Since Tet, I have been quite busy with my volunteer work in regards to the Amerasian Foundation, a nonprofit organization I formed in the US before leaving for Vietnam. I formed the Amerasian Foundation to to help develop an “Amerasian Voice” in the US and Asia. Since forming the Amerasian Foundation in 2003, I have been able to network with valuable people and organizations all focussed on helping Amerasians worldwide. For most of you that do not know, I am a Japanese Amerasian. In short, my mother is Japanese and she married my father, an American sailor that she met during the Vietnam War. I am a product of that marriage, an Amerasian. Though I was not abandoned like a minority of Amerasians in Asia, we all shared the stigma of being Amerasian, children of war. Carrie Ching produced a short documentary about a Thai Amerasian that can give you an idea of what life is like as an Amerasian:
On Current TV:
“His Name is Charlie” – http://www.current.tv/watch/985059
Carrie’s short bio:
I’m currently web/multimedia producer for the Center for Investigative Reporting (www.muckraker.org). I have a master’s in journalism from UC Berkeley, where I began making documentary shorts in a backpack journalism course — we shot, reported and edited our pieces solo, the one-woman-band approach. I’ve reported for FRONTLINE World and several newspapers; I’ve also worked as a book editor and travel guide author. In 2000 I founded an online magazine for socially conscious youth called WireTap. I’m fascinated with cultural overlaps and intersections. A lot of my pieces touch on these issues.