem avoiding local authorities while on the river.

Initially equipped with only a compass – which was removed from a US Army UH 1B helicopter – we planned to head south to either Malaysia or Indonesia. On the way out to the high seas, we had seen a number of commercial ships passing by, but none of them stopped to rescue us, either because they did not see us or because they did not want to bear any responsibilities incurred by picking us up from the international waters.

Then on the fourth day of our journey, on Sunday, October 4 at around 11 a.m., the first sign that we saw was the appearance of a helicopter flying over us. It brought us a lot of hope since we thought there must be a ship-base for such a helicopter. We decided to turn off the engine to wait and see if our hope would become a reality. Then after a few hours, we saw a ship silhouette on the horizon coming slowly towards our boat. However, we were not sure if that ship would rescue us, since there were many incidents in which refugee boats were picked up by Russian Navy ships only for those refugees to be jailed in Vietnam.

Finally, as the ship approached, we were definitely excited to see the American flag and also the ship’s motto, “Victory through Service,” inscribed on its smokestack.

Then the rescue operation began. A small canoe led by a Japanese-American officer approached our small boat to check our conditions. Then it pulled our boat alongside the ship. One by one, children and ladies first, we climbed a ladder to board the ship.

Once we were on board, after being searched for weapons, everyone took a bath and was provided with clothing and with our first American meal.

To be rescued by the US Navy ship, the Navy had to be responsible for coordinating with US government agencies to provide us with a resettlement plan. After the US Embassy in Malaysia obtained an agreement with the Malaysian government, we were allowed to land in Penang with the condition that our group had to be processed and out of Malaysia as soon as possible.

That was why we stayed in Malaysia for only a week before being transferred to the Philippine Refugees Processing Camp (PRPC) located near Subic Bay. While in the camp, we participated in a cultural orientation and English as a Second Language (ESL) that was designed to assist us in learning as much as possible for our new life in America.

After four months in the PRPC, my family, under a sponsorship of the US Catholic Conference, came to Virginia and joined my sister who had been in the US since 1975.

Even though there were a lot of ups and downs in our new life in the US, I am always grateful for being able to live in a democratic and free society in which people are respected as human beings regardless of their backgrounds and origins.

There is a saying in our culture: “Whenever we eat a fruit, we have to remember the growers.” By the same token, we have been enjoying the fruit of FREEDOM; we have to remember and to appreciate its growers. That was why in 1986, I formed a “Refugees Save Miss Liberty” campaign to raise funds among the refugee communities in the Washington metropolitan area to contribute to the restoration of the Statue of Liberty.

Even though our financial contribution was small, the campaign was organized to cherish our FREEDOM and to remind us of the reasons we had to leave our country to come to America as inscribed on the Statue of Liberty:

“Give me your tired, your poor,

Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,

The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.”

Upcoming Training Opportunities for ESLIM Teachers

On Saturday, January 25, 2025, we will be offering a training for new ESL teachers which will help new volunteers to gain the skills and confidence needed to succeed in the English classroom. This in-person workshop will combine presentation, discussion, videos and demonstrations to provide participants with the knowledge and skills needed to be an effective ESL teacher.

The online presentation on Sunday, February 2, 2025 is for experienced teachers who want to enhance their lessons to make them more compelling and engaging. This course offers new ways to review concepts and check homework, reduce teacher talking time, and leverage Artificial Intelligence tools to produce supplemental resources and provide practice materials for learner use outside of class.

Teachers planning to attend either of these sessions can register by sending their contact information, including the name of the church where they will be volunteering, to [email protected].

 

Teacher Link Sessions Resume Friday, October 4

Our first Teacher Link session for this term will be on Zoom on Friday, October 4. It will start at noon and end at 1:00 PM.

Teacher Link is an opportunity for ESLIM teachers to meet, discuss classes, share resources, and learn from each other. The informal sessions will be hosted by our program administrator, and our teachers can drop in to find out what is going on in our community. You can actively participate, or just listen in. If you have found a great online resource, please come prepared to share it. If you have questions about using the curriculum guides, perhaps we can help. This is your opportunity to connect others who share your passion for helping our newest neighbors.

To request the Zoom link, simply contact us at [email protected], and tell us which church you are volunteering with. We’ll reply as soon as possible and send you a reminder the day before the session.

 

September Training Opportunities for ESLIM Teachers


Saturday, September 7 – training for new ESL teachers

The New ESL Teacher Training workshop will help volunteer teachers gain the skills and confidence needed to succeed in the English classroom. Designed for new teachers, this interactive workshop will teach you the fundamentals of creating good ESL lessons, how to teach English to adult learners, how to use audiovisual materials to maximize learner comprehension, and how to address common adult learner challenges. The workshop combines presentation, discussion, videos, and demonstrations to provide you with knowledge, tools, and approaches that will help you become an effective ESL teacher.

Saturday, September 14 – continuing education for experienced ESL teachers.

This refresher course is called “English Can be Fun and Games: Adding Fun to Your ESL Lessons”. The course was designed in response to a recurring question from experienced ESL teachers about how to add some fun activities to their lesson plans, with the goal of enhancing English comprehension and retention. About two-thirds of this session will consist of hands-on demonstrations of several fun ESL activities that can be adapted to all curriculum levels, which you can incorporate into your English lessons for learner practice, reviews, or assessments. New teachers are welcome.

Saturday, September 21 – training for intro-level ESL teachers

Teaching English to intro-level learners (also called beginner or literacy level) can be challenging. This course is designed for ESL teachers who teach intro-level learners and provides information, advice, and several practices that teachers can use to connect with their learners who cannot speak English. The course will demonstrate some of these practices, including opportunities for participants to take part in several of the demonstrations.


These sessions are taught by Rob Simmons, who has been a volunteer ESL teacher for over 20 years and has been training ESL teachers for over seven years. He has taught several levels of ESL curriculum, including Introduction, Level 2, and Intermediate levels. During his teacher training classes, Rob doesn’t just talk about the material, he demonstrates the concepts—and invites you to participate—so that you will understand how to incorporate the concepts into your lesson planning and classroom activities. Previous participants have appreciated how Rob’s training helped build their confidence as an English teacher.

Teachers planning to attend one or more of these 9:00 AM to noon sessions offered at several ESLIM locations should register by sending contact information, including the name of the church where they will be volunteering to [email protected]. Please specify which session(s) you  would like to attend, and you will receive an acknowledgment and additional information.

Urgent Need for Volunteers

ESL instructors and assistants are needed in various locations for the upcoming fall semester.  An educational background is not required, and training and teaching materials are provided. Your commitment of one morning or one evening a week can make a big impact on the lives of others.

Please answer the questions you will find in the “Volunteer” section of this website to be considered for an opportunity.  We will acknowledge your application when it is received, and we will try to find a location and a time that will be most convenient for you.

Teacher Link Meetings

All ESLIM teachers are invited to join us for informal online chat sessions on Sunday afternoons from 2:00 to 3:00 PM. These sessions are intended to be an opportunity to meet and interact with others who share your mission to help our students improve their English. We can exchange ideas, do some problem-solving, and offer support and encouragement to each other.


The sessions are scheduled for:
Sunday, February 25
Sunday, March 3
Sunday, March 10


To receive a Zoom link and a reminder, please send your contact information to [email protected] and indicate which session(s) you would like to attend.

Save the Date

 

 

ESLIM has scheduled our winter/spring teacher training sessions to be presented by Rob Simmons. The session for new teachers, to include those who were not able to attend in the fall, will be held at Christ Lutheran Church from 9:00AM to noon on Saturday, January 20.  Returning teachers will be invited to join us online from 2:00 to 4:00 PM on Sunday, January 21, for a class entitled “Incorporating Interactive Games and Activities into ESL Lessons”.  The training will include several examples of games and activities that can be incorporated into the lesson plan, plus advice for tailoring activities to the lesson objective and abilities of the learners.

To register for the training, teachers should send their contact information, including their name, phone number, the location where they will be teaching, and which session they wish to attend to [email protected] as soon as possible. Registrants will be acknowledged and sent relevant information prior to the training.

2023 Fall Training Dates Announced

We invite volunteers from our member programs to join us in our teacher training sessions on Saturday, September 9, and Sunday, September 10. The Saturday session, designed to help new teachers gain the confidence needed to succeed in the classroom, will be held in-person at Centreville UMC from 9:00 AM to noon. The Sunday afternoon session from 2:00 to 4:00 PM is an opportunity for experienced teachers to learn some new strategies they can use with their students. This online session will focus on using photos and pictures to build interest and vocabulary and enhance comprehension. Both sessions will be led by Rob Simmons, an experienced ESL teacher and teacher trainer.

Don’t miss this opportunity to build your teaching skills and meet others who share your desire to help our immigrant community! Register by sending your contact information, including the session in which you are interested and the site where you will be teaching this fall to [email protected].

Volunteers Urgently Needed

ESL instructors and assistants are needed in various locations for the upcoming fall semester. An educational background is not required, and training and materials are provided. Your commitment of one evening or morning a week can make a big difference in the lives of others.

Please answer the questions you will find in the “Volunteer” section of this website to be considered for an opportunity. We will acknowledge your application when it’s received, and we will try to find a location and time that will be most convenient for you.

Free Online US Citizenship Preparation Classes

Lord of Life Lutheran Church will be offering free online US citizenship test preparation classes to permanent residents who are eligible for US citizenship. It is advised that students who register for this class should have at least a high beginner level of English.

These classes will meet via Zoom on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 7:00 to 8:45 , beginning April 13, 2023, and ending May 25, 2023.

An in-person orientation will be held on Tuesday, April 11, at 7:00 PM at Lord of Life Lutheran Church, 5114 Twinbrook Rd., in Fairfax.  Free textbooks will be distributed at that time, and a link to the class will be sent to registered students beginning the second week in March.  Class size is limited to twelve students.  The registration link is posted on this website and on Lord of Life’s webpage at https://www.lordoflifeva.org/esl