Vietnam to The Land of The Riches- Interview with Thuy Anderson

I had the amazing opportunity to sit down and interview the most important person in my life, my
grandmother, Thuy. She was born in Vietnam and came to the United States or which she referred to as "The Land of the Riches" to seek better opportunities. In this interview she tells us her story of what it was like to come here and how she started a life for herself here in the U.S. To her snarky responses and a few good laughs, we really get to see the wonderful heart this women possesses.





In this first segment, Thuy gives us an introduction on who she is and how she came to the United States from Vietnam and briefly tells us what she was expecting and what were her first impressions once she arrived.

In this second segment, Thuy tells us about her life and the first couple of months of being here in the U.S and what were some of her experiences like.

                                          

In the final segment, Thuy shares with us how she handled tough times during her marriage to a Canadian man who betrayed her and explains how her parents raised her to know that she is equal to any man and how you should never let anyone walk all over you. She also tells us how she think her life would have been like if she did stay in Vietnam and shares with us her overall thoughts on living in the states and how she wouldn't trade it for anything and that being a mother and a grandmother is the greatest gift she could ever have. I am extremely thankful for this opportunity to sit down and chat with my amazing grandma.

InspireHerAction: My Interview w/ Gabriella Alvarez

"Enjoy the Little Things in Life"

Interview Segments (3mins )

1: Gabriella Alvarez 

2: Family Household + Schooling 

3: Our Mother 

4: College+ Career

5: Thoughts on the American Dream & Birth of Children

Our interviewee is my eldest sister Gabriella! Gabriella was kind enough to share and give us a glimpse into her life! It was a pleasure hearing my sister's prespective on motherhood. We cover the struggles of growing up in a single parent household.  How living in another country compared to Life in the United States.       Dealing with the passing of our mother.  Definition of & what it takes to attain the American Dream. Life as a Married Women & The Birth of her children.  

Gabriella Alvarez was born December 14th 1989. A mother of 2. Older Sister & someone I admire and respect. Gabriella embodies the progressive women. Gabriella is an accomplished Style/Image consultant, graduated scholar, wife & loving mother to Rome & Julius.   I am truly blessed to have had my sister in my life & now am an uncle to 2 babies. This project covered several topics that can seem like insurmountable obstacles. Remember, life is filled with up's & down's. Take time to appreciate your family.   The oral history is intended to ensure that memories, dreams fulfilled, dreams lost, & anything in between is kept relevant and documented.  Make the time to stop & appreciate all the good around you. Once my interview was completed I got the perspective I was seeking. Hearing these accounts from Gabriella remind me why chose her for this interview. I wanted to share and possibly inspire any mother's out there. 

Full of Laughter- Her Life, Her Story

Bruno Bower's digital oral history project

For this project I Interviewed my Grandmother she is 71 years old and she's had an amazing life so far. She's average height and has a colorful personality always willing to laugh at herself and share her story.

 Introduction

Who are you? Age?

Sand castles, the zoo and growing up in San Francisco in the 1950's

 Grandma shares some fond memories of growing up in the avenues of San Francisco.

Meeting Grandpa

I ask Grandma how she met Grandpa, a story I never heard before.

Vietnam

Grandma shares some memories from the Vietnam War.

Marriage 

Grandma talks about her marriage to Grandpa.

 

Massachusetts

  Grandma talks about living in Mass. with Grandpa the adjustment it was and she had to make.

 

Having Kids

I ask weather Grandma felt obligated to have children, she didn't.

 

Knitting

we Talk about how she picked up knitting, a passion of hers.  

Gardener Mass.

Where she lived while Married to Grandpa.

Travels and Vacations

Grandma talks about her Honeymoon to New York and traveling with her children.

 

Back to California without Grandpa

To finish off we talk about how she moved back to California. 

 

 

 



Chau Chu Lam: A Glimpse of My Life

Interviewed: My grandmother          By: Tiffanie Yu

Who am I?

I am a wife, mother and grandmother to five children. I grew up in a farming village in Taishan, China. I had four brothers and one little sister who passed away at an early age. My father passed away when I was young. Growing up it was extremely difficult due to the lack of resources I had as well as support. When I moved from Hong Kong to Chinatown, it was a huge difference that I wasn't ready for. I brought my three kids with me and started a new life here in America.

• Before this interview my grandmother didn't want her face as I was recording.
• I put subtitles in as well, because she doesn't know much English.

Oras Aljanabi- Interview

History 248- Women and The American Experience

Thursday, December 8, 2016

Benin Al Hakim 

Oral History Project

        Oras Aljanabi's Background:

    By: Benin Al Hakim

I had a fantastic time interviewing my mother Oras Aljanabi. Oras Aljanabi was born in Iraq on October 26, 1976. She is 40 years old, has four kids; two girls and two boys. It was very nice interviewing my mother because we grew a better bond together after hearing the experience she had as a young person. Oras Aljanabi has diabetes, back problems, and more health problems; I always saw her as strong for dealing with those problems, but seeing how much stronger she was as a young person had me admire her even more. She isn't only a strong person from the outside and towards people but within her self and she has a good heart.

     Oras Aljanabi's Journey:

  By: Benin Al Hakim

Oras Aljanabi was 17 years old when this experience happened, she was living in Iraq. At that time instead of living in the city Baghdad with her parents and siblings, she was living in the city Karbala with her grandmother. One day, there were terrorist who invaded Karbala from Iran and another country that wanted to steal from the government. They wanted to take money, jewelry, gold, weapons, and most likely girls. Everyone in Karbala tried saving themselves and their family members. There were bombing, gun shoots, and the main thing which was stealing girls. The terrorists would steal girls to rape them; most would rape them in front of their parents. After they’d rape girls, they’d kill them. Oras Aljanabi was trying to escape, but ended up staying to help a women who lost her baby. After getting her baby back, they escaped and survived through the war. Whenever the terrorists would try and look for more people to steal from and kill, everyone would leave the house and hide in another, and when they go to another house, everyone would go back to hide. When they escaped, the went to the mosque to sleepover with the rest of the survivors. That was the most safe place to be at. Knowing my mother had risked her life to save someone else is just amazing. I'm blessed to have such a strong and good hearted person as my mother.

                                                                          

Power is for Everybody: Liza Erpelo, interviewed by Bea Zamora

INTRODUCTION

Ms. Liza Marie Erpelo is an English professor and the coordinator of the Kababayan Learning Community (KLC) at Skyline College. In this interview, she talks about how she headed her way in becoming an English professor.  She also recalls how KLC started in 2003 and her experiences which motivate her in empowering her students.  As an instructor for 16 years, she shares her thoughts on how she wants to be remembered and what simply makes her feel proud.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. Family background

2. Growing up in a Filipino family

3. Becoming a professor

4. Negative experience in the past and its influence now 

5. The start of the Kababayan Learning Community

6. Defining women empowerment

7. Empowering women as a coordinator

8. Greatest challenge women face today

9. Source of fulfillment 

10. How to she wants to be remembered  

SEGMENT 1: Family Background

Ms. Liza talks about her family and the places they have lived in since her father is in the military. She also shares when and how she moved in San Francisco.

Segment 2: Growing up in a Filipino family

Ms. Liza shares about her life growing up in a Filipino family especially since she is the oldest child. She, together with her two younger sisters, grew up around the Filipino community.

Segment 3: Becoming a professor

She talks about the people she met and the experience she had which influenced here to become an English professor.

Segment 4: Negative experience in the past and its influence now 

Ms. Liza speaks about how being rejected by other Filipinos influenced her in what she wanted for the Kababayan Learning Community and the Filipino Student Union

Segment 5: The start of the Kababayan Learning Community

Ms. Liza shares about the people she met who brought her to Skyline College and the history of the Kababayan Learning Community 

Segment 6: Defining women empowerment

Ms. Liza personally defines power and women empowerment

Segment 7:  Empowering women as a coordinator

 Ms. Liza talks about how she empowers women through her work as a coordinator and being an instructor. 

  

Segment 8:  Greatest challenge women face today

Ms. Liza shares what she thinks is the greatest challenge that she and the women face today and what we must do.

Segment 9: Source of fulfillment

Ms. Liza shares her experience with students that makes her feel proud as a professor. 

Segment 10: How to she wants to be remembered

Ms. Liza shares the reason behind why she wanted to become a teacher and how she wants to be remembered as one. 

CONCLUSION

With this inspiring figure who puts her students first and shows her love for the Filipino-American community, it is an honor for me to have conducted this interview and to share her story to everyone. May we all be inspired with her story to empower the people around us in any way we can.

Nicole Sato: My Obachan (Grandmother)

 

 

Who is Ono San?

Ono San is my grandmother, who lives in the United States but her childhood was spent in Japan.  The moment she was born, she did not breathe in the air of Japan, but rather she breathed in the air of the United States.  This means that she was born in the United States.  She lived in two different countries in her life which is something pretty amazing, since there were only boats available to travel across the ocean.  She loves to cook, sew, and arrange flowers.  Even though she loves her art, she loves her family even more.  Some of the words she says might not be clear, so I will be paraphrasing what she is says in order for you as viewers to get a better understanding of what she is trying to say.

 

Table of Contents

I.   Life in Japan with her parents

II.  Staying with relatives

III.  Living through World War 2 in Japan

IV.  Returning to America



I.  Life in Japan with her parents
Ono San was born in America, but when her mother got sick.  Life changed for their family because her whole family moved back to Japan.

 

 

 

II.  Staying with relatives

When Ono San's mother died, her sisters and her were sent off to relatives to live with them.  She and her oldest sister went to their uncle's house.  While, the middle sister went to another relatives house.  Living with relatives was different than living with her actual parents. 

 

 

 

 

III.  Living through World War 2 in Japan

Ono San lived through World War 2 but her point of view was from living in Japan.  She was scared during the war time because Japan was being attacked. 

 

 

 

 

IV.  Returning to America

People want to come to America but Ono San did not want to at first.  Her sister kept telling her how great it is and that their father is there, so she should come over.  She was eventually convinced and came back to America.

 

 

 

 

In Conclusion

 

Ever since I interviewed my grandmother, Ono San, I thought that it was an honor to be able to talk to her.  She lived through so much that I did not even know.  She cooked the most amazing food and yet she did not even get the opportunity to learn it from her mother rather she had to learn through books.  All these things that I learned about her made me appreciate her even more.  My eyes have opened up to see many new things because of her.  I want to spend all the time I can with her and learn everything she knows.  The connection I have with her is something I will continue to grow and cherish for the rest of my life.  Thank you Obachan and I love you.