A Letter of Introduction to San Jose
By a contributor of Viet Bao
This evening, I read thoroughly through the writings of a lawyer named Jenny Do who resides in San Jose. I was deeply moved by her words. Please allow me to share some of Jenny’s story with you.
In February 1984, an Air France flight from Africa to San Francisco carried the first group of mixed-race families to the United States. An Amerasian girl named Dang Thi Phuong Khanh is accompanied by her mother and younger brother. That day was Phuong Khanh's 18th birthday.
She was born in Vung Tau. At that time, the unknown American father had passed away a few months earlier. The world she knew was inherited from her mother's side of the family, from her mother and maternal grandparents. Her mother’s hometown was located in a remote village of North of the South Dinh. Dang with Truong Chinh, a communist leader, but in her family, many people were killed by the "revolution". After 9 years living in the Republic of Viet Nam, Phuong Khanh lived a difficult life due to her mixed-race identity and the racism that she faced. After 1975, the oppression grew even worse for the next 9 years because she was a member of a minory group without registration. Life was very painful living in the new economy of Tuc Trung to Saigon during the transition period. In 1984, leaving for America was an opportunity for this 18-year-old mixed-race girl to excel. She carried the weight of life as experience under two identities. In the Republic of Viet Nam, she learned the basic ethics of the family and the culture of the South. Under the communists, she experienced a painful period of struggling to survive. Thankfully, her half-blood status became a ticket for the whole family to leave her hometown and return to the country of a father whom she would never see again. She was 18 years old and had been raised for 9 years under socialist education through the lottery system, before arriving in the United States. Phuong Khanh did not speak English, so she was forced to start her life over completely from scratch. She went to work, attended to school, graduated with a law degree, and established a non-profit organization called Friends of Hue Foundation. Phuong Khanh became a lawyer, and currently serves as Chairman of the Board of Directors for the Friends of Hue Foundation. Her community knows her now as Jenny Do. She writes about the birth of Friends of Hue Foundation in her autobiography that details her visit to Hue, Viet Name in 2009, while sharing with us the severity of her near-death experience.
During a routine examination, Jenny discovered breast cancer. After a successful chemotherapy period in San Jose, Jenny is hopeful to recover and optimistically continues working in 2009. She published Duong Khuynh Diep to document her life-changing/life-saving trip back to Viet Nam 6 years ago. The great joy is that today, the organization has completed a community center in Hue.
There are many memories of fighting with Thua Thien police when Friends of Hue Foundation refused to hang Ho Chi Minh's picture and the red flag in the center. Friends of Hue is a sanctuary for the children—offering housing, meals, and schooling to guide this future generation into becoming a class of useful citizens.
A tragic story. Back in San Jose, 49-year-old Jenny decided to run for District 4 with a major desire to build a Vietnamese community center in San Jose. Many friends promised support, and the collective spirit of the community was enthusiastic about the 2016 election. But at times, joy lies in disaster.
One week, Jenny went for a routine check-up, but for her, the results felt like a death sentence. The cancer had aggressively recurred, and Jenny's remaining time could only be counted in months—an estimated 2-3 months. We inquired about the bad news, and last Tuesday night, attorneys Dan Do and Jenny Do visited our home to share with us their stories about their volunteer and their dream project of building a Vietnamese community center in San Jose.
Jenny would not have the strength to run for election this term, nor would she be able to speak about the long term. However, she is prepared to announce her personal circumstances and present to her dream project to her friends. Jenny sat calmly and confided in us for 4 whole hours. Demonstrating a strong will, she plans to continue the fight, even in the desperate circumstances in facing cancer. She told me about her passion for literature and her writing, which can be read at Duong Khuynh Diep (The Eucalyptus Journey).
One morning at 2 A.M., I found her intriguing essay on the internet. Among the articles of all sorts, I think this work can be considered one of the most moving. The author's heart is expressed deeply on each page. Although they are tragic stories, there emerges a great joy in each. These devastating stories. 10-year-old Vietnamese girls who are forced into prostitution in Cambodia. A Vietnamese woman who was locked up naked in a closed room, day and night. Impoverished people who sell birds at the temple gate to be released. A girl who sold shrimp on the beach, peeling each one for customers to eat, while she looked out to sea and worried that her husband would not return one day from fishing.
Phuong Khanh was a mixed-race 18-year-old girl, who immigrated to the United States, but still remembers the smell of the fragrant eucalyptus of the motherland of Viet Nam. More than 20 years later, now known as Jenny Do, she returned to find the scent of the past. No eucalyptus grows in Cambodia. No eucalyptus grows in Hanoi. No eucalyptus grows in Ham Tan Beach. But in Hue, there is eucalyptus that shares the stories of floods and cold children. At last, she finds a scent of the past right by the side of the road. Eucalyptus is also known for its medicinal purposes. But for this young girl, her search not for eucalyptus as a source of medicine, but rather for the memories that are carved into her mind by the scent of incense smoke in the memories of her life in the temple. Her memories lead her to the Dieu Bong leaf of Pham Duy ...
Millions of Vietnamese have left Viet Nam, and millions return to their old homeland. I have heard of the devastating stories of the 1980's. During the 1990's, the return of Vietnamese to their motherland boasts brilliant images of their homeland as developed in the 21st century, but none offer us the scent of The Eucalyptus Journey. The children of tomorrow who grow up on the Huong River will be loved by a friend of Hue. Regardless of whether Jenny's dream of a Vietnamese community center in San Jose comes true, The Eucalyptus Journey will remain in the hearts of readers forever, marking the author's heart for her homeland.
This 49-year-old courageous woman continues fighting her last days with fate. For every three women in America who is diagnosed with cancer, 1 woman dies. Jenny thought that she was that person. Laughing, she assured that her own affairs had been arranged, but thankfully, she has been given more time.
Please join me in following Jenny in her search for the scent of eucalyptus.
Read the original story here at Viet Bao
