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Nearly three years into his life in the United States, Phat Nguyen loves learning about American conventions but remains loyal to his Vietnamese roots. The reverent 18-year-old and peers will commend their past and present Saturday by helming the first Viet Summer Festival along Sixth Street from Washington Avenue to Federal Street.
“We are looking to conserve our culture and spread it to many communities, especially for Vietnamese who were born in America and might not have that much knowledge of it,” the resident of Eighth Street and Snyder Avenue said Sunday at Boat People SOS-Delaware Valley, 600 Washington Ave. “I’ve been in this country long enough to know we need to respect our background, too.”
The Lower Moyamensing teenager has been involved with the Passyunk Square entity for two years, bonding with fellow adolescents through the Asian Youth Empowerment Program. His infatuation with upholding his heritage matches that of his superiors and community leaders, including fifth-year Boat People branch manager Nancy Nguyen and Vu Truc, president of the Greater Philadelphia Vietnamese Community, 2109 S. Seventh St. Having organized a successful voter registration campaign last year, the two figures pondered additional ways to engage young people and older adults alike.
“We decided on the festival because of Mr. Vu’s immense emphasis on youths’ exposure to culture,” Nancy Nguyen, of the 300 block of Wharton Street, said. “This collaboration is trying to make even more evident just how engaged Boat People SOS is in revering what has come and addressing what could be.”
“We want to give them further experience building the community,” Vu, of Sixth Street and Snyder Avenue, added. “There is so much to honor and understand.”
For the involved youngsters, that abundance of knowledge has intensified preparation for the execution of their 12-year-old organization’s noon to 8 p.m. extravaganza. Though Phat Nguyen anticipates a fantastic celebration, with him and his contemporaries to run the eight-option game station and 24 merchants to hawk their products, he is aiming for attendees and compatriots to realize that more than enjoying pastimes and making purchases need to occur for the day to resonate.
“I think we have to convey that staying respectful towards the reading and writing of our language matters most,” the recent graduate of South Philadelphia High School, 2101 S. Broad St., where he landed a Gates Millennium Scholarship toward his pending matriculation at Temple University, said. “Also being mindful of how appropriate we are in our dress, especially the traditional áo dài, and manner is important, too.”
A committed contributor to his alma mater’s Vietnamese Immigrant Youth Organization, the young man has found especially endearing his time with Boat People’s Summer Youth Bicycle and Environmental Program, which will employ other engaged individuals in a service-learning project July 1 to Aug. 9, and an anti-bullying initiative. As he and his peers prepare for an afternoon and early evening of art and watermelon contests, singing, storytelling and more, he knows they are presenting a heritage that few Philadelphia inhabitants possess much awareness of, which adds motivation to be a prominent voice for what compels his country and its transplants.
“Vietnamese people have a long history of fighting for and tending to what’s dear to them,” Nancy Nguyen said to nods from Phat Nguyen and Vu. “We want to showcase that and continue to be a resource for local Vietnamese and an entry into our world for others.”
In addition to their inaugural summer bash, the Vietnamese community and Boat People have striven to be upholders of their lineage through numerous events, with the most prominent being a Tet, or New Year, celebration; April 30’s Fall of Saigon gathering to mark the end of the Vietnam War; July 27’s Remembrance Day, or Day for Martyrs and Wounded Soldiers; and the mid-autumn moon festival. Boat People last spring also collaborated with the Smithsonian Institute’s Asian American Pacific Program and Traveling Exhibition Service to bring “Exit Saigon, Enter Little Saigon: Vietnamese America Since 1975” to Center City’s Asian Arts Initiative, offering looks at former refugee campers’ adjustments to America following the aforementioned conflict.
“The exhibition was another way to make sure that our history remains visible,” Nancy Nguyen said. “Anything we become involved in, including the upcoming festival, is to lead people to evaluate what our ancestors have gone through and what we can do to carry on their example.”
As the 2010 U.S. Census noted nearly 4,000 Vietnamese call South Philly home, with the highest concentrations in the 19145 and 19148 zip codes, Boat People employees and registrants have found themselves welcoming more community members constantly, with the organization establishing strong connections with Southern, Edward Bok Technical, 1901 S. Ninth St., and Horace Furness, 1900 S. Third St., high schools. To enhance their union with other Asian groups, they worked with the Cambodian Association of Greater Philadelphia, which houses its South Center at 2416-18 S. Seventh St., in October for a Temple University-situated look at politics and the need to make residents aware of issues directly related to them.
“We want our people to navigate through two worlds, that of their homeland, meaning Vietnam, which is our source, one way or another, and that of the United States, in particular, South Philly,” Vu said.
Though the principal organizers have designated educating youths as a focus for the event, they consider their function a communal appeal to inspect, respect and explore their saga.
“Like any established culture, we have many tales to tell,” Nancy Nguyen said. “Come to explore them and more.”
For more information, visit bpsos.org.
Contact Staff Writer Joseph Myers at jmyers@southphillyreview.com or ext. 124.
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