chimes of voices - introduction

The purpose of this site came about through my work at BPSOS, Inc. Everyday, I interacted with Vietnamese older adults through social service delivery, and inevitably, they shared their life stories with me. As an Ethnic Studies major, I was well aware of the gaps in conventional history textbooks and immediately took a liking to simply asking questions and soaking up everything I could about their migration to the states and lives as they once lived in our homeland of Vietnam. To save and compile these rich experiences, I created this site. I reached out to the community I worked for, my immediate family and friends, and sat down with their grandfathers and grandmothers to record these conversations. For each of the immigrants and refugees, the historical period might have been the same, but each experience was truly unique.


Tiếng Việt Còn, Người Việt Còn...translates into, "if the Vietnamese language endures, the Vietnamese people will endure". These oral histories are kept in the native tongue to foster the remembrance of everyday dialogue between generations and to preserve language for future generations to come. Some stories are also transcribed into English. I hope you enjoy these stories as much I enjoyed putting them together.