Cultural embrace

WORCESTER - There is so much diversity within the Asian community of Worcester it makes Anh Vu Sawyer smile, especially as she watched their cultures on display Sunday at the 12th Asian Festival.

As things wound down at the festival, Mrs. Sawyer, executive director of the Southeast Asian Coalition of Central Mass., talked about the event and how each of the 14 different countries represented are unique.

"Each (country) with their own ethnic groups; they are different with foods and languages and traditions," she explained. "And a lot of us used to be enemies, but we're here, together, now."

She sees Worcester as a sort of melting pot, not just for Asians but for many refugees and immigrants who want to come to America for the opportunities.

"As far back as Worcester has been keeping data 20 to 25 percent of (Worcester's population) are immigrants and refugees," she said. According to the coalition's website, 7 percent are Asian.

Mrs. Sawyer came to the United States when she was 18, escaping with her family on the second-to-last helicopter leaving after the fall of Saigon. In a clip from the PBS documentary "Last Days in Vietnam," she briefly appears: an 18-year-old girl, pleading with a soldier and clutching a letter that says an American family will sponsor her family. When the helicopter door clanged shut, she knew she would be OK. These days she has realized that she would not have lived had she not been able to be free.

"I am a person who needs my freedom," she said.

Others at the festival, held at the Italian-American Cultural Center on Mulberry Street, came to America in different ways, but all have amazing stories. "Every refugee has quite a story," Mrs. Sawyer said.

There was Phat, a Boston College student who was on the fringes of gang life in Worcester when he became involved with the coalition's youth programs. He started the Lion Dance group which celebrated its five-year anniversary Sunday and has won many awards for performances, a traditional form of storytelling. He's on a full scholarship at Boston College now, she said.

And Bien, 26, who started a sugar cane business, which he hopes will grow and flourish in Central Massachusetts.

It is important for young people to assimilate into American culture while still holding dear the traditions and heritage of their own cultures, Mrs. Sawyer said.

The festival benefits programs that the coalition offers from the in-kind space the United Way provides for the coalition in the Denholm Building on Main Street. They assist with getting citizenship, education, learning English and finding health care, in addition to the youth programs, she said.