Sound set / Oral History of Ha Vu, restricted 2025-06-02

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Title: Oral History of Ha Vu, restricted 2025-06-02
Creator: Vu, Ha
Contributor: Vu, Alex
Date Created and/or Issued: 2015-05-29
Contributing Institution: UC Irvine, Libraries, Southeast Asian Archive
Collection: Viet Stories: Vietnamese American Oral History project
Rights Information: Copyrighted
This material is provided for private study, scholarship, or research. Transmission or reproduction of any material protected by copyright beyond that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the copyright owners. Contact the University of California, Irvine Libraries, Special Collections and Archives for more information (spcoll@uci.edu).
Description: Scope/Content: An oral history with Ms. Ha Thi Vu, born on October 18, 1960 in Kien Hoa, Vietnam. She lived in Kien Hoa, Can Tho, and spent summer months in Saigon. After the war ended, she continued her education, majoring in English in Vietnam. She discussed her memories of Vietnam before and after the war, how education changed and how it affected her family’s lifestyle and business. Her family left by boat in three separate groups from 1977 to 1978 and ended up at the refugee camps in Pulau Bidong, Malaysia. Her boat along with as her parents' boats were robbed by Thai pirates, which was discussed in detail. Her family spent roughly six months at the refugee camps before finally receiving sponsorship from her older brother and sister to come to the United States. Her family arrived in Los Angeles and settled in Alhambra, California at the end of 1979 right after Christmas. After saving enough money, they settled in Temple City, California. In the following years, she began attending East Los Angeles College, majoring in accounting. During that time, she was also taking adult English as Second Language (ESL) classes and received an offer from her instructor as a part-time Instructor Aide to teach English. After two years of studying, she completed her degree in accounting around 1983 and was offered a full-time position as an Assistant Teacher for the ESL class at the Mountain View School District in El Monte, where she worked until she retired in 2015. She married in 1987, has three children, and currently resides in Temple City, California. In the interview, she discusses her return to Vietnam in 2002 for the first time to visit her in-laws. She discusses her feelings about revisiting her old homes and business, as well as the other times she returned to Vietnam in 2008 and 2014. Materials restricted until 2025-06-02.
Scope/Content: This recording is from the Vietnamese American Experience Class Oral Histories, 2015 Spring subcollection.
Scope/Content: Ha having breakfast at a Resort during a tour; Sa Pa, VN; August, 2014; Photographer Alex Vu
Type: sound
Format: 1 mp4 video file; 1 jpg transcription English; 1 pdf time log; 1 pdf life map; 1 pdf field notes; 25 jpg image files
Extent: 49 minutes
Identifier: ark:/81235/d86s0q
VAOHP0263
http://hdl.handle.net/10575/14590
Language: English
en
Subject: Boat People | Business | Catholic | Escape | English as a second language (ESL) | Family | High school | Refugee camp (Malaysia) | Religion | Teacher | Tet Festival | Thai Pirates | Pulau Bidong Refugee Camp, Malaysia | Vietnam, Southern | Can Tho (Vietnam)
Time Period: 1960-1969
Relation: Vietnamese American Experience Classes Oral Histories, 2015 Spring

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