Miss Utah USA’s first minority beauty queen aims for the best in life

Posted on November 16, 2010 by comm5775

Story and slideshow by CHLOE NGUYEN

Whom do you picture when someone says, “Miss Utah USA”? Do you picture a beautiful, tall, blond-haired beauty? Does the image of the all-American-girl-next-door come to mind? Given Utah’s history of beauty queens, you would have been correct. But there is one queen who does not fit the typical description – Soben Huon.

Crowned as Miss Utah USA on Nov. 12, 2005, Huon is by all means American. She is a native of Texas, but she doesn’t have the blond hair or the fair white skin. She has brown eyes, dark hair and sun-kissed skin. Huon is a Cambodian American beauty with the confidence, right talent and attitude for the winning title.

Since 1952, when the pageant coronated its first queen, 57 women have been crowned Miss Utah USA. But Huon was the first, and still remains, the only Asian minority to represent the title at the national Miss USA competition. She is also the first Cambodian American to win a state title in Miss USA history.

“I was raised to embrace a really rich Asian heritage,” Huon said in an e-mail interview. “At home, I learned the Asian way of life and at school, I learned the American way. I feel as much American as I do Asian.”

And to prove she’s got the confidence, Huon entered the competition for Miss Utah USA. She figured it would be a great opportunity to network if she were to win.

But Huon admits she didn’t expect to be awarded the title. She told her mom, who was in California at the time, not to come to the pageant because she didn’t have confidence in winning. But when her name was announced for the crown, Huon had to find a phone fast, to relay the exciting news. “Since then, I learned never to underestimate myself again,” she said.

Huon was unaware she was poised to be the first minority titleholder for Utah until a friend mentioned the fact to her. “By then, I was already mentally prepared to go forward,” she said. “I took a chance and went for it and figured that I can always walk away from a wonderful experience.”

She believes that if ethnicity had been a factor in selecting the winner, then the pageant would have suffered for its lack of diversity. “A person cannot change where he comes from,” Huon said. “But he can certainly change his ideology and opinions.”

Huon was crowned at the age of 22, when she was a senior at Brigham Young University in Provo – she subsequently graduated with a bachelor of arts in political science and international relations. The beauty queen, now 27, was described as a “very kind and determined person” by the Miss Utah USA organization.

Jessica Whitehead, executive assistant of the Miss Utah USA organization, had great things to say about Huon. “Out of the contestants that year, Soben was the most unique and exuded confidence on stage,” she said.

The Utah USA beauty pageant is a competition that selects Utah’s representative for the Miss USA pageant. With a successful history at the national level, Utah has had 20 placements in the top 15 at the Miss USA competition as of 2009. According to the Miss Utah USA organization, ethnicity does not matter as long as the participant is a citizen of the United States, has never been married and has no children.

“We have had several minorities and immigrant participants in the pageants,” Whitehead said. “I do not think that one’s race, religion or background will determine if they will win the pageant.”

Each contestant is judged in the categories of swimsuit, evening gown and interview based on a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the highest. From there, the top 15 are chosen to compete again in the swimsuit and evening gown segments on the final night. The top five are then selected based on their performance during the onstage question and answer. “We want[ed] someone that will work hard as Miss Utah USA,” Whitehead said. “[And] will represent herself and her state well at the Miss USA pageant.”

Huon has proven that minorities living in America can make a name for themselves in a country where the white majority rules, at least when it comes to beauty pageants. “I think it gives hope to several other people and encourages them to go for their dreams,” Whitehead said.

And although Huon did not place in the Miss USA nationals on April 21, 2006, in Baltimore, Md., this hasn’t stopped her dream and goal of being and doing her best.

Huon moved to Europe in 2009 for an apprenticeship and will be completing her master’s degree in international relations there in 2011. She is currently residing in Berlin, Germany, playing the role of the American expatriate, enjoying learning about the European cultures and sharing her own with the people there.

“There’s something sizzling in Berlin since the Wall fell 21 years ago,” Huon said. And she wants to be a part of the indescribable historical social change that is occurring in the capital of Germany.

Huon plans to travel across the European Union while she’s there studying – she’s even got a “Places to Go before I Get Married” list. She has already crossed off countries like France, Italy, Spain, Austria and Switzerland from the list.

She’s traveling the world, but she hasn’t forgotten her roots. Huon says she’s still very much Asian, as well as American, even with all of the cultures she’s experienced so far. “I feel like I really stick out like a sore thumb at times, particularly when I am the only Asian in a group of Anglo students or when I am the only American in a group of Germans,” Huon said.

But she says in the end, these experiences just make her even more grateful to live in a time where the progression of diversity is occurring nationally, as well as internationally.

Huon says her minority status hasn’t stopped her from achieving what she wants in life. It’s something she cannot change, and wouldn’t want to. Instead, she focuses on things she can change, like doing her best in her studies and enjoying life as it goes by. The sash and crown were a representation of what she worked hard for, Huon said. And she felt the greater Asian community was excited there was going to be an Asian American representative at the Miss USA competition.

Huon believes her win sent a message to the rest of America that Utah is becoming more diverse. She wants to let minorities know they shouldn’t be afraid to be different and never let the fear hinder them from doing what they want to achieve.

“Be grateful that you are living in an age and society where the majority rules,” she said. “But the ever increasing endorsement of diversity paves a way for minority to have a voice.”

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Catholic Community Services helps refugees in Utah

Posted on November 9, 2010 by comm5775

by LAUREN CARTER

Approximately 1,000 Asian refugees take solace in Utah every year, according to the State of Utah Refugee Office. Most of these refugees come from Third World Countries, and have lived in refugee camps for the majority of their lives.

The majority of these people were driven from their homes because they did not support the ruling class that was currently in power. Some refugees are from the formal ruling class and ended up living in camps because their group was thrown from power, said Linda Oda, the director of Asian Affairs in Utah.

According to the State Department’s Foreign Affairs Manual, all refugees go through a several year process before being allowed to come live in the U.S. This process involves the work of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and the Department of State’s Bureau for Population, Refugees and Migration.

It usually takes about three to four generations for a refugee family to become in tune with the American way, Oda said. This transition involves learning English, taking life skills classes, learning American culture and establishing a life in the U.S.

Since 1945, the Catholic Community Services of Utah, has been helping refugee families throughout the first year of their lives in Utah.

“Utah is considered a welcoming state because we have organizations that truly advocate refugees,” Oda said.

When a refugee is relocated to Utah, their case is assigned to CCS or the International Rescue Committee. CCS and IRC are the only two agencies in the state of Utah that are allowed to handle refugee resettlements, said Rebecca Van Maren, the former assistant volunteer coordinator for CCS who also worked with Bhutanese refugees.

CCS’s work begins before the refugee or their family arrives in Utah. CCS finds out information about the family to arrange housing for the family. This information involves knowing the number of people within the family, and if they have any children, knowing the ages and gender of the children. CCS makes sure that the house is ready for the family to move in upon arrival, including fully furnishing the entire house, Van Maren said.

Van Maren said when refugees arrive, CCS sends a case manager to greet them at the airport. From the airport, the case manager then helps the refugee and their family get settled into their new housing. The refugee’s case manager’s job is to help the refugee and their family adapt to American life, and are available for the first year that the refugee is living in the U.S.

“Their case manager is primarily the person who is explaining the services that CCS provides,” Van Maren said.

CCS’s goal is to help the refugees and their families reach a state of self-sufficiency in Utah. This goal is achieved through taking classes, creating a stable life within the community and with the help of their case manager. A case manager’s help can range from signing the refugee up for classes, to explaining how to shop at a grocery store.

One of the biggest difficulties that refugees face is not being able to speak or understand English. CCS can find education classes that teach people who are 90 years old, down to small children the English language, Oda said.

“Without English these people will never get anywhere,” said Maung Maung, an Asian Advisory Council member in Salt Lake City.

CCS offers life skills classes that refugees can take. They also can coordinate volunteers and interns to mentor and visit with the families. These mentors can go to the refugee’s home to teach them basic life skills, as well.

CCS has job developers, who will work with the refugee’s case manager, to find employment for the refugee. These job developers can also help refugees write resumes in English, because a lot of CCS employees speak multiple languages, such as Vietnamese and Mandarin Chinese.

They also offer a refugee foster care program for children. This program provides guardians until the child’s family can be found or until the child reaches 18 years of age.

CCS occasionally works in conjunction with other agencies in Salt Lake to provide opportunities for people from other countries, Van Maren said. Over the summer, CCS provided filing work for Koreans who were here for a three-month language learning internship, she said.

They also offer an array of assistance programs, which include help with immigration status, substance abuse treatment facilities and many facilities to help provide basic services and goods to low-income and homeless individuals all across Utah.

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Former Miss Asia Utah says pageantry is more than beauty

Posted on November 9, 2010 by comm5775

by KENDRA WILMARTH

Lipstick and nylons fly across the room. Hairspray pollutes the air as women hold down aerosol nozzles sculpting each strand of hair in place. Women glide down runways with chiseled smiles and a glimmer of confidence in their stride. But this isn’t a fashion show, this scene is one of hopeful women competing at local beauty pageants to be considered for a crown identifying them as the next year’s titleholder.

In Utah countless pageants are available for young girls and women to compete in. Pageantry has become a popular outlet for women to get involved in their community, while at the same time earning scholarship money.

Miss Asia Utah is one of these pageants. The program began in 2008 and now takes place every June when the Utah Asian Festival is held in Salt Lake City. Asian women aged 17 to 25 are given the opportunity to showcase their talent and elegance while on stage. The pageant is open to anyone who is at least 50 percent of Asian descent and willing to be a role model for her community and the Asian-American community.

“We believe that these young women have a responsibility to do something in the community, it’s not just a pageant,” said Agnes Higley, chairwoman of Miss Asia Utah, in a phone interview.

Higley said the pageant is a way for women to personally develop. The program helps women gain and maintain confidence as well as high self-esteem. According to the pageant’s mission statement,  participants through this program will be able to foster relationships through friendship and cultural interactions. Higley said one of the main reasons for starting this pageant was the lack of knowledge in younger generations about their ethnic roots.

“There’s a lot of Asian-Americans who were born here, and they don’t know a lot about their cultures,” Higley said.

Women competing will also learn to understand about their own heritage and embrace others in their cultural differences. According to the mission statement, the pageant promotes intercultural unity among Asian-Americans in Utah. Judges pick winners based on talent, national costume, evening gown and eloquence in interviews. Each year different sponsors finance the pageant and provide the winner with a unique scholarship amount.

courtesy of Nicole Abalos

Abalos wins crown and title of Miss Asia Utah in 2009. Courtesy of Nicole Abalos.

Nicole Abalos was crowned Miss Asia Utah in 2009. The University of Utah student and former ROTC cadet says the program is a great way to showcase the diversity and multicultural societies here in Utah. In an e-mail interview Abalos said pageantry brings young women from all over the state to represent their ethnic heritage and unites them in many different ways.

Abalos became involved in pageantry in 2007 when she was given the title of Miss Philippine. Although she is one-half Filipino, one-fourth Japanese and one-fourth German, Abalos was mainly raised with Filipino traditions and also speaks some Tagalog, a major language in the Philippines.

Many doors have been opened for Abalos since her crowning, including opportunities with school, volunteering and even job interviews. Through the preparation of the pageant Abalos says she learned more about herself, was able to gain confidence and the self gratitude from helping others. Winning the pageant gave her not only a window to become a role model in her community, but also was an educational experience.

“The pageant has taught me a great deal about my ethnic roots which include, respect to elders, giving back, and keep traditions through every generation,” Abalos said in her e-mail.

Abalos, now 20, competed for the title of Miss Utah USA on Oct. 22. While she had hoped to receive the crown, for her it wasn’t about winning.

“It’s about finding who you are and why you should be the face or example of communities within the state,” Abalos said.

The Miss USA program is gaining more cultural depth. The current Miss USA is the first Arab-American titleholder. The 2010 Miss Utah USA is Russian and the previous winner was Bulgarian. Abalos says she believes it’s exciting to have contestants with such varied cultural backgrounds competing in pageants.

“This just proves how diverse our country is and the opportunities available to everyone,” Abalos said.

The former Miss Asia Utah says being involved in these competitions helps her learn from many amazing women who live around the state. Although Abalos didn’t win the title of Miss Utah USA, she said she will continue to be a great example and leader.

“I work hard for what I deserve and give back to those less fortunate,” Abalos said. “Hoping to be a role model to younger girls is all I could ask for.”

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Educating the community about Filipino culture through dance

Posted on November 4, 2010 by comm5775

Story by RICH FAHEY

Filipino children in the Salt Lake Valley are getting involved in a new dance group as a way to help maintain tradition. Kulturang Pinoy Ensemble, or Filipino culture ensemble, gives Filipino youngsters the opportunity to learn traditional dances, and educates the community about the culture as well.

“We have a lot of young Filipinos growing up here, and we’d like for them to learn their culture,” said Teena Jensen, vice president of the Kulturang Pinoy Ensemble, in a phone interview. “It’s also a way to keep them out of trouble.”

The ensemble was developed at the end of August 2010 when some Filipino families became concerned that their children were losing their heritage. Jensen was a dancer in a similar Salt Lake City program that discontinued performances in 1998. The group’s main focus was to educate others about Filipino culture. While the new ensemble is following in their footsteps, it is a learning tool for both the audience and performers.

Dancers performing Sayaw sa Bangko, or the bench dance, at the fundraiser. Photo courtesy of Teena Jensen.

The Kulturang Pinoy Ensemble currently consists of 10 children between the ages of 13 and 18. The first performance was held on the evening of Sept. 11, 2010, during a fundraiser to raise money for costumes and props. The girls will wear a balintawak, which is a long dress with butterfly sleeves and a brightly colored overskirt that matches the sleeves. The boys will wear a chino, or brightly colored shirt. When the children outgrow them, plans are in place to pass the costumes down to younger children in hopes of getting more people involved in the ensemble.

Jensen said the program has seen a lot of interest from parents and children alike. When fully developed, the ensemble will have children as young as 5 years old dancing with the group.

“The younger ones come out and watch their brothers and sisters and say, ‘when are we going to start dancing,’” Jensen said.

However, it’s not just about the dancing. The ensemble also encourages the youngsters to learn the Filipino language. During each practice and performance, the children are given a Filipino word of the day. The group includes children who are from the Philippines, as well as those born here. The interaction between them is good for both groups, especially those learning the Pinoy language, Jensen said.

“It’s also learning respect from other Filipino children,” she said. “In the Philippines they respect their parents more than some of the children here do.”

The Philippines are made up of more than 7,000 islands, which creates diversity between the various areas. Jensen said each island has a unique dialect and is like a totally different culture. These different cultures allow for variety in the dances. Each dance has its own meaning and represents a story. Every performance is divided into suites that feature a dance native to a particular area or Filipino culture.

In an e-mail interview, Jensen said one dance suite the ensemble will perform is the Barrio Fiesta Suite. This is comprised of four different dances. The first is the Pista, which displays the lavish preparation for a party. Next is the Gala, also known as the Boholano. This dance comes alive with the clashing of pans, pots, plates, ladles and brooms with firewood, pails and knives to represent a wedding. The third dance is the Kalatong, a popular dance from the province of Batangas that uses bamboo percussion tubes. The finale, and perhaps the most well known of all Filipino dances, is the Tinikling, named after the Tikling bird. For this part the dancers imitate the bird as it avoids traps set by farmers.

The ensemble plans to perform the Barrio Fiesta Suite and others at schools, churches, fundraisers and any time the opportunity presents itself. However, the ultimate goal is to dance at the Living Traditions Festival in May and the Utah Asian Festival in June.

“That’s one of the main reasons for the ensemble, because people were asking – how come there are no Filipino groups performing at these events?” Jensen said.

Eunice Jones, president of the Kulturang Pinoy Ensemble and chairwoman of the Utah Asian Festival, said, “It’s not going to be just a dance group for one organization. It has to be for the whole community.”

Both Jensen and Jones are excited to share the Filipino culture with the community through the Kulturang Pinoy Ensemble.

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Utah Asian Chamber of Commerce looking to expand scholarship program

Posted on November 4, 2010 by comm5775

Story and photos by KAREN HOLT BENNION

Growing up near a small village in the Philippines, she would often go to bed on an empty stomach. She spent her summers selling snacks like a vendor at a baseball game just to earn enough money to buy school supplies. She and her 10 brothers and sisters got by without running water or electricity. The only positive aspect in her life was the looking forward to each new school year. For Eunice Jones, education would be her salvation.

Eunice Jones discusses her life, past and present, with student-journalists at the University of Utah.

In her early teens, her parents moved the family to a small apartment in nearby Manila. Jones said the two-bedroom, one bathroom home seemed like a far cry from their “humble beginnings” back in her village. Life became a little easier for the family.

She eventually graduated from high school, and with the financial help from a college scholarship and her family, graduated in the top 10 of her class from a college in Manila. “That’s what we do,” Jones says. “We all help each other.” She got a job and settled down with her husband. They had two sons. However, after her husband left them, Jones decided it was time to venture outside of her home country. This meant breaking the rules of Philippine culture. She was supposed to live with her parents until she remarried.

She left her sons — one of whom was still breastfeeding — behind with her family and moved to Los Angeles, where she had been offered a job with the Hyatt Corp. “It was quite eye opening,” Jones says about her arrival in in that city. However, after three years of saving enough money she was able to obtain visas for her children and fly them to the U.S.

After marrying her second husband, they moved with him to Salt Lake City where she still worked in the hotel business. Finally, Jones decided she was ready for another challenge and earned her realtor’s license. During her first year as a realtor Jones was chosen as Rookie of the Year by Better Homes and Gardens magazine for her outstanding sales skills. She admits she owes it to selling snacks as a little girl in the summer. “I was in sales since I was a little girl,” she says.

In 2005, Jones, along with former Third District Judge Ray Uno, decided to establish the Utah Asian Chamber of Commerce. That same year, they also founded the Chamber’s scholarship program with the help of founding sponsor Zion’s Bank. Three scholarships were awarded at $1,000 each. Currently, the Chamber’s charitable foundation offers partial scholarships to an average of 15 students a year. Jones would like to see the scholarship program grow with more sponsors helping to offer full scholarships to high school seniors.

U student Amy Tran received a UACC scholarship in 2010.

One of last year’s recipients, Amy Tran, says the UACC Scholarship Program has helped her in more ways than one. A sophomore in business at the University of Utah, Tran says not only does the program give financial help, it also offers the students chances to receive training in leadership skills from local UACC members.

“The UACC is really supportive and motivating,” she says.

An awards gala and fundraiser for the scholarship program is held every spring. All of the students are invited to attend. They meet each other and are introduced to members of the UACC. The members then teach the students how to network and make connections. Tran says, “They all really try to get to know you.”

Another student at the U has been awarded the UACC’s scholarship for three years in a row. The last time she was awarded the scholarship she received the highest score of all the applicants. Michelle “Mika” Lee is currently earning her master’s degree in occupational therapy. She is also a part-time intern for the UACC. Lee works as the event coordinator.

“Education is placed high in my family — my father got a Ph.D. and my mother got her B.S. early,” Lee wrote in an e-mail interview.

UACC President Lavanya Mahate congratulates Mika Lee at the 2010 Scholarship Gala.

Both students agree that more publicity is needed in order for the scholarship program to grow. Tran heard about the scholarship through her uncle, who is a member of the UACC. She never heard anything about it at her high school. Scholarship co-founder, ZeMin Xiao, says their program is still small compared to other minority programs in the area. The main reason for this, she believes, is due to a stereotype that Asian-Americans do not need scholarships. People view Asian-Americans as the “Model Minorities,” she says. Tran agrees; when she told her friends she was going after different scholarships they told her she didn’t need them.

“You’re Asian, you’re smart, you’ll be fine,”  her friends said.

Xiao would like the Salt Lake community to know there is a scholarship specifically targeting Asian-Americans.  She says the program is constantly trying to find more sponsors. Some of the supporting companies include Merrimack Pharmaceuticals, Crocker Ventures Ltd. and vSpring Capital.

Now divorced, Eunice Jones dedicates more time with members of the UACC to help mentor Asian-American students and to try to get the Salt Lake community to realize that by helping to fund their scholarship program, it is investing in the future of all Utahns. After all, her family invested in her.

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Nepalis work hard to keep their culture alive in Utah

Posted on November 2, 2010 by comm5775

Story and photo by KENDRA WILMARTH

Imagine you are in a store. Casually running your hands along various items, looking for something that grabs your attention. Wishing you could find apparent character in a product, something different from the same old mass-produced item you saw at your neighbor’s house on Tuesday. For Salt Lake County residents, stores are starting to fill their shelves with something a little more unique.

Artisans from all over the world are working hard right here in Salt Lake City to provide the local consumer with products such as gloves, necklaces, scarves, blankets and handbags.

Many of these artists are refugees who have come from countries around the globe, such as Somalia, Burma and Nepal. They left their homes due to the dangers of war and moved to refugee camps. Now they have found refuge here in Utah.

The Global Artisans program was created by Salt Lake County to assist these refugees in countless ways and to also help ease their transition to a new way of life. The program was founded in 2008 and is a division of the Pathways to Self Sufficiency project. Ze Min Xiao, refugee services liaison for Salt Lake County, said it was set up as a way to address the gap in the refugee community.

“There is a large population of refugees who are not being engaged,” Xiao said. “This program provides them with the opportunity to get together in a safe place, keep their traditions alive and earn supplemental income for their family and also at the same time gives them the opportunity to be encouraged and empowered to achieve more.”

One of the largest groups seeking refuge here in Utah are the Bhutanese from Nepal. After 18 years of being in camps these refugees have found freedom in Salt Lake City. Now, these individuals are provided the opportunity to capitalize on their own skills by taking part in the Global Artisans program.

Xiao said around 80 participants are enrolled in this program and more than half of them are Nepali refugees. They meet a couple times (sometimes more) per week to knit and sew.

When crafts are complete, artisans have the opportunity to sell their products to the Global Artisans program for an estimated $32,000 a year. However, program participants can also independently sell their own products if they wish to do so.

“It’s teaching them that they can take their culture and make some good of it,” said Linda Oda, director of Asian Affairs.

Oda calls Utah the “welcoming state” because of the state’s willingness to allow refugees to settle within its borders. According to the State of Utah Refugee Services Office an estimated 1,000 refugees have resettled in Utah just in 2010 alone.

Several stores around Salt Lake County sell Global Artisan products, including Little America Boutique, Dancing Queen and Jolley’s Pharmacy. Soon BYU and the University of Utah’s bookstores will  carry their goods. Many of the artisans are also selling their products on Overstock.com. Xiao says the program is in the process of finding new businesses to carry their handcrafted items. They hope to add another 10 stores to the list by the end of 2010.

Refugees meet in the Pioneer Craft House in South Salt Lake, where they are given the proper instruments to fashion various crafts. This equipment is financed through a grant given to the program from American Express.

“This generous grant allows us to purchase supplies, equipment, hire a part-time coordinator and also for marketing purposes,” Xiao said.

Heidi Ferguson is the project coordinator of Global Artisans. Ferguson meets regularly with the program participants. She said most of the individuals in the program already possess the talent and ability to knit and sew and that her job is to help train refugees in the basics of business and teach them new ways to improve their craft.

“All of these refugees are very talented and willing to work hard,” Ferguson said. “They feel comfortable here in Utah, and are glad they can add a little more to the community that has given them a safe place to live.”

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Bullying, stereotyping must give way to acceptance, say Asian-American women of Utah

Posted on October 26, 2010 by comm5775

Story and photos by KAREN HOLT BENNION

No one realized that when she entered the room, this petite 5-foot-2-inch tall frame would pack such a powerful punch.

Linda Oda grew up in Ogden’s “Red Light District.” It was known for being the toughest and most violent section of town. At an early age, she learned how to protect herself from bullies and thieves. When she was 12 years old, she stood up to a potential thief (called a “dorobo” in the Japanese culture). He pressed a knife against her stomach and told her he could kill her. She then flashed a knife she had been using to trim heads of lettuce and said, ” I could kill you too.” She was unhurt. Even more tragic was the death of her father. One day, he came upon a “dorobo” robbing the store. The thief took $100.

Then he bludgeoned her father to death.

These experiences were some of the many that toughened Oda on a daily basis and drove her into survival mode. In elementary school, Oda soon found out that fighting back was the only way she could endure. “A lot of times I had to fight for my life,” Oda said. Name calling and being driven apart from the “white kids” was her way of life. It was yet another element that motivated her to eventually stand up and walk away from being labeled as an “other” by students with racist attitudes.

Oda said that during the 1940s and 1950s, Japanese-Americans who were not sent to internment camps were relegated to the lower-income neighborhoods. They were ignored and made to feel invisible. For her, it was all a matter of having to prove herself and to break out of the tightly-woven stereotypical mold of being a soft-spoken, passive Asian-American woman.

She admits that her hard childhood was the key motivator for her to succeed as an adult. Right after high school she headed to college and eventually earned her doctorate at Weber State University. She has been an elementary school  teacher, a middle school principal and a dominant figure in helping new refugees adjust to life in Utah and find well paying jobs.

She is now the director of Asian Affairs for the Governor’s Office of Ethnic Affairs. Although she has made a name for herself, she admits that even today she still feels that she must constantly prove herself in the “white man’s world,” as she calls it. Her optimism overflows as she speaks of communities in Utah helping the growing number of minorities and immigrants feel included, especially women. She is driven to bring positive changes to her community. For example, Oda is currently working on bringing young Asian men and women together for an Asian Youth Leadership Summit. The conference will teach teens to overcome feelings of doubt and offer them tools to be successful in education and in leadership roles after high school graduation.

Today, the number of Asian-Americans in Utah is steadily increasing. According to both the U.S. Census Bureau and The Utah Minority Bar Association, the Asian-American population is second only to the Hispanic population. Asian-Americans make up 4.1 percent of the state’s citizens.

Another advocate for the Asian-American community works at the University of Utah. Tricia Sugiyma works at the Student Center for Ethnic Affairs and is the adviser for the school’s Asian-American Student Association. At the AASA’s first meeting of the fall semester, Sugiyama’s face lit up as more and more curious students entered the room. Soon, more than 40 students filled the room. Their families had come from places such as Southern China, Japan, the Philippines, Vietnam and Korea.

Chaw Wguyen, left, and Ming Lam attend AASA's first meeting of fall term.

After hearing the story about Oda, a small group of freshman women said they hadn’t experienced the same type of bullying that she did. They said their families and friends are supportive of them and have encouraged them to get a good education. Chaw Wguyen and Ming Lam, both 18, said the U is already pretty diverse and so far they haven’t noticed any kind of outward bullying. However, others in the group said they have noticed a more subtle type of disdain arising from various comments they hear. One student said because she is Asian, people automatically expect her to be extremely smart. “I’m really not; I have to study hard like everybody else.”

“I know,” said another student. “I get so sick of complete strangers coming up to me and telling me how silky and smooth my skin looks, like I’m some sort of a doll or something.”

Sugiyama said the definition of bullying has changed since the days of WWII. “Taunting of Asian-Americans still exists,” she said, “just in different ways.” “Cyber bullying” is a real danger, especially among young girls. Other methods of intimidation aren’t as extreme; however, the impact can be felt just the same.

“Asians-Americans are viewed by many, especially in the media as perpetual foreigners,” Sugiyama said. She believes that many movies and televisions programs portray Asian women as exotic looking seductresses, or passive subservient women who make good wives. Men don’t fare much better. They are depicted as warriors and Kung-Fu fighters.

Talking with peers is a good way to feel secure about oneself, say Linda Oda and Tricia Sugiyama.

Sugiyama’s parents were born in Japan, but she grew up in Sandy. She was raised and assimilated into the prevailing culture of that area. It was when she was in college that she realized much of her family’s culture had been forgotten. She now maintains a balance of being “Americanized” as she puts it, and still celebrates her family’s heritage while helping other young women find their own place in today’s society.

Both Oda and Sugiyama feel all young women need a support system. Becoming involved with clubs and organizations is a good way to secure and build confidence. Sharing feelings of being left out with a trusted peer or mentor can also help students realize they aren’t alone, they aren’t invisible, they don’t have to be an  “other.”

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Utah Domestic Violence Council aims to aid members of Asian community affected by abuse

Posted on October 21, 2010 by comm5775

The Utah Domestic Violence Council works with many women's shelters, including the YWCA in Salt Lake City.

Story and photo by DANA IGO

Kenneth Warhola arrived at his Layton home Sept. 8 to find his wife locked in their children’s room. After several attempts to persuade her to open the door he broke it down. She was sitting next to the couple’s two children, Jean, 7, and James, 8, who were covered with a sheet and unresponsive. His wife, Sun Cha Warhola, 44, is charged with strangling them to death.

As the information came out in the Salt Lake Tribune and Deseret News, it was learned that disputes between Sun Cha Warhola and her husband had been ongoing for more than four years.

According to the Tribune, Kenneth Warhola was charged with domestic violence in 2007. In another incident both Warholas were charged after an altercation in a parking lot. One report just weeks before the murders showed that Sun Cha Warhola alleged that her husband had sexually abused their children. The Davis County Attorney’s office reviewed the case and determined the accusations were unsubstantiated, as reported by the Tribune.

The Deseret News wrote that before the murders, Sun Cha Warhola called a Korean newspaper in a desperate attempt for help. She told Inseon Cho Kim, director of the Korean Times of Utah, that she dreaded leaving her husband with their children in the event of a divorce.

While all women have difficulty coming forward to get help for domestic abuse, women in the Asian community face a particular quandary. Prevention and educational programs on domestic crime aren’t targeted to Asian women. A report published by the National Asian Women’s Health Organization suggested that this is because society tends to view the Asian population as a “model minority,” meaning that they are viewed as achieving high rates of success.

Asian women have the lowest rate of domestic violence of any of the major racial groups. A small number of Asian and Pacific Islander women, 12.8 percent, reported having experienced physical assault by a partner at least once in their lifetime, according to a study published by the Asian & Pacific Islander Institute on Domestic Violence. This was the lowest percentage among any racial class surveyed, which was cited by experts as being due to underreporting.

The unwillingness to come forward in cases of domestic violence among Asian women may also be perpetuated by culture.

Dr. Linda Oda, director of Asian Affairs at the Utah Office of Ethnic Affairs, said that abuse in Asian families isn’t often reported because their cultural values tend to stress keeping things within the family.

Unlike Western culture, traditional Eastern culture puts emphasis on the family instead of the individual, leaving Asian women feeling less inclined to report physical and domestic abuse.

The Utah Domestic Violence Council (UDVC), 205 N. 400 West, a nonprofit organization with resources throughout the state, is reaching out to the underserved communities across Utah in an effort to prevent future domestic crimes. In preparation for Domestic Violence Awareness Month in October, the council’s diversity coordinator, Hildegard Koenig, provided information to the Asian Advisory Council so its eleven members could pass it to their respective communities. She approached the council because it connects the Asian community with Oda and her office.

“By working and educating community leaders and building those strong relationships we can start a dialogue on how we can better assist victims of domestic violence in their communities,” Koenig said.

Sometimes the educational materials fall short. Salman Masud, the council’s representative of the Pakistani community, said the materials offered by the UDVC were only written in a few languages, which narrows the ability of non-English speaking Asian immigrants and refugees to know whom to contact in a domestic abuse situation. Currently the brochures are offered in seven languages, including Chinese, Tongan and Samoan. Koenig is seeking individuals to help translate the material into other languages.

Non-English speakers can call The Utah Domestic Violence Link Line, 800-897-LINK (5465). The hotline is currently available in 144 languages, making it a good resource for members of all communities who may not be able to get the printed materials in his or her language.  Many of the UDVC‘s resources can be accessed online, including special reports, training materials and a map of domestic violence programs throughout the state.

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Finding the needle to success

Posted on April 27, 2010 by comm5775

Story and photos by EMILY RODRIGUEZ-VARGAS

A 3-year-old boy sits barefoot on the pavement at 2248 S. 440 East in South Salt Lake City, with a weary look on his face. Watching other children laugh and play at the Hser Ner Moo community center for refugees, he remains on the sidewalk alone.

Unfortunately, not all Asian individuals have been lucky enough to have had the kind of upbringing and opportunities to succeed. Some of them have never had the chance to learn and grow.

This necklace made out of coconut was brought over from Thailand.

More than 2,000 immigrants arrive in Salt Lake City each year, according to reports by the International Rescue Committee. The majority of these immigrants come from Burma and other Asian countries. Many of them were allowed asylum into the U.S. due to political persecution. Many children have never lived outside of refugee camps, or have been exposed to the freedoms they find in Utah.

Roger Tsai, an immigration attorney at Parsons, Behle & Latimer and former president of the Utah Asian Chamber of Commerce, said that although many refugees from Japan, Korea and China generally tend to have more education under their belt, many other people in Asian countries still struggle to access basic schooling.

In the Hser Ner Moo Community Center for refugees, students of all ages are learning English in school while acclimating to American culture. In the afterschool program, they come together to do homework, play games, and use the English vocabulary they picked up in school. With the help of volunteers, the center coordinates activities, outings and trainings for the children to enjoy.

Lewe La Sa shows off a traditional scarf.

Lewe La Sa, 17, who is Burmese, arrived in the U.S. only 18 months ago from a refugee camp in Thailand. She came to the center to get help with her homework, as she was trying to get through a full class load during her last year at Cottonwood High School. Sa showed motivation to learn for her classes and improve her English skills as she transitions from the life she knew growing up in the camp, where she was an excellent student. She speaks Karen, some Thai and now English. She said her mother never had the opportunity to go to school.

Sa dreams of attending the University of Utah and becoming a nurse. If that doesn’t work out, she said, she wants to be a social worker and help refugees from her country.

“Many people come here that speak Karen, but it’s very difficult for them to understand English at first,” she said. “I also want to be an interpreter, they really need one.”

Sa and her younger sister, Paw Ku Sher, currently teach a refresher course of Karen to refugee children between the ages of 4 and 14 every Saturday.

Special occasions in Burma require specific dresses.

“If they have lived here for a long time, they don’t remember their family’s native language very well,” she said. Her next step toward achieving her academic goals is succeeding at the upcoming college entrance exams.

Kaity Dixon, an IRC volunteer coordinator, said in an orientation to volunteers in Salt Lake City that it’s a true struggle to learn to read and write in a foreign language when you haven’t learned to do so in your own native tongue.

“In an instant, reading directions and completing necessary paperwork for daily life becomes a barrier to progress in a new country,” she said.

Without organizations like the IRC and other offices, as well as on-site tutoring for refugee children and services for whole families, personal, financial or educational achievements for these individuals might be too far out of reach.

A Japanese saying captured this complex situation of giving direction right at its point: “When one has no needle, thread is of little use.” The programs offered now could expand or improve in the near future by greater participation and community involvement for maintaining these vital services.

Maybe there is hope for the young boy on the sidewalk after all.

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Truthfulness, compassion, tolerance: How Falun Gong saved a life

Posted on April 20, 2010 by comm5775

by KEITH R. ARANEO-YOWELL

Lang-hao Lin shifted uncomfortably in her seat when she flipped to the page in a Falun Gong history book with an image of a young girl bound to a chair with rope, and surgical tubing going into her bloody nostril.

“This is similar to what happened to me,” Lin said. “They put some kind of medicine into the thing they force-feed you. After feeding, you’re in semi-consciousness, dreaming all day, you’re not clear-minded anymore.”

Lin, who asked that her real name not be used, was referring to the treatment she received while serving a two-and-a-half-year sentence in a forced labor camp in Shanghai, China. Her crime was practicing Falun Gong or Falun Dafa, a philosophy that holds tolerance, compassion and honesty as its three pillars of spirituality.

“It’s not a religion,” Lin said. “It’s culture generated from the 5,000-year-old Chinese history.”

Started in 1992 by Li Hongzhi, Falun Gong draws from Buddhist and Taoist principles of self-improvement without the worship of a deity. It emphasizes qigong, a meditative practice that uses slow movements and controlled breathing as a way of spiritual enrichment.

Hongzhi’s book, “Falun Gong,” teaches the physical and spiritual aspects as well as how to meditate. Practitioners begin by assuming four standing meditation positions and one final sitting position. The legs and torso remain static while the hands move slowly around the body in ways that “mix and merge the universe’s energy with the energy inside the body.”

In this way, many practitioners believe that the ritual has powerful supernatural healing capabilities.

Because of the changes she perceived in those around her, Lin, 37 started attending Falun Gong meditation in Shanghai in 1997.

“I witnessed with my own eyes so many people getting healthy bodies by just doing [Falun Gong] exercises,” Lin said. “Before, they even had cancer. It was like a miracle happening around me.”

Lin said the practice grew rapidly because of its simplicity and effectiveness and, while there is no official entity monitoring the number of practitioners, the Congressional Research Service’s report titled “China and Falun Gong” estimates the number of practitioners during the mid-1990s to be anywhere from 3 million to 70 million.

Despite its wide adoption in Chinese society, however, the Chinese government made the practice of Falun Gong illegal in July 1999.

Roger Tsai is an attorney for Parsons, Behle & Latimer who would later help Lin attain status as a political asylee. He said the Chinese government felt threatened by Falun Gong’s popularity.

“[The Chinese Communist Party] was worried about how popular Falun Gong was,” Tsai said. “At one point the size of this group was larger than the size of the communist party, so it was a potential challenge.”

A government official was later quoted in print and broadcast for the Xinhua News Agency (a Chinese news outlet) as saying, “Those who jeopardize social stability under the pretext of practicing any qigong will be dealt with according to the law.”

Even though there is no official record of the number of arrests for practicing Falun Gong, the Wall Street Journal reported in 2000 that more than 30,000 practitioners had been arrested in the first year of the Chinese government’s ban of the practice.

Lin was pregnant with her daughter and working in Shanghai when Falun Gong was made illegal. She continued to openly attend Falun Gong meditation even though she had heard stories of the Chinese government sending practitioners to prisons and labor camps. “I was scared,” Lin said. “I did not want to be persecuted, but I did not stop.”

In 2001, Chinese authorities found Lin at her work. “At first, I was not [arrested] because I had a baby, and they gave me a one-year nursing period,” Lin said. “They told me, if after one year [I did] not denounce Falun Gong, they would send me to a labor camp.”

After receiving threats from the government and hearing accounts of life in labor camps, she decided she had no choice.

Lin went into hiding for a year in Nanjing, a city roughly 200 miles northwest of Shanghai. “My husband and my daughter didn’t know where I was. I dared not go out. After one year,” Lin said, “I missed home so much, I made one phone call to my husband. I told him where we could meet, but when I went, there were police waiting already. I didn’t even get to see [him].” Lin believes her husband’s phone was tapped.

Lin would spend the next two-and-a-half years in a forced labor camp assembling American products, a task she said was assigned to her because she could read English. She slept on a plank of wood. She was not allowed to talk. She shared a single toilet and a cell the size of two standard parking spaces with up to 10 other women.

For 10 days, Lin did not eat or drink water as a way of protest. “If you refuse to eat or drink, they use a tube to force-feed you,” Lin said stoically. “It’s not to save your life, it’s for punishment.”

Had Lin simply signed a document renouncing Falun Gong, authorities would have allowed her to go free. She said she couldn’t do it because it goes against the truthfulness that Falun Gong holds paramount over suffering. “It isn’t true, so I couldn’t do it,” Lin said.

After her release from the labor camp in 2005, Lin was only able to continue her Falun Gong practice in secret because the Chinese government continued to monitor her activity. Lin was unable to attend public meetings, protests, rallies or Falun Gong meditation.

Reprieve came only in 2008, when Lin’s husband accepted The University of Utah’s offer to study for one year as a visiting scholar. Her husband left China while Lin and her daughter acquired passports and visas to stay in the United States for the rest of his time at the University of Utah.

After a few months of talking with her husband about staying in the U.S., Lin approached Roger Tsai to obtain status as a political asylee, which would grant her one year of legal residence in the U.S. With Tsai’s help, she submitted her case for political asylum to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s office of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services in 2009. Two months later, she and her family were allowed an extra year in the United States after her husband’s visiting scholarship ended in August 2009.

Lin still studies Falun Gong year round. Once a week, she and a group of other practitioners meet in Salt Lake City’s Liberty Park during the spring and summer, and with one of the elderly practitioners at a nursing home on 700 East during the rest of the year. Robin, who asked that his full name not be used, practices Falun Gong with the group of other adherents at the park. He said Falun Gong does not advertise and is open to anyone who wishes to participate.

When Lin and her family became political asylees, they became eligible to apply for permanent residency in the U.S. Tsai assisted in this process and Lin and her family submitted the paperwork in March 2010. They are still waiting to find out if they’ll be able to stay in Utah indefinitely.

Filed under: Asian American, Immigrants & Refugees, Organizations, Politics, Religion | Tagged: , , , | Leave a comment »

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