Vietnam Babylift Related Events


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From: bert@van-online.org

Vietnamese Adoptees Network (VAN) Seeking Parents of adoptees for this year's Heritage Camp!

The Vietnamese Adoptee Network (VAN, www.van-online.org) is once again
participating in the Colorado Vietnamese Heritage Camp this year. The camp
brings together families who have adopted children from Vietnam to learn
about their birth culture and what it means to be adopted, along with
spending a weekend in the Colorado mountains (www.heritagecamps.org). VAN
and many different adoptees from around the nation have participated in this
camp for the past eight years.

This year we are introducing two new workshops at the camp. The first is a
discussion between parents of adult adoptees and parents of adoptees who are
18 years or younger. We are very excited about this workshop as it will be a
wonderful opportunity for parents of the "second" generation of Vietnamese
adoptees to learn from the wisdom and experience of the "first" generation
parents.

The second is a discussion between parents of teen adoptees (13-18) and
parents of pre-teen, adolescent, and pre-adolescent (0-12) adoptive parents.
As many of us know, parenting a teenager is a challenging experience, and
this workshop will provide parents an opportunity to dialogue about those
challenges and offer insight to parents whose children will be entering the
teenage years shortly.

The camp is August 8-10th (Fri-Sun) at Snow Mountain Ranch outside of
Fraser, Colorado. Lodging is typically provided if you participate and your
whole family is allowed to participate in all of the Heritage Camp's
activities. Although parents of Vietnamese adoptees is nice (because this is
Vietnamese Heritage Camp), we also are interested in any parents of an
international adoptee who are interested in participating in these
discussions.

If you are interested in finding out more about the camp or
other details, please contact Bert Ballard (bert@van-online.org) or Bree
Sibbel (breesibbel@comcast.net). We hope to hear from many of you!


Lana Noone will participate in a talk-back at the end of a May, 2008
Off-Broadway Performance of "A Piece of My Heart".

Red Fern Theatre Company Presents
"A Piece of My Heart" by Shirley Lauro

A PIECE OF MY HEART
by Shirley Lauro
Directed by Melanie Moyer Williams
Featuring Christopher Clawson, Siho Ellsmore*, Catherine Gowl,
Emilie Elizabeth Miller,
Kendall Rileigh*,
Pheonix Vaughn, and Zuhairah

Based on true stories related in the book of the same name by Keith
Walker, A Piece of My Heart centers on a group of young military and
civilian women who go to the Vietnam War. Spanning twenty
years, their true stories, songs and music call up a tumultuous era
that changed them and America forever. A powerful play with striking
resonance for today.

"The play, A Piece of My Heart, by Shirley Lauro, has become the
nation's most enduring theatrical production that deals with the
Vietnam War."
-The VVA Veteran

The production team features direction by Melanie Moyer Williams,
lighting design by Jessica Greenberg, set design by Adrienne
Kapalko, costume design by Summer Lee Jack, stage management by
Laura Luciano, and properties by Laura Anderson and Amanda Donelan.
Press representation by Lanie Zipoy - 646-284-3517.

A Piece of My Heart will be performed May 1-11, 2008 at 78th Street
Theatre Lab (236 West 78th Street @ Broadway).

Lana Mae Noone, "Operation Babylift" Author, Speaker, Archivist and Living Historian will provide one of the talk-backs.

website URL: www.Vietnambabylift.org
Author, "Global Mom: Notes From a Pioneer Adoptive Family".

Tickets are available by calling 212.352.3101 or via the

www.redferntheatre.org website.

Tickets are available at the box office the day of the show for cash only.

Philanthropy;

Red Fern has chosen to partner with the Vietnam Women's
Memorial Foundation for this production. The mission of the Vietnam
Women's Memorial Foundation is to promote the healing of Vietnam
women veterans through the placement of the Vietnam Women's Memorial
on the grounds of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C.;
to identify the military and civilian women who served during the
Vietnam war; to educate the public about their role; and to
facilitate research on the physiological, psychological, and
sociological issues correlated to their service.

The Foundation hasthe support of every major veterans group in the country including
the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund and more than 40 other diverse organizations.

Please visit www.vietnamwomensmemorial.org.

*Actors appear courtesy of Actors Equity Association. Equity
Approved Showcase.

The Red Fern Theatre Company is a sponsored project of the New York
Foundation for the Arts, a 501(c)(3), tax-exempt organization.

Contributions on behalf of The Red Fern Theatre Company must be
made payable to the New York Foundation for the Arts.


Lana Noone Upcoming Vietnam "Operation Babylift" Programs:

• Lynbrook Public Schools, Lunbrook, NY, January 30, 2008.

• Coral House, Baldwin, NY, February 19, 2008.

• Garden City, NY, April 2, 2008.

She will discuss her life as a "Pioneer" Global Mom and exhibit several Babylift artifacts, including the Babylift Quilt and the Painting, "Heather's Homecoming Day", by Artist/Vietnam Veteran Bernie Duff.

In addition, "Global Mom: Notes From a Pioneer Adoptive Family", by Lana Noone, with Byron, Jennie and Jason Noone, has been selected for the Adoptive Parents Study Group, Minneapolis, MN in February, 2008.

Please contact:

Lana@Vietnambabylift.org

for complete details.

Lana is also scheduled to participate in the November, 2008 15th Anniversary Ceremony at the Civilian Women's Memorial, Washington, DC, where the Heather Constance Noone Memorial Award will be presented, posthumously, to the women who died in the C5A Babylift plane crash on April 4, 1975.


"Exit Saigon, Enter Little Saigon" Exhibit Opens at the Smithsonian
* * *

Beginning Jan. 19, images covering 30 years of Vietnamese American immigration to the United States will be on display at the S. Dillon Ripley Center Concourse on the National Mall.

The exhibit, "Exit Saigon, Enter Little Saigon", will be on display through April 1. This exhibit is sponsored by the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Program, with Vietnamese American scholar Vu Pham as the curator. It is the first Vietnamese American historical exhibit at the Smithsonian, exploring the Vietnamese American experience in America from 1975 to the present. By showcasing themes of challenges, contributions and change, the exhibit emphasizes the vibrant diversity of this ethnic community.

"Exit Saigon, Enter Little Saigon" is part of a 2007series of events, including public programs that address such aspects of the Vietnamese American experience as the refugee exodus from Vietnam to the United States; adaptation and adjustment to American life; and the formation of identities and ethnic communities. Plans also are underway to create a web-based curriculum guide designed for middle school students to broaden their understanding of Vietnamese American roles in American history and to enhance exhibit visits around the country after its presentation at the Smithsonian. For updates, please visit www.apa.si.edu/VietAm.

There will be an opening lecture about the exhibit Jan. 20, from 11 a.m. to noon at the Discovery Theater in the S. Dillon Ripley Center. The lecture is open to the public and free of charge.

The Vietnamese American exhibit is made possible by the generous support of national sponsor Viet Heritage Society, Inc. with additional support from Citigroup Foundation and individuals from across the country.
# # #


Dear fellow adoptee,

I am currently performing a thesis research study about adult Korean adoptees in the hopes of broadening the field of knowledge available to post adoption services, families, and adoptees. The website for this study can be found at www.kadresearch.org . If you would be interested in participating in this study please email me. Participants will be entered into a lottery to win one of two $50 prizes in appreciation for their help. If you know any other Korean adoptees over the age of 18, please feel free to pass this email along.

Thank you so much,
Elizabeth Lilley

Please reply to:
"Elizabeth Lilley" <lilleye@kadresearch.org>


Announcement from Jared Rehberg:

In ThirdSpace........an e-magazine for the transnational adoptee community

To view it, join the group http://groups.yahoo.com/group/inthirdspace/ and click on the corresponding link for the e-mag.

Korean adoptee, Lisa Hanson and I started the e-mag to build upon the existing transnational adoptee community. There is a common dialogue among us, as we are hybrids of a similar narrative. Please feel free to post any related material: thoughts, pictures or events; they are all welcome!

Thank you,
Jared

Film project, "Adoption: An American Revolution"
http://www.adoptionfilm.org
Lisa Cerqueira
Senior Publicist, Interactive Marketing
WGBH National Promotion
lisa_cerqueira@wgbh.org
Kelly Sweet
WGBH / National Promotions
125 Western Ave
Boston MA 02134
Kelly_Sweet@wgbh.org

New Web site offers opportunity to support PBS program about
adoption <http://www.adoptionfilm.org>

BOSTON, MA, AUGUST 4, 2005
Individuals eager to see an honest, balanced portrayal of adoption
on television now have the opportunity to be a part of the process
to make it happen, with the launch of www.AdoptionFilm.org, a Web site
intended to attract individual support for a proposed documentary.
Adoption: An American Revolution (working title), is a special
project for national public television broadcast that will include a
two-hour film, an extensive Web site and an ambitious outreach
campaign to schools and communities. The film will use interviews
with adoptive and birth parents and extended families, with adopted
children and adults, and adoption professionals and experts to
explore the major impact that adoption is having on private and
public life in America.

Program producer WGBH has already secured partial funding for the
project from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) and the
Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), but that grant came with a
deadline: final funding needs to be in place by the end of 2005.
So WGBH is turning directly to viewers for the support needed to
produce the project, recognizing that the real story of how adoption
is changing America has the potential to appeal to the millions of
Americans who are directly affected. One-third of people in the US
now have someone in their family who was adopted, and many more have
friends and neighbors who were adopted.

The project's executive producer, Judith Vecchione, calls this "a
revolution in adoption" and points to huge changes in Americans'
attitudes towards adoption -- from a time, not so long ago, when
some parents lied to their own children about being adopted, to
today's view of adoption as another wonderful way to form a
family. "But these changes are rarely reflected in the media, which
still portrays adoption with negative stereotypes and shows
like `Who's Your Daddy?'" she says. "We want to bring to our viewers
the real story of adoption in the US today."

Visitors to http://www.adoptionfilm.org can:

Learn more about the fundraising effort and the entire "Adoption: An
American Revolution" project;

Meet some of the "Faces of Adoption" and add your own;

Read the "Filmmakers' Journal" for a behind-the-scenes look at how
public television programs are developed;

Follow our progress by signing up for our e-mail newsletter;

Help us "Spread the Word" by sending information on the project to
others you think might be interested, or use our toolkit to
establish a link to AdoptionFilm.org.

"We're very excited about this new opportunity, " says WGBH Vice
President and Chief Operating Officer Jon Abbott. "Funding from
viewers has always been critically important to sustaining public
television at both the local and the national level, but we've never
had a mechanism for our broad range of viewers to directly support
production of new programs. Now viewers can add their contributions -
in any amount -- to the projects that matter most to them."

WGBH Boston is America's preeminent public broadcasting producer,
the source of fully one-third of PBS's prime-time lineup, along with
some of public television's best-known lifestyle shows and
children's programs and many public radio favorites. Its production
menu is diverse, including Nova, Frontline, American Experience,
Antiques Roadshow, Masterpiece Theatre, Arthur, and Zoom on PBS and
The World and Sound & Spirit on public radio. WGBH has been
recognized with hundreds of honors: Emmys, Peabodys, duPont-Columbia
Awards.even two Oscars.

####

Contacts:
Lisa Cerqueira
Senior Publicist
WGBH Boston
lisa_cerqueira@wgbh.org

MAVIN FOUNDATION ANNOUCES PROJECT TO EMPOWER INTERNATIONAL ADOPTEES

(Seattle) MAVIN Foundation has launched a multi-year, adoptee-led project to identify what international adoptees and their families need to foster connectedness and healthy cultural identities. Once identified, the project will work with adoptees to implement the project's vision. The project is funded by a $75,000 grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation of Battle Creek, Michigan. The Immigration and Naturalization Service reports that U.S. parents adopt approximately 20,000 children annually from over three-dozen countries. Although today there is a considerable body of resources related to adoption, adoptees and adoptee perspectives often remain excluded from leadership roles in adoption organizations and from the creation of adoption policy and research.

"Today there are generations of adult adoptees who are eager to contribute their perspectives to the adoption discourse," says Kelly Brownlee, the project's manager, who was adopted from Vietnam in 1975. "Having lived the experience ourselves, adoptees are uniquely equipped to support adoptive parents, agencies, and the next generation of adoptees."

Starting this month, MAVIN Foundation's Adoptee Empowerment Project will work with dozens of adoptee-led organizations to initiate a cross cultural needs assessment. This fall, the project will take this information into online, telephone, and face-to-face forums. The outcome of these activities will be to design an innovative, adoptee-led project to launch in 2006. In the interim, the project will also provide program support to strengthen the infrastructure of existing adoptee-led organizations.

The W.K. Kellogg Foundation was established in 1930 "to help people help themselves through the practical application of knowledge and resources to improve their quality of life and that of future generations." Its programming centers around the common vision of a world in which each person has a sense of worth; accepts responsibility for self, family, community, and societal well-being; and has the capacity to be productive, and to help create nurturing families, responsive institutions, and healthy communities.

Please visit <www.wkkf.org>.

MAVIN Foundation is the nation's leading organization that celebrates and advocates for mixed heritage people and families. Since 1998, MAVIN's award-winning projects like MAVIN magazine and the MatchMaker Bone Marrow Project have raised awareness of this rapidly growing population.

Please visit <www.mavinfoundation.org>
Kelly Brownlee
Project Manager
Adoptee Empowerment Project
 
MAVIN Foundation
600 First Avenue
Suite 600
Seattle, WA 98104
 
Ph: 206 622 7101
Fx: 206 622 2231
kelly@www.mavinfoundation.org

Those who are interested in becoming involved, please contact <kelly@mavinfoundation.org>.

I am looking for international adult adoptee participation right now, but also am interested in speaking to partners, parents, and supporters of adoptees. We are also taking applications for those who are interested in being part of our first face-to-face meeting in October in Seattle.

Study:

The Freeman Foundation for the study of Asian/Asian-American Diaspora has funded a project hoping to compile the stories and experiences of American families who have gone through the process of international adoption from Asian countries. This project involves speaking with transracial families about how they have included the birth cultures of their children into their family identity.

How have issues of race and culture come up in family dialogue?

How have questions about birth-culture been answered and resolved?

How have racial and cultural identity been re-evaluated and transformed into unique and new definitions of family and self?

Project is being facilitated by Wesleyan student Mara Baldwin and has been approved by the Institutional Review Board. If interested in being involved, please email Mara at <mbaldwin@wesleyan.edu>.

Interviews will run through August.

Adopted Vietnamese International Event

Full program and registration now on line.

Adoptee speakers include:

*Returning to the Homeland: Why, When and How Did it Go?
Analee Matthews, VN Australian Adoptee

*Formation of Identity for an Inter-country Adoptee Australia
Veronica Stanley, VN Australian Adoptee

*White Families, Vietnamese Voices? The Adopted Vietnamese War Orphans
Indigo Williams, VN Australian Adoptee
Adoptive Parent speakers include:

*Reculturation of Intercountry Adoptees in WA: A Post-Intercountry Adoption Project
and Wellbeing of Intercountry Adoptees in WA: a Review of the Evidence
Trudy Rosenwald, Adoptions International of Western Australia, PhD candidate
Edith Cowan Uni Australia


*Raising Interracial Adopted Children/ Therapeutic Parenting
Julia Rollings, Psychology Student
Deborah Vertessey Clinical Psychologist
Christina Moss Social Worker
and Anne Walls Social Worker Australia


* Adoption Blues: The Hidden Suffering and Broken Hearts of Adoptive Mothers
and the Search for Explanations in the Aftermath of Young Adult Adoptees Contact with Birth Mothers
Maureen Roberts, Adoptive mother , Adoptions International Australia

*Facilitating Attachment: Attachment Difficulties and Attachment Disorder in Adopted Children
Karleen GribblePhD Adjunct research fellow Uni Western Sydney
Debbie Jeffrey Australian Families for Children


* Diversity and Difference in Intercountry Adoptee experiences in Australia - Poster project
Kim Gray Adoptive mother and PhD student. University of Newcastle, NSW

For more info : Conference Secretariat
EVENT MANAGEMENT
Plevin and Associates Pty Ltd
PO Box 54 BURNSIDE South Australia 5066
Telephone: +61 8 8379 8222
Facsimile: +61 8 8379 8177
Email: events@plevin.com.au