AmerasianWorld.com / Salaam Central Asia

My Kazakh Host Family - The Orazimbetovs

AmerasianWorld.com was originally named Salaam Central Asia.  I created Salaam Central Asia back in 2000 before I started graduate school.  Ummah.com had given me web space back then and Salaam Central Asia became one of the first websites devoted to Central Asia.  I included pictures of my experience working and volunteering in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.  I was getting pretty good traffic at the time for a new website.

Unfortunately for me, after 9/11, ummah.com’s site was taken down so in April, 2002, I bought my first domain name, amerasianworld.com, and created a new website called AmerasianWorld.com.  By the name, I wanted to create the same website but demonstrate my experience as an Amerasian.  I added some Amerasian content as well as my trips to Turkey and later Japan.  Eventually, due to the number of requests in regards to Amerasians, I created a new website which became the Amerasian Foundation.

In 2004, I redesigned AmerasianWorld.com entirely in XHTML 1.1 and CSS.  When I moved to Vietnam, I wanted to add pictures of my experiences living here.  Instead, I decided to create a new blog which became SaigonNezumi.com and parked amerasianworld.com behind it.  Next year I will redesign AmerasianWorld.com using either WordPress or Drupal.  It is hard to believe AmerasianWorld.com would become 10 years old next year.

Website: http://www.amerasianworld.com (Site hosted in the US.)

Saigon Linux Group

After being parked behind another domain for nearly 2 years, the Saigon Linux Group site is back up as well.  The SLG site was one of the three first English sites in Vietnam focusing on open source and Linux when it came online back in April, 2007.   I plan to expand this site next year to help promote open source usage in businesses throughout Vietnam.

Website: http://saigonlinux.com (Site hosted in Vietnam.)

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When the Base was closed 18 years ago, thousands of Amerasian children were left behind. Unlike Amerasian children from other countries, Filipino Amerasians were never recognized by the US government.

Now those children have grown up. Left by the Ship follows the lives of four Amerasians over the course of two years, as they struggle with discrimination, family problems and identity related issues, trying to overcome a past they are in no way responsible for.

a documentary by Emma Rossi-Landi and Alberto Vendemmiati. Produced by VisitorQ, Raicinema, ITVS international and YLE.

The Amerasian Foundation strives to give Amerasians a Voice around the world.

LEFT BY THE SHIP trailer English from visitorq on Vimeo.

Related posts:

1. Protecting our Mothers AmerasianWorld.com That is the original name of SaigonNezumi.com. I am...
2. His Name is Charlie Since Tet, I have been quite busy with my volunteer...
3. How to continue to help Filipino and Vietnamese Amerasians I met with Clint and Hung from the Amerasian Childfind...

Vietnamese Adoptee Articles and Photos: http://www.saigonnezumi.com/vietnam/vietnamese-adoptee-articles

Operation Babylift Articles and Photos: http://www.saigonnezumi.com/vietnam/vietnamese-adoptee-articles/#operationbabylift

To learn more about Vietnamese Amerasians and Adoptees, please visit these websites which are run by Adoptees and Amerasians:

• Adopted Vietnamese International
• Amerasian Family Finder
• Amerasian Foundation
• Operation Reunite

(Operation Babylift)

Related posts:

1. Vietnamese Adoptee Articles A large number of Vietnamese Amerasians are part of a...
2. Amerasian Foundation Update I just referred 14 Filipino and Vietnamese Amerasian cases to...
3. Protecting our Mothers AmerasianWorld.com That is the original name of SaigonNezumi.com. I am...

Clint helped me form the Amerasian Foundation back in 2003 and he was the one who encouraged me to move to Vietnam instead of Albania back in 2004. The Amerasian Foundation is not a search organization. Instead I refer my Vietnamese Amerasian cases to Clint and the Amerasian Childfind Network. My Filipino Amerasian cases get refered to the Amerasian Family Finder run by my friend Jenn, a Filipino Amerasian. Both Clnt and Jenn have been very successful. Last year, Jenn and I solved a case and helped two Vietnamese Amerasians find their Vietnamese mother after being separated for nearly 35 years (the mother lived just 5 minutes from my house in Saigon).

Since I arrived in Saigon back in 2004, roughly 20 Vietnamese Amerasians I have met have emigrated to the US. Many others still are refused entry to the US for various reasons. Many Vietnamese Amerasian cases are still unresolved here in Vietnam. There are Vietnam Vets still seeking their Amerasian child, the youngest being in their mid-30s now. Vietnamese Amerasians here are still trying to seek their fathers. In the Philippines, the numbers of Amerasians are up to the hundreds of thousands.

Right now a major issue for the Amerasian Childfind Network, Amerasian Family Finder, and Operation Reunite (an organization run by Trista, a Vietnamese Amerasians) involves funding. Searching for both fathers and Amerasians is not cheap. The costs get higher if Clint and Trista have to fly to Vietnam to investigate a lead. Nobody flies to the Philippines for leads, it is all done online.

For the Amerasian Foundation, it is easy, I just run my organization as an online entity. The costs to maintain a website are quite low. I end up referring most cases to Clint and Jenn. For Trista, Clint and Jenn, it is another story. They bear the costs of all searches.

Now I am trying to think of a way in that I and the Amerasian Foundation can help them before it is too late…

Related posts:

1. Amerasian Foundation Update I just referred 14 Filipino and Vietnamese Amerasian cases to...
2. Protecting our Mothers AmerasianWorld.com That is the original name of SaigonNezumi.com. I am...
3. Amerasian Foundation The Amerasian Foundation brought me to Vietnam back in May,...

The Amerasian Foundation does not handle searches.  Thus, when I get cases, I refer them to Clint, Jimmy and/or Jenn.  Clint and Trista Goldberg (Operation Reunite) get the Vietnamese Amerasian cases.  Jimmy and Jenn get the Filipino Amerasian cases.  I have a new contact in Thailand who can handle the Thai Amerasian cases.  The Filipino Amerasians, Thai Amerasians, and Vietnamese Amerasians make up the majority of the cases the Amerasian Foundation receives.  Japanese and Korean Amerasians make up a small minority (due to language issues).

In the next couple months, I will have Vi, my web content editor for Vscapeone, translate the Amerasian Foundation into Vietnamese.  Both the Vietnamese and English website templates will be changed to make it more dynamic.  I want to add a Registry and Forum again which can be monitored around the world.  I am behind schedule but I will have Vi start translating next weekend.

If anyone can help with Thai translation as well, it would be nice.  I would put off Japanese and Korean at this time.  I am not sure if Tagalog will be needed earlier.  I think Jimmy and Jenn can handle that.

I am debating about re-incorporating the Amerasian Foundation again.  I know the Amerasian Family Finder wants to be incorporated this year.  Operation Reunite and Amerasian Childfind Network are both incorporated.  Incorporation is crucial if we ever want 501(c)3 status.  I want the status so I can help Jenn with her fundraising efforts.

Yeah guys, I am still in it.  The Amerasian Foundation will be 5 years old in December.

Amerasian Foundation – www.amerasianfoundation.org

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2. How to continue to help Filipino and Vietnamese Amerasians I met with Clint and Hung from the Amerasian Childfind...
3. H.R. 4007, The Amerasian Paternity Recognition Act I am not sure if many of you who...

I am not sure if many of you who read my blog knows, but I originally came to Vietnam back in May, 2004, as a volunteer to help out with Vietnamese Amerasians. In the US, I had formed the Amerasian Foundation which I still run mostly as an online entity from Saigon. I am currently designing a new database for Amerasians in an effort to help them find their fathers, and vice versa.

There is a bill currently going through Congress which, if passed, will allow some Vietnam-Era Amerasians obtain automatic US citizenship. Many of you may be surprised that the majority of Vietnamese Amerasians that made it to the US are not US Citizens. Citizenship classes have not been productive since the majority of Vietnamese Amerasians are illiterate. In short, the are unable to take the US citizenships examination. There has been a lot of effort to try to get this bill passed as law:

Detailed Summary

Amerasian Paternity Recognition Act – Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to confer automatic citizenship on aliens residing in the United States in lawful permanent resident status: (1) pursuant to a classification petition approved under a provision that gives preferential treatment to persons born in Korea, Vietnam, Laos, Kampuchea, or Thailand after 1950 and before October 22, 1982, and fathered by a U.S. citizen; or (2) who were born in Vietnam after January 1, 1962, and before January 1, 1976, and fathered by a U.S. citizen.

Current Status

Latest Major Action: 11/2/2007: Referred to House subcommittee. Status: Referred to the Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship, Refugees, Border Security, and International Law.

From: http://www.washingtonwatch.com/bills/show/110_HR_4007.html

This bill looks like it will be passed sometime in 2008. That’s the good news. Unfortunately, the two largest groups of Amerasians have been excluded, again. The Filipino Amerasians and Japanese Amerasians (primarily in Okinawa) are two of the oldest and largest groups of Amerasians. There are roughly between 150,000-200,000 Filipino Amerasians left behind in the Philippines. In Okinawa, the number could be around 15,000-20,000 of known Japanese Amerasians (many thousands more are unaccounted for).

What of these Amerasians???

Related posts:

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