By JANET STOICA

This is the third in a series of articles about local immigrants and their lives in the United States, why they came, how they lived, and what their outlook is about this country.

Chi Vo’s family story is the makings of an adventure movie. Danger, pirates, fear so great that it stuns you, and an ending that makes me shout for America and all its goodness.

It was truly a dark and stormy night when Chi Vo’s parents took all the strength and guts they could possible muster to leave Vietnam in 1978. The country had fallen into a horrible situation after the terrible war. Chi’s parents, Doi and Yen Nguyen, sold everything they had and took their small son, Vu, and one-and-a-half year old daughter, Chi, with them to a secluded waterfront site to board a raft with another family whom they had paid to transport them to Thailand in the dark of night. From Thailand they hoped to make their way to a refugee camp and prayed that America was in their future. 

These brave people!  Who am I to write about such bravery? I must now stop for a minute to thank my own immigrant grandparents for seeking a better life here in the United States. Why do people come to our country? What is the attraction? It is surely something that most of us Americans take for granted…..the ability to make a great and successful life, the ability to speak out when we know something is not right, and the freedom to be as triumphant as we want to be. These goals have become muddied a bit along the way as each generation may take many things for granted but our great service men and women have provided us with the strength and stability to achieve whatever goals we choose. 

“My parents prayed to every God there could ever be,” said Ch. “They prayed not to be captured by Thai pirates who ran rampant in the South China Sea. The pirates raped women, killed children in front of their parents, and decapitated husbands. Their fears were strong and their hopes were high to make it to Thailand, about 800 miles by sea. They had risked everything. Her mother was pregnant with her younger brother. They made it to Bangkok, Thailand and found their way to a refugee camp. Somehow, they lucked out and were connected with the Worcester MA chapter of Catholic Charities and were one of the first Vietnamese refugee families to arrive in Worcester.”  

Catholic Charities helped them find housing and a job for her dad. They also provided a tutor for her parents to learn English and to assist them on their path to U.S. citizenship. Her parents were eager to become Americans. They studied diligently and passed their exams very successfully paving the way for their young children to qualify as U.S. citizens too. “I cannot give enough praise to Catholic Charities,” said Chi. “They helped my parents tremendously.”

Chi’s mom, Yen, stayed home to care for the now family of four children until Thanh, the youngest child, was in third grade. Yen went to work as a laborer, like her husband, at a wire company in Worcester. Both parents now worked 12 hours per day 7 days per week. “They wanted a better life for us,” said Chi. “Soon we moved out of the projects and into our own home. Catholic Charities further assisted with sponsorship of my grandmother who soon helped with taking care of us while our parents were working. Most of our family is here in the U.S. now. We are so very, very grateful for all the priests and nuns who helped our family come to this country and who assisted them in studying hard to become citizens. We all made it work.” 

Chi graduated from Nichols College with a Bachelor’s degree in Business Management and is currently working on her Master’s degree. After high school she began employment with Mapfre Insurance of Webster and worked her way up to Senior Manager in Business Development. She currently works for a large banking and financial services company in the greater Boston area where she enjoys her position of Senior Vice President and Director of Operations. She has three boys. Tyler is a student at a local college, Dylan who is a certified hydraulic aircraft mechanic and also a college student while being employed as a pharmacy technician, and Colin who is a high honors high school student and is also on his school golf, tennis, and ski teams. Her nephew, Ryan, is also a big part of her family. 

Chi’s hardworking dad is now retired from his labors and she thanks her beloved mom, Yen, for all the guidance and strength she instilled in her. “I would not be where I am today if it weren’t for my mom,” she said. “My goal is to be half the woman she was.”  Her mom passed from cancer in 2010 at the age of 59.       

 

Remember, remember always, that all of us, and you and I especially, are descended from immigrants.  Franklin D. Roosevelt