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I have a very fond memory of a 50 year-old man who worked in the kitchen of the hotel where we stayed for 20 days while participating in the 2007 Smithsonian Folklife Festival in Washington DC. Whenever this member of staff had any free time, he came along to enjoy our performances, and was especially keen on our sessions of Don ca tai tu singing. His face, which often had a look of sadness that made him appear far older than his years, brightened into a broad smile as he listened, and there were times when his eyes filled with tears. It turned out that he was Vietnamese, one of the expatriates formerly referred to in the USA as 'boat people', and he came originally from Rach Gia district in the southern province of Kien Giang.
He had left our homeland in 1975 and had never been able to return. I was deeply moved by this encounter and felt I was seeing the true power of culture to bring people together and show them how to share, to understand and to feel close to one another. |
