For general non-adoptee but exciting events relating to Asia and Asia Australia please visit Asialink’s website www.asialink.unimelb.edu.au or email to events@asialink.unimelb.edu.au or call Asialink on (03) 8344 4800 to find out how to become a member and receive their events mailing list.
Author Archives: Jess
The Post Adoption Resource Centre Adoptee Workshops
The Post Adoption Resource Centre, working with ICASN, ASIAC, DoCS Adoption and Permanent Care Services & Barnardos, often hold special workshops for INTERCOUNTRY & TRANSRACIAL ADOPTEES
For more details contact Thea Ormerod at PARC on 9365 3444 or PO Box 239, Bondi. 2026. theao@parc.bensoc.org.au
Workshop Suggestions on transracial@bensoc.org.au
Australia – TAS Meetings (2008)
ICASN are hoping to send adult adoptees to assist The Post Adoptive Resources Centre (PARC) with their popular ‘talking about racism and cultural heritage’ talks for adoptive parents.
PARC’s Thea Ormond has details for upcoming events at email: theao@parc.bensoc.org.au
Australia – Adelaide Events (2008)
Update East Meets West August 2008
East meets West no longer receives funding from the Government as at April 2008 to cover our program costs.
Our recent funding for the period April to June 2008 from PASS (Post Adoption Resource Centre) has also now ceased since the end of this financial year. PASS who have been offered a renewal of the tender for Post Adoption Services for the next three years have offered minimal funding of 7 hours per month to cover salaries for attendance on the day of activities but this is not guaranteed each month depending on their budget requirements. The East meets West Board is currently actively looking at other avenues to continue our program and generate funds. Funding for East Meets West will be the future of our organisation, if we have no funding, then we cannot afford salaries of the paid workers to organise and attend activities. We are looking for any parents interested in joining the board or who have suggestions for funding opportunities.
Post Adoption Support Services Training.
This training is for counsellors, psychologists, social workers and other professionals who work with clients, or would like to work with clients, whose lives involve adoption. Please pass this on through your networks, and feel free to contact Nikki Hartmann or Sandi Petersen on 8245 8100 should you
There are also special discussion evenings for people who have been adopted.
TET Volunteers needed
Face painters and general volunteering assistance welcome for Tet Festivisites to be held by the SA Vietnamese Community Chapter. For more info please contact Ruth Tulloch, Exec Committee Member & Public Programs: Ruthtulloch@aol.com
Heart of Stone Book Out Now
Recent book by Hoa Stone – author, adopted Vietnamese and social activist in Vietnam
For more info email: sabu@sabu.com.au
East Meets West is now holding Social nights for Inter-country Adoptees
Anyone who may be interested please contact:
Tracey Gilbert
East Meets West
Phone/Fax: 08 8132 1570
info@eastmeetswest.org.au
France Events (2008)
Origines Vietnam
Regularly holds events – please see
Marita (aka Chi),
or join
USA Events (2008)
General Adopted Vietnamese Events Listing
See www.van-online.org for local events in your state
General Regular Vietnamese Events
Vietnamese International Film Festival (ViFF) “Beyond Boundaries”
The Club O’ Noodles Show “Reinventing Entertainment…one Vietnamese at a time”
VAALA “Enriching our communities since 1991”
General USA
Attend the VAN and Vietnamese Camp every year in Colorado (outside of Winter Park)
Since 2001, VAN has held a conference every other year to connect Vietnamese adoptees from around the world together. For more info see www.van-online.org now!
International Adoptee Congress (IAC)
IAC an organization made up of 75internationally adopted persons from various ethnic and geographic backgrounds, will meet in annually.
“For too long,” says Bert Ballard, IAC Past President and co-founder of the Vietnamese Adoptee Network (VAN), “international adoptees in the United States have been reactionary. Now, though, the IAC will offer international adoptees an opportunity to establish their presence, one that will set the tone for dialogue with agencies, adoptive parents, and each other.”
For more information please contact Kelly Brownlee at 206-818-1625.
www.emediawire.com/releases/2006/6/emw393387.htm
By State
Boston
4th International ACTION Conference on Post Adoption Services 2009
February 23-25, 2009
Hotel Marlowe
Cambridge, MA, USA
We invite you to attend, present, collaborate, exhibit or advertise!
Call for proposals attached ~ Deadline August 20, 2008
Further information will be available shortly.
Contact Katherine Walker at 617-547-0909 or katherinew@kinnect.org with any questions.
Greetings all. Diane Tavitian and Mai Dewees and other supporters have been talking a lot since the conference in April and we have begun a group called Mosaic. The meetings will be facilitated by Mai Linh Dewees. It doesn’t matter where you were adopted from- it is our hope to be as inclusive as possible and invite all adult adoptees.
Boston Photo Exhibit by Adoptee
Anh Dao Kolbe, VN adoptee Photographer of Misplaced Baggage, has put many of her works on virtual exhibition – you can see some by visiting:
Colorado
Vietnamese Heritage camp
Hope to see you there….
Kathie Scrimgeour
Co-Director, VHC
Hawaii
Asian Adult Adoptee Gathering – Hawai’i 2008
Honolulu: October 10-13, 2008
Korean Adoptee Gathering in Hawai’i: Fall 2008
Friday, October 10, 2008 at 12:00am – Monday, October 13, 2008 at 12:00am
Hawai’i
Honolulu, HI
LA
Adoptive Family Social & Support Groups.
For info on progress on the above and events see Susan Robinson: susanrobinson1@ca.rr.com
AVI get together in LA in Feb 2008.
Sat 9th Feb 2008 at 11am – Los Ang. USA
Welcoming International adoptees to a meet up with Indigo, a VN adoptee from Australia. Arranged by local David Fisk, for more info email: davidhlf@yahoo.com
There will also be a more casual day out on Sunday 10th Feb. For more info email Indigo at: i.willing@uq.edu.au
Minneapolis / St Paul, MN
November is National Adoption Awareness Month. Please attend our dinner over dialogue. There will be a diverse group of Asian Adoptees sharing their personal stories through a panel discussion. Topics will cover identity, cultural differences, dating, and different upbringings. Enjoy dinner and music by our featured Guzheng musician, Jarrell Barton. Pre-registration and payment is requested.
When: Saturday, November, 2008
5pm Registration
5:30pm-6:30pm Panel Discussion
6:30pm Dinner over Dialogue
Musician: Jarrell Barton will provide Guzheng music before and after dinner
Hoa Bien Vietnamese Restaurant
1105 University Ave West
St. Paul, MN 55104
Fee: $20.00 per person
Pre-registration and payment is requested by November 8, 2008 Payment can be mailed to P.O. Box 18435, Minneapolis, MN 55418
Checks and Credit Cards are accepted or please go to our website for more information, Paypal is also available.
New York
Lana Noone has been involved with several events in the state. For more info on future ones
Please contact: Lana@Vietnambabylift.org
TEXAS
Cocktails for a Cause
“Benefitting ATG Against The Grain Productions & “Operation Babylift””
What: Fundraiser
Host: The ATG Board of Directors
When: Thursday, September 18 at 6:00pm
Where: AMS Production Group
16986 N. Dallas Pkwy
Dallas, TX
RSVP, ATGProds@aol.com
Please save the date for our first “Cocktails for a Cause” fundraiser event, benefitting ATG Against The Grain Productions and “Operation Babylift: The Lost Children of Vietnam.”
USA Events (2007)
General USA
Attend the VAN and Vietnamese Camp joint conference!
August 9-12th, 2007 at Snow Mountain Ranch in Colorado (outside of Winter Park)
Since 2001, VAN has held a conference every other year to connect Vietnamese adoptees from around the world together. This year, 2007, the VAN conference is going to be a special and inaugural event. This year, VAN is partnering with the Colorado Vietnamese Heritage Camp for our bi-annual conference. For more info see www.van-online.org now!
International Adoptee Congress
(IAC), an organization made up of 75internationally adopted persons from various ethnic and geographic backgrounds, will meet in annually.
“For too long,” says Bert Ballard, IAC Past President and co-founder of the Vietnamese Adoptee Network (VAN), “international adoptees in the United States have been reactionary. Now, though, the IAC will offer international adoptees an opportunity to establish their presence, one that will set the tone for dialogue with agencies, adoptive parents, and each other.”
For more information please contact Kelly Brownlee at 206-818-1625.
www.emediawire.com/releases/2006/6/emw393387.htm
Boston
Greetings all. Diane Tavitian and Mai Dewees and other supporters have been talking a lot since the conference in April and we have begun a group called Mosaic. It is a once a month meeting for adult adoptees to talk about issues that are important to them. We meet every 3rd Wednesday of each month. The next meeting is the 21st at 6:00 at MIT in Building 4 room 146. The meeting will be facilitated by Mai Linh Dewees. It doesn’t matter where you were adopted from- it is our hope to be as inclusive as possible and invite all adult adoptees.
Boston Photo Exhibit by Adoptee
Anh Dao Kolbe, VN adoptee Photographer of Misplaced Baggage, has put many of her works on virtual exhibition – you can see some by visiting:
Colorado
Vietnamese Heritage camp
Vietnamese Heritage camp here in Colorado that is set for August 9-12, 2007. This year will be an event rather than just a camp. We are excited and honored to be joined by the Vietnamese Adoptee Network for this year. Not only will VHC be filled with fun and education for the kids about their heritage, but they will have a chance to interact with adult adoptees, many of whom were a part of Operation Baby Lift.
If you would like more information regarding this year’s event please visit the Colorado Heritage Camps’ website and click through to the Vietnamese Heritage Camp. www.heritagecamps.org
Hope to see you there….
Kathie Scrimgeour
Co-Director, VHC
LA
PHOTOGRAPHY – Kate Hers, adoptee
Announcement: MFA2 opening on Feb. 22, 2007 please come out for food, refreshments and art! let me know if you would like to taken off the estherka mailing list. thanks,
kate hers
web.mac.com/estherka
New York
Lana Noone will present a Vietnam Babylift 30th Anniversary Program at Farmingdale State University, Farmingdale, New York, in conjunction with the University’s Distinguished Speaker Series.
Please contact Lana@Vietnambabylift.org for complete details and travel information.
Pittsburgh
11 – 14 October – Encountering New Worlds of Adoption Conference
www.english.pitt.edu/events/adoptionandculture/
Saturday 13 October Session – [Paper presentations] Session 12.3 Internationally Adoptive Parents
3:15 – 4:45
Cathedral of Learning Room 349
Chair: Nancy McCabe, English, University of Pittsburgh at Bradford
Kristine Freeark, Center for Human Growth and Development, University of Michigan, “Make Room for Daddy: The Impact of Father Involvement on the Adoption Dialogue in Transnationally Adoptive Families” (written with Katherine Rosenblum)
Mitch Levenberg, English, St. Francis College and New York University, Excerpts from a memoir about adopting in China
Chris Winston, Korean American Adoptee Adoptive Family Network, “Adoptive Parents, Race, and Children’s Ethnic Communities”
Indigo WIlliams Willing, Social Science, University of Queensland, “New Global Families: Celebrity Adopters to ‘Ordinary’ Australian Adoptive Parents”
Washington DC
Washington DC Visit
Dates: Arrive 14 October at 3.25pm and fly out 5.25pm on 16 October
Adoption Ethics and Accountability Conference,
Location and accomodation: Marriott Crystal Gateway, 1700 Jefferson Davis Highway, Arlington , VA
Hotel phone: 703-920-3230 (room booked under name Linh Song)
Involved in Monday 15th Session – WORKSHOP 2.5
Supporting Adopted Children after Adoption: What are Their Post-placement Needs?
Carrie Kent
Joyce Maguire Pavao
Debbie Riley
Indigo Willing
For adoptee event / meet up on the eve of 14 Oct please email Ev at: ilovecatsanddogs@gmail.com
Australia – TAS Meetings (2007)
ICASN are hoping to send adult adoptees to assist The Post Adoptive Resources Centre (PARC) with their popular ‘talking about racism and cultural heritage’ talks for adoptive parents.
PARC’s Thea Ormond has details for upcoming events at email: theao@parc.bensoc.org.au
Australia – VIC Meetings (2007)
28 – 30 June 2007 – CONFERENCE
Anyone want to go to the Asian Australian Identities 2 Conference as audience (paper submission deadline closed) – speaker line up includes Khoa Do, William Yang, Tony Ayeres and much more!
Early bird rates close 25 April COB. Good one day rates for concession only $77. To register visit www.asianaustralianstudies.org
Please contact indigo if you think you might like to go or meet up during this time.
Thurdsay 28th June
AVI and ICASN members and partners based in Melbourne or visiting the area are also welcome to a casual meet up dinner.
Date : Thurdsay 28th June
Time : 8pm
Venue : Tran Tran Restaurant
Address : 74 Victoria Street Richmond Melb.
Contacts: Sofie on theloneeskimo@yahoo.com or Simon on keoghsimon@hotmail.com
VIC ICASN Socials – Regular
For teens you can also participate in the ICATZ network – an offshoot of ICASN for teens by emailing the teen leader Angela at: platt@ozemail.com.au
PHOTOGRAPHY by Mandy Everton: 16th Feb to 17th March 2007
Mandy Everton here… Vietnamese adoptee living in Melbourne. Thought I’d let you know of a photography exhibition thats about to be in Brisbane that you or other interested people in Brissy (like IAFQ members) might be interested in seeing.
My sister Samantha Everton is a digital photography artist and last year won Australian Fifth Leica Documentary Photographer of the Year award. Her series of photos were in intercountry adoption and capture the images of a family living here in Melbourne who have a Chinese adopted daughter.
Details of exhibition:
The fifth Leica CCP Documentary Photography Award Winner Samantha Everton with her Intercountry adoption series. Logan Art Gallery (Located on the corner of Wembley Road and Jacaranda Avenue, Logan Central).
The Outstanding Play
Script by adopted Vietnamese and playwright Dominic Golding is now available.
SHRIMP
Based on an adopted Vietnamese’s journey to Vietnam. Get a copy of: media_shrimp_singlepage.pdf (197 KB)
Review from the Age: www.melbournestage.com.au/ms1/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=681
and from Vibewire: www.vibewire.net/2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=10488&Itemid=69
NOTE: that Dominic Golding is now in Vietnam – if you would like to contact him while you are travelling there email:
dominicgolding@hotmail.com
General Asia Related Events
For general non-adoptee but exciting events relating to Asia and Asia Australia please visit Asialink’s website www.asialink.unimelb.edu.au or email to events@asialink.unimelb.edu.au or call Asialink on (03) 8344 4800 to find out how to become a member and receive their events mailing list.
Australia – QLD Events & Meetings (2007)
AVI has participated in some of the following events and remains dedicated to fostering spaces for adopted people’s voices to be heard and explored.
QLD Multicultural Summit – October 2007
Ilan and Indigo (from Taiwan and Vietnam) attended the above event and gala dinner. Networking with groups from various multicultural NGOs, migrant community groups and mental health centres were achieved. Highlights included meeting key note speaker Jason Yi Satyen. Indigo’s attendence was kindly sponsored by the Ethnic Communities Council of QLD.
Babylift and Other Adoptee meeting September 2007
There are many people involved with adoption from Vietnam now residing in QLD including Babylift flight crew John Douglas, Ian Frame and Graham Stehn and a group of wonderful adopted Vietnamese. Informal plans are now on for a picnic sometime in the new year. To register interest email:
Qld ICASN Socials – Regular
AVI and ICASN worked closely together to introduce and maintain networks with adoptees for various ICASN social, education and other projects throughout 2007.
Sunday 29 July
International Day (see archive below) is coming around again and members of AVI and ICASN will be holding an info stall plus other activities on the day. To get involved with either the organising committee or to just meet up on the day please email: i.willing@uq.edu.au
Sunday 25 July
Indigo Willing arranged for an AVI group trip to see Miss Saigon in Brisbane’s QPAC, courtesty of JP Productions. Attendees included Lee Trigg, Jen Fitzpatrick and their partners and friends including ICASN member Anna Davison, Jigsaw members and Debra Cooper from QLD State Library Multicultural Services.
Saturday 16 June to Monday 18 June
Dominic Golding, Vietnamese adoptee and author/performer of the screenplay Shrimp is coming to visit Brisbane on the above dates. There will be a dinner for him with AVI and ICASN members on Sunday 17 – to rsvp email: i.willing@uq.edu.au
28th May till Fri. 1st June
Jamie Fry, Vietnamese adoptee and member of East Meets West visited QLD for a meet up.
Friday 18 May 2007
UQ Asian-Australian Short Film Festival & Panel Discussions – Held during Diversity Week
11am to 4pm – Free One Day Event at Duhig SSH Library Conference Room, St Lucia Campus, Brisbane University of Queensland – Convenor was Indigo Willing
FIlms include:
FIsh Sauce Breath – 6mins (Eng & Viet language), Delivery Day – 30 mins (Eng & Viet language), Karaoke King – 10 mins (Eng & Catonese language), Chinese Take Away – 50 mins (Eng & Cantonese language), Pho Now! – 10 mins (Eng language),
Plus a special screening of The Girl in the Mirror (Eng language) – a documentary on transnational adoption.
Speakers include:
Anna Yen – Performer, Writer, Lecturer; Jacqueline Lo – Chair, Asian Australian Studies Research Network & Lecturer, ANU; David Ip – Associate Prof. Sociology at UQ; Benjamin Law – Screen writer, journalist and doctoral candidate at QUT; Alan Han – Writer, activist and doctoral candidate at UQ; Benjamin Cho – Film critic and Committee member of BIFF.
For a booklet from the event email to Indigo (VN adoptee): i.willing@uq.edu.au
FREE exhibition bringing together the history of Operation Babylift and Vietnamese Refugees
Water, trees, and roots: stories from the Queensland Vietnamese community
Launch was Saturday, May 12. Featured AVI member Jen Fitzpatrick of Operation Babylift.
General exhibit was held May 11 – July 11
The Studio, level 1, State Library of Queensland (Cultural Centre, Stanley Place, South Bank)
Ongoing – IAFQ Info Days 2007 – 2008
Adult adoptee special Q and A sessions are held for prospective adoptive parents by the IAFQ (Intercountry Adoptive Families of QLD) for their info days, usually held at the Italio-Australian club at Newmarket. For directions and how to attend a future event contact the organiser, Clarissa via the IAFQ at: clarry_david@optusnet.com.au
Previous sessions have featured: Vietnamese adoptees, Jen Fitzpatrick – adoption professional and B.Social Work and Indigo Willing, PhD Student, Sociology plus other adult and teen adoptees such as Anna, Zewdituand Joel. Chaired by adoptive parent and PhD student, Psychology, Leith Harding.
8th July 2006 – ASIA AUSTRALIA MEET UP
West End Three Monkey’s Cafe at 2pm – A meet up with the intercountry adoptees, adopted Vietnamese and Asian Australian egroup for casual chats. For more info on the next one email indigo@adoptedvietnamese.org
Christmas dinner for Vietnamese Refugees and the Adopted Vietnamese, Family and Friends
Saturday 3rd December at King of Kings Restaurant, Fortitude Valley. Time: 6.30pm. For more info please email Indigo indigo@adoptedvietnamese.org
Special Reunion Event for Vietnamese Refugees and Adopted Vietnamese
Sat 14 August – a special reunion dinner organised by the Chair of the Organising Committee, Mr Trung Viet Nguyen, and hosted by the Governor of Queensland, Quentin Bryce, AC was held at King of Kings Restaurant. Ms Indigo Willing (1972) and Ms Jen Fitzpatrick (Babylift 75) were invited to present speeches on the evening to talk about the adopted Vietnamese perspective. Other adoptees present were Glen Kelly and Jaye Bradley – plus John Douglas who was one of the flight crew who went to collect Operation Babylift children in 1975.
Also, photos of Operation Babylift and QLD adopted Vietnamese were part of a special powerpoint presentation. Trung Nguyen and the organising committee for the 30 Year Reunion and Celebration week of VN Resettlement invited Indigo and Jen to attend a reception of the Lord Mayor Campell Newman on Thursday 11 August, and the opening of the Vietnamese Women’s Association Queensland Office on Sat 13 August.
Australia – Adelaide Meetings (2007)
Heart of Stone
New book launch by Hoa Stone released 2007.
Thursday, May 17th, 2007.
6.00 – 7:30pm
at the South Australian Baptist
Union Centre, 35 – 39 King William
Road, Unley For more info email: sabu@sabu.com.au
Moving Cultures Conference
Panel session: Overseas Adoptions and Australian Post-traditional Kinship: Transnationals, Diasporas and Cosmopolitanisms at
Moving Cultures, Shifting Identities: a conference about migration, connection, heritage and cultural memory. Flinders University, Adelaide, South Australia. 3 – 5 December 2007
“Transnational adoption in Australia, and throughout most of the Western world, almost always involves incoming Asian, African, Eastern European and South American born children joining local parents with contrasting, and predominantly White ethnic backgrounds. Adopted Indigenous Australian children are also sometimes a feature of these multi-racial families. Meta-narratives of this trend tend to divide issues into questions of salvation or colonialism. The recent wave of celebrities adopting children from overseas, which has drawn considerable public attention to, and debate over the politics of such differences, also perpetuates such representations.
These panel sessions (more than one may be required to accommodate all speakers) aim to move beyond the spotlight in order to gain a deeper insight into how ordinary adoptive parents and adoptees in Australia negotiate and represent the new global mobility and inter-ethnic circumstances forming their post-traditional families and identities. A number of the panelists themselves represent a combination of these biographies, enriching the field with sharp, fresh perspectives and innovative methodologies. Papers employ a range of theoretical lenses to foreground the social, cultural and psychological dimensions of this complex, intentionally intimate yet publicly visible and global form of migration. While the construction of cultural and racial identities in adoption remains a central theme, it is hoped that insights from the discussion can also contribute to wider research on the discourses and other processes that enable, complicate and/or contradict notions of openness, belonging and boundary management in contemporary Australian families and society.”
With Kim Gray, Trudy Rosenwald, Tricia Fronek, Jessica Walton and Indigo Williams Willing. Session date tba. A social will also be held for adoptees during this time, for more info email: i.willing@uq.edu.au
fhrc.flinders.edu.au/events/movingcultures.html
East Meets West is now holding Social nights for Inter-country Adoptees
Anyone who may be interested please contact:
Tracey Gilbert
East Meets West
Phone/Fax: 08 8132 1570
info@eastmeetswest.org.au
www.eastmeetswest.org
Qld International Day for Adoptive Families (30th July 2006)
Adopted Vietnamese International’s (AVI) and the general adult adoptees again participated in International Day (ID) at Logan, QLD – organised by the Intercountry Adoptive Families of Queensland (IAFQ) on Sunday 30th July, 2006. ID brings together families who have adopted from overseas in order to pay respect to their birth heritage and to do fund raising for projects (orphanages, development grants for siblings etc) in their birth countries.
An adult adoptee table was co-organised by Indigo (adopted from VN) and Anna (adopted from Hong Kong) who were support members of the ID Committee. This more casual approach than last year (when we did Q and A seminar sessions) made heaps of good info made available to
parents and younger adoptees.The flyers included ones for the AVI which brings people’s attention to the important educational and support role Vietnamese adoptees can play in transnational adoptions today. Other flyers included ones for Intercountry Adoptee Support Network (ICASN), Korean Adoptees
Worldwide – (KAW) and the Post Adoptive Resources Centre (PARC).
A few very good books were also on display on this table – Cultures of Transnational Adoption edited by Toby Volkman (later donated by AVI to the IAFQ library), The Colour of DIfference edited by Sarah Armstrong and Pertina Slaytor – and featuring the contributions of VN adoptees including Lynelle Beveridge and Analee Matthews, and Adoptive Parenting, Creating A Tool Box edited by Sheena Macrae and Jean McLeod (see attachment).
The adult adoptee volunteers were Anna, Jen (adopted from VN on babylift) and Ilan (adopted from Taiwan). Suanne, a babylift
Vietnamese adoptee from Adelaide, also came up to join us. Her visit was a real highlight. Another highlight was that Mr Trung Nguyen, a senior and well respected member of the Vietnamese community who regularly invites AVI members to joint projects and events with the Vietnamese community in QLD, also came along to show his support.
Anna and Indigo were also there to greet the Minister for The Department of Child Safety (which is responsible for intercountry adoptions) on his arrival to the festival, and Indigo was kindly asked by the ID committee) to do an impromptu presention to the official guests of the festival, Pam and Darryl Smith (the founders of IAFQ). Thus, overall, the adult adoptees are being appreciated for their views and taken very seriously in their expanded capacity to offer a good line of education to the newer adoptive families and a line of support to younger adoptees.
Everyone got to debrief and have a nice chat at a cafe afterwards, and then Suanne and Jen and Anna later joined Trung Nguyen and the Vietnamese community at a fundraiser at a Buddhist Temple (Indigo had to go home to look after her son who had a cold). Thanks to everyone involved for your leadership and generosity. Please email Indigo if you would like to be involved with next year’s event.
Events 2006
Ongoing research on transnational adoption and sharing issues for discussion through producing publictions, the new focus being on Brisbane and Australian families. This year also co-organising an adult adoptee information table at the annual International Day Festival for adoptive families at the Logan Entertainment Centre. A QLD social will coincide. Other activities include doing a Q and A session for prospective adoptive parents for the Intercountry Adoptive Families of Queensland (IAFQ), drawing attention to the adopted Vietnamese history in Australia via a film review of Dai Le’s film Operation Babylift for an anthropology journal. Also a joint adult adoptee – general members meet up at the inaugural Asian Australian Brisbane membership social. Bigger projects in the future – putting in place a short film festival on Asian cinema.
30th Anniversary of Operation Babylift (2005)
A range of activities that commemorated this event can be found on the 30th Anniversary (2005) AVI page.
OTHER events and activities included research on adoption and sharing issues for discussion through producing publictions, plus organising an adoptee Q and A panel for adoptive parents at at the International Day Festival for adoptive families at the Logan Entertainment Centre, participating in an adult adoptee talk for the Taiwan adoptive parents group in QLD, the 30th anniversary of Vietnamese resettlement in Australia bridging activities for adoptees and refugees, the How to Be Strayan panel featuring Vietnamese adoptee and others for the Brisbane Ideas Festival and a presentation to Hon. Mike Reynolds, Minister for Child Safety, QLD.
Events – April 2004
Events and other included research on adoption and sharing issues for discussion through producing publictions, plus a social and conference visit (to present paper on new identities and Vietnamese adoptees) to Melbourne…plus the South Australian meet up at the conference below.
The paper ‘White Families, Vietnamese Voices?’ by I Williams from AVI about the Vietnamese community was presented, plus papers by VN adoptees Analee Matthews on returning to the homeland and Veronica Stanley on personal identity will also be presented at The 8th Australian Conference on Adoption being held in Adelaide, April 2004. Contact Plevin and Associates Pty Ltd PO Box 54 BURNSIDE 5066 South Australia, Tel +61 8 8379 8222 Fax +61 8 8379 8177 events@plevin.com.au for more details.