IPS-English LAOS: Tribal Group Emigres Return Home Date: Fri, 23 Dec 2005 19:29:56 -0800 ROMAIPS AP NA DV IP IN=20 LAOS: Tribal Group Emigres Return Home By Aaron Glantz and Ngoc Nguyen HANOI, Dec 23 (IPS) - This month marks the 30-year anniversary of the com= munist takeover of Laos on Dec. 2, 1975 and the journey of a group of Lao= tian-Americans back to Southeast Asia, some for the first time. They travel to discover their roots; some seek to build business ties fol= lowing the normalisation of trade between the United States and Laos late= in 2004.=20 Among them, Pastor Seng Fo Chao is the peacemaker.=20 =94Forgiveness is the key to success for everyone. Don't hold onto what h= appened 30 years ago,=94 the pastor tells IPS as his delegation stops in = neighbouring Vietnam. =94A lot of our Lao people, especially the veterans= , were 100 percent against normal (ising) trade relations. They thought t= hat if normal trade was granted, then it would help the government instea= d of the poor.=94=20 =94But I am from a very poor family,=94 Chao continues. =94I want to move= forward, so the poor people can send their goods into the U.S. without t= ariffs.=94=20 Chao belongs to the Iu Mien ethnic group, whose people are spread through= out Laos, China, Thailand and Vietnam. During the Vietnam War, North Viet= namese supply lines ran through Laos. In response, the CIA recruited ethn= ic minorities from Laos and Vietnam, including the Iu Mien, to fight on t= he American side.=20 Chao witnessed the execution of his father and was orphaned at age six. T= en years later, he was recruited to join the Royal Lao Army and served as= a forward air guide side by side with the Americans until the fall of La= os in 1975. Then, like, several hundred thousand others, he was forced to= flee his country. He was one of approximately 10,000 Iu Mien resettled i= n the United States.=20 Still, Chao has always felt a connection to his country and a desire to b= uild bridges among the Iu Mien. He became president of the Iu Mien Americ= an National Coalition, and headed up an effort to create a uniform writte= n script for their language.=20 He says the lack of such a script made it very difficult for him and othe= r refugees to learn English. =94When a group of people arrive in America = without any ability to read and write everything is a shock. They were ve= ry frightened, panicked sometimes with that kind of situation.=94=20 Chao hopes the written script will be useful in helping the Iu Mien prese= rve their language, but that's only the beginning. He realises the Iu Mie= n must also grasp Laotian and English if they want to participate in the = economy.=20 His group has started a school that teaches Laotian, and they hope to exp= and it to include English in the future. They are also hoping to create a= n exchange programme where Iu Mien from Vietnam, Laos and China can visit= the United States.=20 =94They have the poorest language and economy and education in the world,= =94 says another member of the delegation, Pastor Seng Chao of California= (no relation) after visiting three Iu Mien villages in northern Vietnam.= He found that most villagers earn less than one U.S. dollar a day.=20 =94Today we need to help each other by promoting education,=94 adds Seng = Chao. =94The way they live, the way they speak -- they're living life lik= e 2,000 years ago.=94=20 Estimates of the total number of Iu Mien vary widely, but there are appro= ximately one million of the people spread across Southeast Asia and China= . The biggest population is in southern China, with around 750,000, while= tens of thousands of the tribal people live in each of Vietnam, Laos and= Thailand.=20 In recent years, the governments of both Vietnam and Laos have attempted = to reduce poverty among their marginalised ethnic communities. Whole town= s have been built for previously nomadic peoples, where the governments p= rovide schools, homes equipped with running water and irrigation for farm= ing.=20 The efforts have been somewhat successful, according to Phan Van Ngoc, th= e director of Action Aid in Vietnam, an international NGO dedicated to al= leviating poverty in rural areas.=20 =94They are now getting used to this system of farming and irrigation,=94= he says of the tribal peoples. =94They used to live shifting from one pl= ace to the other after thee or four years. They feel bored sitting in one= place and getting less and less land for their farming, or in other word= s, they are not able to farm enough food to feed themselves due to the su= dden change in their livelihoods.=94=20 Phan says some Iu Mien have been unable to adjust to the rapid change -- = many have left the government villages and returned to their old ways. =94= To create or change livelihood systems takes time,=94 he adds, =94and it = must depend on changing the way people live slowly.=94=20 A different set of problems confronts overseas Iu Mien like Pastor Seng F= o Chao. The Vietnamese government has accused certain tribal members of f= orming illegal mass organisations against the state and continues to keep= close tabs on them.=20 This trip marks the third time in 10 years Seng Fo Chao has attempted to = visit Iu Mien communities in Vietnam. It took that long before the Vietna= mese government finally approved his request.=20 But Chao says he does not hold the delay against the government, adding t= hat it is just a remnant of the war. In fact, he is encouraged by the coo= peration of the government during this visit and hopes that future ones w= ill be just as easy.=20 Mae Seng Chao (no relation), a drug abuse counsellor who works with the A= sian community in Seattle, is making her first trip back to Laos since th= e Communist takeover. She has uncles, aunts and cousins there that she ha= s not seen in decades.=20 To date she has only visited Iu Mien villages in Vietnam and China; she h= as not arrived at her final destination yet. But already Mae Seng feels t= he connection that Seng Fo Chao is hoping to achieve. =94This is just the= beginning for me,=94 she says.=20 =94I am expecting that we will make more connections. I would like to fin= d more of my relatives. I promised them I would send cloth. They requeste= d cloth to make their traditional clothes.=94=20 =94I just want to be friendly,=94 she adds. =94They are very, very poor i= n money but rich in heart. I don't know how much I can do for them, but I= love them.=94 =20 =3D 12231051 ORP008 NNNN