Image provided by: Morrow County Museum; Heppner, OR
About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 28, 1980)
FIGHT The lleppner C.azptte-Tiiiies. Ileppncr. Oregon. Thursday February 28, 1!)S0 . , 5 Refugee leader facing Hough decision By Jean Gilliam "It is going to be a tough decision to have 'to make, whether to come to New Life. USA or remain in Portland as leader of the Hmong Families Association." Kuxeng Yong chu said during a Condon Town Hall meeting Monday night. The meeting was called to answer questions concerning the refugee project. New Life, USA. as time draws nearer for the first Hmong families to arrive at the former Condon Air Force station. Yongchu and his wife, 'Need to help' Coordinator describes 'New Life' efforts "We felt the need to help people who are oppressed," Don Nicholson said of East Hill Church's decision to purchase the former Condon Air Force Station for use as a refugee training center. Nicholson, coordinator of the project named "New Life, USA" was in Condon Monday night for a Town Hall meeting to answer questions from about 60 Condon and Fossil residents. "There are 208 verses in Bible Scriptures directly rela ting to the oppressed and the poor. It seems to rank pretty high on God's list of priorities and we, at East Hill, were united in this endeavor to do something about helping the oppressed people, the refu gees," Nocholson continued. "After the decision was made that we must help these people, we then began looking for a suitable site for the project. It was several months later when we learned about the Condon Air Force site and began negotiations to pur chase the property," Nichol son said. Nicholson then told the audience, "We pray that this community will join us in this endeavor but at the same time we do not want to be a burden on the community nor do we want to tax the community or hurt it in any way." In making their decisions as to what refugees they wanted to help, members of the East Hill Church decided on the Hmongs as they were the people who fought with the United States during the Vietnamese war and they are the people who are being persecuted now. They have been oppressed for hundreds of years. The first of a group of 57 Hmongs, now in a refugee camp in Thailand, is expected to arrive soon. There is one family of nine; (the mother is only 19 and in addition to her own children, she has nieces and nephews who will be part of the family unit); several families of eight; a family of four; a family of three; two families of two and seven single men. The staff at New Life, USA is hoping that they all do not arrive at one time, as this will be a new experience both for the staff and the Hmongs. They also know that some difficult adjustments lie ahead for all concerned, the langu age barrier for one. Their stay in Condon is expected to last six to nine months. There will be a period of adjustment from the stress of the refugee camp, then they will be taught English, give them job skills and orient them to the American culture. The Hmongs know they can never go back to their own country because of commu nism. When they are ready to leave New Life, USA, there are businesses, churches and individuals who will help them get settled in other areas. Nicholson said that if all the people who volunteered to come to Condon had been accepted, there would have been no houses left for the Hmongs. Nicholson called those who were selected to he staff members, the cream of the crop. Nicholson then began intro ducing the staff, giving their background and what they will be doing: Bud and Margaret Buse He gave up a job as supervisor of a construction company and she worked as a transcriber in a medical clinic. He is the administrator and in charge of maintenance. Roy and Carol David He has had his own logging company, knows ranching and farming and will be in charge of the agricultural program and assist with maintenance. John and Fran Topaum He is a full blooded Indian and has worked for the govern ment for the past 3fl years in vocational training. For the past seven years his specialty has been job placement for Indians. Topaum will be helping with vocational train ing and has already contacted many industries in Portland about jobs for the Hmongs. Fran, whom staff personnel already call mama, will be working with the Hmong women, as will other wives of staff members. Don and Joyce Jones He recently resigned his job as vice principal of a Portland school where he had been for 13 years as administrator and teacher. Joyce has worked as a secretary. He will be in charge of the training pro gram tor adults and children in English as a second langu age and teaching the children basic school readiness. (Any one in the Condon area who would like to help with private tutoring is invited to contact Jones.) All of the staff have been trained in the Laubach method of English as a second language. Tony and Cheryl Esau She is a registered nurse, who only needs another year's work to qualify as a nurse practition er. Her husband, whom she married Feb. 1 just before moving to Condon, is a chiropra?'or majoring in na turopathic treatment. (Ano ther doctor has offered to help in emergencies and perhaps come to Condon on a once a month basis.) Doug and Connie Hartell Doug is an expert in electron ics and is known as the "Mad Scientist" toother staff mem bers. He has designed two solar units which will be in operation very soon in test runs at the project. It . is anticipated that houses will be solar heated as well as buildings on the former base. Solar units will be made at the (Continued on Page 7) Heifer tour scheduled Saturday morning Billed as Umatilla County's answer to the Wasco County Bull Tour, the first Replace ment Heifer Tour will start at 8 a.m., March 1, at Lorenzen Red Angus Ranch. "To see some good-looking heifers, have some fur. and visit neighboring ranches, plan on attending this event," said John Nordheim, Morrow County Extension Service agent. To get to Lorenzen's, take Exit 199 west of Pendleton on 1-80. follow Yoakum Road north for seven miles, turn left on Mageguicn Koaa, ana continue until reaching Loren zen's. Other stops include Ander son Land and Livestock, Flew Red Angus, Bill Dick Ranch, a talk by Dr. Norden Stefanides on Heifer Health Program, Dick Snow Ranch, and Cunha Brothers Livestock. Hot lunch will be served at the Echo High School Cafeteria by the Umatilla County CowBelles for a nomina' Lharge. Scheduled adjourn time is 2 p.m. Micah. are both refugees. They arrived in this county three-and-one-half years ago when they were sponsored by a Baptist family in Fort Worth. Texas. Unlike many Hmongs. the Yongchus are educated and are becoming proficient in the English language. Kuxeng is the son of a Baptist minister. In addition to serving on the board of directors of Hmong Families Association in Portland, he is also a lay leader at the Metropolitan Baptist Church. Of the approximately 1,000 Hmongs in Portland, 120 of them are members of the Metropolitan Baptist Church. The Hmongs Families Asso ciation is sponsored by the Methodist Church. Micah Yongchu is the daughter of a Hmong farmer, who was eager to see that all of his children received an education. Most Hmong fami lies cannot afford to send their children to school and many children who did attend school have found that even after passing their tests, the Lao tian government would refuse to give them a certificate, which is another aspect of the oppression under which the Hmongs live. Mrs. Yongchu spends most of her time in Portland visiting the many Hmongs living there, trying to teach them the English language and acclimating them to the American way of life. There have been many instances when she has been called in the middle of the night to accompany an Hmong woman in labor to the hospital to act as her interpretor, or to stay at the home and take care of the other children in the home while their mother is in the hospital. Hmong men are the bosses in their homes and their wives do not have any say in their husband's business. It is not infrequent that a man may bring another wife into his home and the first wife has no say in the matter. Divorce is allowed in their country, but most wives do not divorce their husbands if he should bring another .wife home to live. Hmong men are very in dustrious and the women are excellent seamstresses, mak ing their clothes by hand. The Yongchus, both 25-years-old, are grateful and happy to be in this country and are so appreciative of the hospitality that has been shown to them and their countrymen who are already in Portland. While discussing New Life, USA. Yongchu said, "I really appreciate what the East Hill Church in Gresham is doing to help these oppressed people who are so helpless. The Hmong Families Association will do the best we can to support the New Life, USA project to make it a success and I feel strongly that this will be an important key to helping these people. Through this project we can unlock their oppression and the Hmongs can show their ability and capability of becoming useful citizens to this nation ; ( ); Micah and Huxeng Yongchu are shown with Don Nicholson, coordinator of New Life, USA. which has helped us so much already." Yongchu has not yet made his decision whether to stay in Portland and remain the leader of the Hmong Families Association or come to Con don. The East Hill Church in Gresham would like very much to have both Kuxeng and Micah on the staff of New Life. USA. as interpretors. The Yongchus are going to leave the decision in God's hands. Whatever that decision may be. they will be helping their countrymen, who are so desperately in need of help. mi CHECK OUR FULL WARRANTY 1. ROAD IIAZAED 2. FISEE FLAT REPAIR 3. FREE TIRE REBALANCE 4. FREE TIRE ROTATION 5. FREE TIRE INSPECTION 6. TIRE REPLACEMENT POLICY 7. 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