Pay It Forward, Pay It Back
/“Service to others is the rent you pay for your room here on earth.”
There have been so many benefits to volunteering for the Red Cross. It has a lot to do with the people I meet. My ‘job’ with the Red Cross has been in Communications, writing articles on subjects I’m assigned, primarily aimed at local audiences and other volunteers. Sometimes it involves attending an event and writing about it. Many times it involves interviewing people. I like the interviews best because I get to ask questions, and one question usually leads to another. One of my favorite interviews was with a teenager from the Reno, Nevada area.
When asked to write an article on Red Cross Clubs, it was a topic with which I was unfamiliar. I did a little research and was put in touch with Olivia Ho, a senior at Galena High School in Reno, President of the high school’s Red Cross Club. I asked her, “What motivates a teenager like you to become involved in a high school Red Cross Club?” She answered without hesitation, “My Dad!” When she was looking to become involved in extracurricular activities at school and couldn’t decide what interested her, it was her Dad who pointed her toward volunteering for the Red Cross.
Intrigued by her answer, I queried her further. What did her Dad say or do to inspire her to volunteer? Her Dad, she told me, was a refugee from South Vietnam and received help from the Red Cross in his journey to the United States and subsequently received help acclimating to a new country, a new home, and a new culture when his family arrived in the USA. I wondered if Olivia and her Dad might be willing to provide a bit more insight into his journey to the USA. They obliged.
Today, Dr. Nathan Ho is an interventional cardiologist in Carson City, Nevada. He was one of eight siblings and two cousins who fled South Vietnam with his parents in 1979. For a decade after the fall of Saigon, thousands of South Vietnamese fled their country by boat in search of freedom in another country.
“We were the boat people you’ve heard of”, Dr. Ho explained. He was five when his family paid smugglers to transport them from Vietnam. He remembers a long, rough boat ride across open water, the boat being accosted on several occasions by pirates. They finally found refuge on the tiny island of Galang, Indonesia, at a UN Refugee camp. They lived in the refugee camp for nearly 18 months, awaiting processing and approval for immigration to the USA.
One of the many vessels that transported the ‘boat people’
Between 1979 and 1996, it is estimated that around 250,000 refugees left their homeland and passed through Pulau Galang, also known as Camp Vietnam. Galang is just one example of a camp that was established by the UN and other humanitarian groups to serve as a temporary shelter and processing center for fleeing refugees before settlement in new host countries.
Dr. Ho remembers receiving essential items like food, water, and clothing from volunteers in Galang, but, just as important, he also remembers the kindness and support when the family finally arrived in Southern California.
The Ho family thrived in the United States. All eight Ho children graduated from college and received advanced graduate degrees, becoming physicians, engineers, and accountants. He remembers the struggles and the challenges to achieve these goals, but has always kept in mind the help that he and his family received when they arrived. Giving back to community is now part of his ethos, and to that end, he has inspired his daughters to do the same.
Olivia, Dr. Ho’s oldest daughter, established the Red Cross Club in her high school in 2023, the first in Washoe County, and subsequently won the Red Cross Outstanding Youth Volunteer Award of Northern Nevada in 2024. Emily, her sister, is a sophomore at Galena High and Vice President of the Red Cross Club, and 8th grader Maddie has just started a Red Cross Club in her middle school.
The Indonesian Red Cross not only assisted refugees with essential services, but they also aided refugees in processing centers, facilitated family reunification, and provided counseling and support. Once in their new host country, local Red Cross chapters provide help in resettlement as well as educational programs to help refugees learn English and adapt to American life.
It’s interesting to note that Camp Vietnam, closed since 1996, now allows visitors to explore the refugee camp as a historical site, permitting a walk among the ruins of the camp, providing a glimpse into the lives of former refugees and the challenges they faced. A small museum on site preserves the memory of the Vietnamese exodus and the struggles to resettle.
Pulau Galang is now a historical site.
What a great ‘feel-good’ story. Hats off to the Ho family for sharing their story and continuing the spirit of paying back and paying it forward.
Photo of the Ho Family used with their permission - From Left: Olivia Ho, Dr. Nathan Ho, Anh Trang (Olivia's mom), Emily Ho and seated by her Dad is Maddie Ho.