Mason alumna, immigrant, and author shares message that ‘helpers matter’
Amanda Milewski
Like the ripples created by the refugee ship from which she was rescued at age 8, people came in and out of Hanh Bui’s life leaving lasting impressions and helping to chart her personal journey.
Bui, BA English '93, MEd '95, a former elementary school teacher, has authored a children’s book, The Yellow Áo Dài, that illustrates a young, Vietnamese girl’s connections to her past, her family, and her own identity—themes that are reflections of Bui’s own life. The book is part of her two-book deal with publisher Macmillan Feiwel & Friends that will be released in April 2023. Her second book, Ánh’s New Word, comes out in 2024.
Bui and her family were rescued from a refugee ship fleeing Vietnam in 1975. The refugees, referred to as “boat people” at the time, eventually ended up at Fort Indiantown Gap in Pennsylvania, where they spent six months awaiting sponsorship in the United States.
Bui recalls that she and her family were treated with compassion and dignity during their wait, and her memories include receiving her first coat, her first pair of sneakers, and saying her first words in English. She also remembers meeting Marilou Shaida Adams, or “Miss Marilou.”
“I wrote the book [Ánh’s New Word] in honor of educators and dedicated it to her because she was my first teacher,” Bui says. “I didn’t speak any English at all, but she made me feel so welcomed and comfortable that I knew one day I wanted to be a teacher too.”
Bui even wrote about Miss Marilou in her essay to gain entrance into Mason’s master of elementary education program. “It was a really wonderful program,” Bui says about her education. “I was inspired by so many of the professors. They really cared about making sure we all succeeded.”
She and her husband were able to track Shaida Adams down recently based on a photo Shaida Adams had given her the last time they saw each other. The wallet-size, black-and-white photo of Shaida Adams was inscribed on the back, “I love you.” At the time, Bui couldn’t read what it said but when she could, “I was so moved that she wrote that to me.”
Bui and Shaida Adams have since talked on the telephone and via Zoom and plan to meet in person in Pennsylvania during Bui’s book tour.
Bui, who was almost adopted out of the camp, and her family were eventually sponsored by members of the Mt. Calvary Lutheran Church in Lancaster. Ruth and Allen Morehead, who headed the sponsorship team, advocated to keep Bui’s family together and helped them assimilate to their new life in America. The church provided housing, transportation, and a job for Bui’s grandfather, and Ruth Morehead walked Bui to and from the bus stop and accompanied her grandmother on grocery shopping trips.
In addition to Miss Marilou and the Moreheads, Bui credits Anne Stanaway with having a positive impact on her life. Stanaway was the filmmaker behind the 1975 documentary Closing the Gap: Vietnam about the Vietnamese refugees, which was broadcast on PBS and nominated for an Emmy Award.
Bui remembered Stanaway’s film as she prepared a presentation on the immigrant experience for her son’s 6th grade class and realized she lacked visual documentation of her journey. She found it on YouTube.
Through a family connection, Bui found and later wrote to Stanaway, thanking her on behalf of herself and the Vietnamese refugees who were welcomed and sponsored because of her advocacy work. Stanaway was touched and invited Bui to visit her home in California, which she did.
“She was so happy,” Bui recalls. “Her daughter told me that when she was having very hard days toward the end of her life, she would reread my gratitude letter and say, ‘Now I know why I’m still here.’”
In addition to her books, Bui wrote about her experience for the children’s magazine Highlights in December 2019. She was invited to write the piece after she contacted CEO Kent Johnson to thank him for a post he wrote in support of immigrant children and against the separation of refugee families.
Bui views the ripple effects of kindness and gratitude as a part of who she is. “When you experience kindness as a young child, it becomes a part of who you are, it becomes a part of your core values,” she says.
“I want to inspire more Miss Marilous and Anne Stanaways,” she declares about her writing. “I want children to learn that kindness matters and that the helpers matter.”