Posted on 08/31/2005 2:49:51 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
Last night, Nhi Tran slept among angels.
HOUSTON Tuesday morning the New Orleans resident, his wife, Susan, 8-year-old son Johnny and other relatives were homeless, roaming Houston in their cars looking for a haven.
As they listened to Radio Saigon Houston KREH-AM (900), a woman's voice offered a ray of hope. The speaker announced in their native tongue that hurricane victims were being placed in Vietnamese homes throughout Houston. People were gathering at Hong Kong City Mall on Bellaire Boulevard.
After two hours of waiting in line behind hundreds of other Vietnamese displaced by Katrina, Tran found his angel. Tammy Nguyen saw Tran from a distance. Standing beside him was Johnny, who bore a strong resemblance to her son.
11 guests for the night Nguyen, the mother of two, was at the market to pick up some groceries. She ended up taking home the entire 11-member Tran family instead.
"I felt compelled," she said. "When I saw the child, I knew I had to offer what little comfort I could to his family. I thought perhaps they could find some semblance of peace in a real home rather than in a shelter among hundreds of strangers."
Volunteers mobilized by Radio Saigon managed to find shelter for about 500 hurricane victims in local Vietnamese homes, Buddhist temples and churches. The Vietnamese Dominican Sisters are housing 200 of the refugees at their convent.
"So many of them couldn't speak or understand English," Vu Thanh Thuy, the station's CEO, said of the refugees. "They didn't know where to go. When I heard reports that there were people sleeping in the parking lot of Hong Kong market, I knew we had to do something.
"On Monday, we called all the community leaders and volunteers to open their hearts and homes to strangers. I've been amazed by the response. Hundreds of people have come out. And when they didn't have a room to offer, they dropped off gas and restaurant certificates."
'Strangers' also 'family' Trang Van, 67, was among the people placed in homes Monday night. She came back to the mall Tuesday afternoon with her 2-year-old granddaughter to catch up on the news of the damage in New Orleans.
"I knew there would be people drifting in today. I wanted to be there with them. They're strangers, but at the same time, they're family. We're all waiting to see if we still have a home to return to," she said as she pulled a blanket closer to the toddler asleep in a shopping cart.
"We came in one van. There were 11 of us — not much room to bring anything else but the clothes on our backs," she said in Vietnamese.
Nguyen arrived back in her Spring Branch home Tuesday with Tran and his family in tow. Tonight they will at least have a home-cooked meal, she said.
Tran, the owner of a laundry, settled into the bedroom with his family. "Yes, I'm worried about what's left in New Orleans," he said. "My car, will I have my car to go to work in? But at the same time I'm joyful that in a moment of difficulty there would be someone like Tammy to lift us up. We had fallen, and someone noticed."
dai.huynh@chron.com
And from the title I was thinking a foreign country was actually offering actual aid...
11 guests for the night Nguyen, the mother of two, was at the market to pick up some groceries. She ended up taking home the entire 11-member Tran family instead.
The Spirit of America Lives on and on !
God Bless them every one !
bump!
The Spirit of America Lives on and on !
BUMP!
Yeah me too. Guess thats just wishful thinkin --huh. I guess we are being punished for being so cheap with the Tsunami victims.
We'll take care of our own.
Bless them and those who care for them.
http://www.khou.com/
More shelters open to accommodate evacuees
HISD raises funds for hurricane victims, accepts students from storm zone
Helping those in need by rolling up your sleeve
Spirit of Texas Hurricane Relief Fund
and elsewhere on the page
Wing, a prayer: Most serious La. patients flown to Houston
07:41 PM CDT on Tuesday, August 30, 2005
other stories about animal shelter..
Love Thy Neighbor
GULFPORT , Miss - Elvin Duckworth, left, Jonathan Harvey, center, and Leonard Harvey paddle a row boat through a flooded street.
MOSS POINT, Miss Residents make their way to safety through flood waters that swept through low lying areas.
Don't hold your hand on your a$$ till THAT happens....
Bless those who noticed the fallen and did something wonderful.
Amen
That's a neat story. Thanks for posting.
They're setting a good example.
I know this will sound critical but people in the black community need to take notice of the generosity these people display in a crisis and stop looting the stores. When has there ever been a local disaster that there weren't mostly black people looting? I can't imagine being so brainwashed by dems that you think you're entitled to other people's property because you think you're getting back at the The Man. It's disgusting.
These are the kind of smart, industrious immigrants that we welcome into our country. They have decency and they help each other. Thanks for posting this story.
Me too, at first. Silly me.
Most black people wouldn't steal. These are inner city poor; generations of welfare dependents.
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