Close the Gap: An Educator Guide

1. What challenges do the Hmong face in their new home?
2. What did Tou Lee have to deal with growing up as a Hmong American?
3. What does he mean when he says he didn't "have anything going for me in my life"?
4. What does he think was the reason for his involvement with gangs?
5. What helped Tou change his life? Why is it important to Hmong Americans to tell their stories?
6. What is CHAT's mission? What does Tou work to achieve through CHAT?
7. Why does Tou feel the need to work closely with artists from other ethnic and minority groups?
8. How can creative expression be a key to continuing education?
9. How does success or failure of one segment of the population (e.g., Hmong) affect all of us?

Why are the Hmong here?

1. Provide brief background information on the history of the Hmong, and the reasons they had to flee Vietnam. Emphasize the fact that the Hmong were fighting with the United States and often lost their lives to save American pilots. Provide information on the situation of the Hmong people now, both in the U.S. and in Laos and Thailand. Hmong who stayed in Laos have to hide in the jungles for the fear of persecution. Many have been killed or "disappeared" when they came out of the jungle. Many younger Hmong were born in refugee camps; some have been relocated to other countries, and many have been living in the camps uncertain of their futures.
   
   Review the following resources to select materials for the background part:
   For general information about the Hmong:
   Hmong 101 Presentation of the Hmong Cultural and Resource Center of Minnesota: http://www .learnabouthmong.org/presentation/hmong101_files/frame.htm
   For personal accounts of Hmong refugees in Thailand go to: http://rebeccasommer.org/doc umentaries/Hmong/index.php
   All rights reserved by Rebecca Sommer (Adult supervision might be necessary due to graphic content).
   For the history leading to Hmong relocation to the U.S:
   "Why Are the Hmong in America?" Essay by Jeff Lindsay, Appleton, Wisconsin. (Published in FutureHmong Magazine, June 2002, pp. 14-15.): http://www.jefflindsay.com/hmong.shtml
   William Colby, the Hmong and the CIA by Amoun Vang Sayaovong http://www.hmongnet.org/hmong-au/hmong cia.htm
   
   
2. Read or pass around the following story: Cheng is a Hmong refugee who was born in a refugee camp in Thailand. Most of her relatives died fleeing through the jungles. Her parents survived, but had to suffer a lot on the way, abandoning all family possessions and not having anything to eat or drink for days. In Minnesota, Cheng started attending 6th grade in a local school. Because she didn't speak English she was often bullied by her classmates and told to go home. "Why do your people come here?" her classmates would ask derisively. She didn't know. Her parents told her that they were going to a new place where she would be able to go to school and have enough food to eat. Cheng eventually became a good student, but it is difficult for her to find friends. Her peers spend a lot of time doing sports and attending other after school events. She has to go home and help her parents with her younger siblings. Additionally, her family cannot afford many of her classmates' hobbies; her father washes cars and her mother takes care of her other siblings.
   
   
3. Divide people into groups of 3-5 and ask them to extend the above story based on what they have learned about the Hmong people prior to this activity, as well as through watching the video about the Tou Lee and the Center for Hmong Arts and Talent. When supplying new details for the story, invite the group to think about:
• Why did Cheng and her family have to flee to Thailand?
• What was their life like before it happened?
• What did they have to go through to arrive in the U.S.?
• What did they leave behind and how do they feel about it?
• What is their life like now?
• What are the challenges the family faces?
• What does Cheng wish was different at her school? What would you wish was different at your school if Cheng went there?
• What does her future look like?
Allow 25-30 minutes to complete the stories and invite the groups to share their stories with the rest of the class. Allow time for questions and clarifications after each story, then record main points of each story on the board.


4. Debrief:
   Ask the students to reflect on the activity. What did you learn? What story did you like best and why? What did you agree and disagree with? Do you know someone in your community who is a refugee? How can you make them feel welcome? What can you do to support refugees in your communities?

1. Raising Awareness

   Invite a representative from a Hmong community or a non-profit organization that works with immigrants and refugees (e.g., Neighborhood House at www.neighb.org) to speak to your class. If time and resources permit, organize a panel discussion.

   The responses collected during the debriefing part of the activity above can serve the basis for discussion. The students can prepare their ideas for action and present them to the panel. The panelists will share information about their experiences and work with refugees, examine challenges, and present opportunities for young people to get involved. Students can also write their own personal stories and histories. They could write them in small booklets and share them in groups with each other. Set up a gallery walk in which students walk around the classroom and take time to look at each other's work. Handout sticky notes for students to leave comments as they walk around.
   




2. Localizing statistics

   Students can review research data and publications of the Hmong Cultural Center at http://www.hmongcenter.org/
   
   Other useful sites:
   Twin Cities Compass - www.tccompass.org
   Mind the Gap Report - http://www.intermediaarts.org/pages/programs/movinglives/mlsb_2005/mlsb_partner.ht m
   Minneapolis Foundation, Immigrants in Minnesota: Discovering Common Ground. Minneapolis: The Minneapolis Foundation, 2004. (F615.A1 I46 2004) at http://minn eapolisfoundation.org/immigration/ImmigrationBrochure.pdf