Overseas Adopted Child’s Names Made Compulsory

A new legislation requires that adoptive parents must keep their overseas adopted child’s original first name definitely if they’re over 12 months and preferably before that too. For more info on actual policy: www.acwa.asn.au/acwa/news/LRCGray.doc Edited from Sunday Telegraph, August 2002 ‘New Names Banned for Children Adopted Abroad’ by Katrina Creer, p26-27 Children adopted from overseas will have to retain the name they were given in their home country under new laws introduced by the NSW State Government (capital city Sydney), Australia. Under a review of the Adoption Act, adoptive parents must also try to preserve the language, culture and religious heritage of their adopted child’s birth country. Head of adoption services at the Dept of Community Services, Craig Moore, said retaining the original name would help combat loss of identity suffered by foreign born children growing up in Australia.

Vietnam Tightens Adoption Controls

HANOI, Vietnam (AP) _ Vietnam has introduced a new decree which tightens controls over foreign adoptions of Vietnamese children in an attempt to halt fraud and child trafficking, an official said in July. Under the new decree, which takes effect from January 2, all adoptions must be approved by a special foreign adoption agency in the Ministry of Justice, the ministry official said. Read more here

ROCKEFELLER FELLOWS 2002-2003: (Re)Constructing Identity and Place in the Vietnamese Diaspora

The William Joiner Center and its collaborative institutions and programs at the University of Massachusetts Boston are pleased to announce the selection of the Rockefeller Fellows in the Humanities for the academic year 2002-2003 in the initiative (Re)Constructing Identity and Place in the Vietnamese Diaspora. For the academic year 2002-2003, we are happy to announce the appointment of fifteen fellows – Ms. Mariam Beevi, Mr. Sergei Blagov, Ms. Bui Thi Lan Huong, Mr. Do Minh Tuan, Ms. Maureen Feeney, Mr. Hoang Khoi Phong, Mr. Nguyen Y Duc. Mr. Nguyen Mong Giac, Mr. Nguyen Manh Hung, Mr. Nguyen Vy Khanh, Mr. Pham Xuan Nguyen, Mr. Phan Huy Duong, Ms. Meridel Rubenstein, Mr. Tran Van Thuy and Ms. Indigo A. Williams. Press Release here: omega.cc.umb.edu/%7Ediaspora/diasPress2002.html

Visual Arts/Craft Australian Residencies in Asia 2003

www.asialink.unimelb.edu.au/arts/residencies/varesappinfo.htm

Applications close Friday 6 September 2002

The Asialink Centre of The University of Melbourne invites applications from artists and crafts people to spend an extended period working in an Asian country. Up to nine places will be offered in 2003. Host countries listed here are India, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Taiwan and Thailand but residencies are possible in other countries as well.

Aim

The aim of this program is to enlarge the experiences available to Australians in our own region, to develop projects related to the host country and to encourage on-going involvement between Australian and Asian artists and organisations. The residencies are a professional development opportunity for Australian artists and also act to foster bilateral relationships in the region.

Eligibility

Residencies are open to all artists/crafts people who are Australian citizens or have permanent resident status in Australia and demonstrate a proven record of professional activity over at least three years. They are not for academic study or research. Former Asialink Residents are eligible to reapply four years after their selection – eg. if you applied in 1998 and undertook a residency in 1999 you able to reapply in this round (for 2003).

Volunteer Opportunity In Hanoi (Open 2002)

The Movie & English Club of New Star ELT Center Vietnam in Hanoi is seeking ‘native English speaking’ volunteers in Hanoi who are interested in helping Vietnamese students/English learners on either Saturday or Sunday afternoon to practice/improve their conversation English, while joining us in viewing the best Hollywood movies — all come with English subtitles.

The Club is fun and educational and it’s a chance for volunteers to make friends with ‘English speaking’ Vietnamese students/learners in Hanoi.

Club members meet every Saturday or Sunday afternoon from 3:00pm to 6:00pm at New Star English Language Training School (217 Doi Can Street, Ba Dinh, Hanoi).

For more details concerning the volunteer opportunities, please contact RICHARD by email or at the following phone numbers:

0903-999-123 (mobile)
04-775-2616 (office)
info_newstarelt@yahoo.com

A DNA Bank Project (Open date)

An ambitious project yet to prove practical, it is however a milestone idea in the process of adoptees searching for the birth parents. The Seeker, in conjunction with DNATesting.com is considering a project with DNA Banking to help reunite adoptees with birth parents.

Want to help out the Vietnamese soccer stars of tomorrow?

The Sunshine Sports project organized by the CNCF foundation to assist street kids in Vietnam has six football teams. Boys ranging in age from seven to eighteen years are able to participate in these games. The SilkRoadsters are the most advanced team, playing regular friendly games against other teams around the city. As part of the Sunshine Sports Project, a ‘Role Model Programme’ was established, providing the children with the opportunity to talk with professional and well-known athletes. This provides an opportunity for the children to meet their sporting heroes in person, thus inspiring the children to reach higher level of personal achievement.

Meanwhile, we know they didn’t make it to the World Cup in Korea and Japan but “If passion for football counted for anything, Vietnam would be world champions by now.” Vietnam was once a leading force in the game and won the 1959 Southeast Asian (SEA) Games. They also made the final rounds of the Asian Cup competition in 1956. A decline in form followed for some years but in recent times, they have emerged from the days of being considered an easy team to one that must be treated seriously. In the 1997 SEA Games, Vietnam stunned once Asian giants Malaysia 1-0 in a group match and advanced to eventually finish third overall after beating Indonesia in the playoff. The following year, Vietnam finished behind Singapore in the Tiger Cup final. For the background on Vietnamese Soccer in the new millennium check out here or at www.sports.com/football/ce/multi/0,2911,3025259,00.html

New Coalition Seeks Discussion on Ethics in Adoption

The Coalition for Responsible Open Adoption Reform and Education (ROARE) has been launched in Australia but calls for international support. The adoption community is invited to participate and share their opinions.

The interim web site: www.ethics.qut.edu.au/index_roare2.htm

Further information contact:
Collette: 0418 889225
Trevor: 0409 647 660
Electronic mail collette@futureweb.com.au or t.jordan@qut.edu.au

August 2002 – Vietnamese adoptees audition for “The Beautiful Country”

A Feature Film – The Beautiful Country, in production recently called for Amerasian actors to play the role of Binh, a 25 year old. See character description below. The filming starts September and will visit South East Asia, New York and Texas. Its main stars are Nick Nolte and Harvey Keitel. Producer: Petter Borgli, Ed Pressman, Tomas Backstrom, Terrence Malick; Director: Hans Petter Moland; Writers: Sabina Murray Larry Gross & Terrence Malick; Casting Director: Avy Kaufman

BINH – (25 years old) Half Vietnamese, half Caucasian. Not attractive- a real human being who’s oddity could manifest itself in abnormal height, a harelip, uneven teeth, a large nose, small mouth, big ears, etc. Only an infant when the American troops withdrew from Vietnam, Binh was taken away from his Vietnamese mother as punishment for her fraternizing with the American enemy, and dumped upon his Aunt. Treated as a second class citizen, no one in the village has ever given any consideration to his misery or abandonment; consequently he is very shy, has little self-esteem, is probably a virgin, and has few hopes for change. He departs from his Vietnamese village after he is kicked out of his foster house. He leaves to find his parents and his strength on route.

The production company will have a meeting about this film and they would like input from the Vietnamese and adoptive communities. I have asked them to create an Advisory Panel (suggested by Linh Lam), to address the concerns we all have about the script. Please consider sending an email message to Elizabeth Greenberg at: avykaufman@mindspring.com or contact Lana Noone about the advisory panel noone@mailbug.com