interview with Shirley Vo: "We had nothing to eat" 
From Willi Schewski . Shirley Vo is young, dynamic, successful and - and this may sound silly: it has enough to eat. After eating "enough" to have that was in Shirley's life is not always self-evident - at least not in Vietnam ...
Vietnam: war, death and destruction Shirley Vo. in 1980 in one of the most beautiful cities in South Vietnam's Nha Trang (Khanh Hoa province) was born. She grew up in poverty, comparable to the ones we destroyed in Germany shortly after the end of the 2nd World War vorfanden.
Recall ruled Vietnam from 1964 to 1973 in a terrible war, who, instigated by the U.S., mainly took place on South Vietnamese soil. He brought in the country extreme devastation. On 30 April 1975, two years after the gradual American withdrawal was subject to the South Vietnamese government North Vietnam and the National Front for the Liberation of South Vietnam. The Republic of South Vietnam was proclaimed on 2 July 1976 reunited with North Vietnam to the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.
bitter poverty South Vietnam was restructured following the Soviet model, collectivized agriculture, and nationalized the holdings. In 1978 the U.S. imposed and significant Weltwirtschaftsverbä
nde-
and organizations (such as the IMF and the World Bank) an economic embargo on Vietnam. Construction loans were frozen. The result of economic embargo, unproductive state enterprises and collectivized agriculture, and, last but not least, the massive Environmental damage from the Vietnam War was in sight: terrible poverty.
Shirley Vo : "We (= father, mother, two sisters: Jhrg 1974 & 1982 and a brother, Jhrg 1977) were among the poorest people of the city
. It had been customary that we got to eat
to several days a week nothing, and if there was something to eat, then only a small bowl of rice with salt or sugar. We rarely enjoyed a regular court with meals.
reconstruction experimented in the late 70's Vietnam with mixed forms of planned and market economy, which led to no success. In the early 80s there were several famines and hyperinflation. The only thing that Vietnam was halfway alive, using the CMEA (Council for Mutual Economic Assistance 1949-1991) countries, which amounted annually to an estimated three billion dollars.
Vietnam remains one of the poorest countries in Asia, although access through a significant improvement begins. The income gap between urban and rural areas are still large.
Shirley Vo : "Since 1988, Vietnam was under the strict guidance of the North Vietnamese were communist, poor people little opportunity to develop. Only the rich had the say and the power! Despite the lack of school materials such as textbooks, writing materials, etc. I studied diligently. I achieved excellent grades in school and was repeatedly chosen as the top student.
escape Because my parents saw no future for me and the family, and because they did not want to witness, as we were starving, they decided to find a way to leave Vietnam.
Boat People repressions of the Communist leadership against the former enemies, poverty and dispossession the private sector in the south led more than half a million Vietnamese to as so-called "boat people" risked their lives to leave the country. As "boat people" were famous in the 1970s and early 1980s, Vietnamese refugees who fled in fear of the new Communist regime with its labor and reeducation camps by boat over the South China Sea.
The refugees floated on the overloaded, infirm, hochseeuntüchtigen boats on the sea, because they would rather accept death than to live under a communist regime. Most of them fell to the storms, pirates, mainly from Thailand, or starved to the victims before they were rescued. Some 500,000 Vietnamese
tried to escape. The number of survivors will be among 20% \u200b\u200bto 40% geschätzt.Shirley Vo and her family to the survivors! In the Federal Republic of Germany is home to about 30,000 so-called "boat people".
It was about life or death Shirley Vo : "My father worked in Vietnam as a distributor of natural medicine. Still not enough money to pay for the flight, we needed the money mainly for survival. We were lucky: We could borrow money from relatives. With our own little boat, we drove two and a half days at the office (a small fishing village), where the - illegal - crossing was carried out. The arrival and crossing took place not fluent. We had to endure a night in a cellar.
Had we discovered this meant for us
prison and torture, and usually death . The next night, the trip began to Manila in the Philippines. On this boat, a total of 159 people found the place. There were rationed food on board, had to suffice for 5 days, so long as the flight took over the South China Sea. Had the trip a few days lasted longer, we would have starved or died of thirst all
. But we were lucky, damn lucky. "
Cap Anamut founded in 1979 by German journalist Rupert Neudeck, his wife Chris Neudeck and the German writer and Nobel Heinrich Böll German Committee for the bailout. A ship for Vietnam. It was 1982, the Cap Anamur Committee / German doctors produced eV. It was created by renaming the Relief Committee "A ship for Vietnam, which was developed as a hospital ship with the Cap Anamur known worldwide. 10 375 boat people were rescued from the sea. 35 000 more were on board medical care. Today, the organization in several regions and hotspots of the world is simultaneously active.
adventurous journey to freedom Shirley Vo : "After arriving in the Philippines we were taken to a refugee camp. We lived a total of fourteen months. A - compared to Vietnam - luxurious existence. There was plenty to eat and drink and we had
for the first time in life is a roof over our head, where it does not rain inside! The long months of stay were necessary to the obligatory documents for onward travel, either in the U.S., Canada, Australia or nach Deutschland zu besorgen. Wir entschieden uns für Deutschland. Von den USA, der Nation, die unsägliches Leid in unserem Land getragen hatte, wollten wir nichts mehr hören. Die Reise-Formalitäten gestalteten sich reibungslos.
"Wir sind Deutschland zu Dank verpflichtet! " Shirley Vo : Im Oktober 1989 begann für uns alle ein neues Leben in Deutschland. Als politische Flüchtlinge (nicht als Wirtschaftsflüchtlinge! fanden wir rasch Anerkennung und erhielten ein unbegrenztes Aufenthaltsrecht. Es begann für uns ein Leben in Freiheit, in politischer, religiöser, und wirtschaftlicher. Ohne nichts! Wir starteten zero. We must here commend the German authorities: Unbureaucratic one had helped us. We got an apartment (modest, but we were happy to have a "solid" roof over your head), furnishings, clothing, food and, above all, freedom and the chance to make the most of our lives to be allowed! We see this as a great gift - the largest, most human gift, what you had given us in our lives. We are the Germans still joined with great thanks "
Vo's family is among the winners of the so-called" boat people. "- Refugees. And it reads like a fairy tale how did family Vo, in spite of the most difficult conditions in Germany as refugees from scratch, build something ...
The Father: From rags - the bistro owner Shirley Vo : "My father started with simple activities, such as rags
to support the family financially. He was not working too good. Every cent that was left, he saved. But it was uphill. From the first savings he bought my father a sales kiosk. With enormous diligence and patience managed my father, five years after our escape from Vietnam, a further increase: He founded in Wesel (NRW), a bistro
own (which he still uses). Later, my family realize the dream of one's home. "
Shirley Vo: From poor child to the Event Manager The children mastered, despite the initial language barrier, excellent education and professional qualifications and are in bread and work. Shirley forged with flying colors, the high school and earned her first money as a translator. She then began a study of East Asian economy. Shirley Vo is talented, versatile: it works today - in addition to their studies - as an independent event manager, is on travels the world, sometimes credited as a singer and gets a growing fan base. She recently recorded her first music CD (title: LIE TO ME) and writes, last but not least, a novel.
With all the success it has still not lost its earth and most importantly, contact with their parents. The enabled her, as she says, "a life of dignity and a full belly."
"Everyone can find work - if he wants to" Shirley Vo : There may be problems in Germany, massive problems. This can not be deceived about it back away, das es jeder Mensch schaffen kann, was aus seinem Leben zu machen. Das manche keine Arbeit finden, kann ich nicht verstehen. Es gibt genug Arbeit. Wer arbeiten will, findet welche. Und sei es als Tellerwäscher. Wir, die aus ärmlichsten Verhältnissen kamen, haben es geschafft. Und warum sollten es andere nicht schaffen? Jeder kann es packen, wenn er einen festen Willen hat und gesund ist. Auch wenn er in Umständen lebt, die unglücklich erscheinen: Echte Armut, wo es nichts zu essen und zu trinken gab, die habe ich erlebt; und diese Armut die gibt es nicht in Deutschland. Ich bin glücklich, dass ich heute genug zu essen zu habe. Als Kind habe ich lange Zeit darunter gelitten, hungrig zu sein. Dieses Zeiten liegen, Gott sei Thanks, way back. I have my hard work, but also the humanitarian assistance of the German state to thank!
Text: (c) William Schewski
Photo: private
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