Speakers Corner spotlight: From the shores of Vietnam to Uxbridge, Ont. One refugee’s story

Our Speakers Corner spotlight shines on an Uxbridge, Ont., man who is giving back to the very community he says rescued his family from the depths of despair.

Optometrist Dr. Vi Tu Banh’s journey to get to the place he is today has spanned decades and oceans.

“I was 11 when my family left south Vietnam shortly after the war,” he said. “Most people think when the Vietnam War ended there was peace, but that was not so.”

Thousands of families escaped the country due to economic hardship and political persecution.

“My parents literally liquidated everything, their entire life savings, and put us on a boat.”

Banh said the small fishing boat was their only vessel to escape.

“Ours was made of wood with holes everywhere, it was risky but we headed south,” he said “We were five days at sea and then arrived in Malaysia but because It was overcrowded with other refugees, they kicked us out.”

Banh said the family re-boarded the boat once again drifting the ocean when they were given a lifeline.

“A German cargo ship rescued us and took us to an island where we spent nine months.”

They were dropped off at Air Raya, a refugee camp set up for other Vietnamese refugees in Jemayah Island in Indonesia. Conditions were less than desirable. Homes were made with sticks and disease was rampant. In 1979, when Banh’s family was staying on the island a CBC News crew travelled there to report on the camp’s conditions and the story caught the attention of a group of people in Uxbridge.

“During that report, on the corner of the screen, they had a number for people to call to help.”

A man in Uxbridge dialed the number.

“He was told nobody else in the Durham Region had reached out. So he started the ball rolling,” Banh said.

That call mobilized a group of other Uxbridge residents to come together and sponsor Banh’s family to come to Uxbridge.

“If it was not for this community and those five people, my family would have starved or been sent back to Vietnam.”

“We call them the ‘magnificent five,’” Banh said.

Made up of two couples, Barb and Ted Murphy and Lloyd and Mary Ball, along with another woman, Doris Muckle. They were strangers but became united after collectively agreeing to help the Banhs, each doing so in different ways. Muckle gave the family money enabling them to buy their first home once they settled.

“Doris give us a $20,000 cheque, interest free for the down payment,” Banh said. “It was remarkable. They showed so much kindness to complete strangers like us.”

The family built a life, Banh moved away for school eventually becoming an optometrist at which point he could’ve settled anywhere.

“But I knew I had to go back to Uxbridge,” he said. “If it was not for this community and those five people, my family would have starved or been sent back to Vietnam. My calling was to return to where it all began and give back.”

He opened up a clinic and has given back in various ways. From helping sponsor charitable organizations to establishing a scholarship for high school students in honour of the late Ted Murphy, one of the ‘magnificent five’ that helped his family. To be considered, students must write an essay on how they have overcome adversity — something Banh knows all about.

“You have choices, you become a victim, or you try to make changes for the better,” he said.

“My calling was to return to where it all began and give back.”

Now, he’s embarking on a new adventure.

“I still remember pointing towards the island when we left. I told my dad, ‘one day I’m going to write a book about this,'” which he has done. His book, 12 Elephants and a Dragon: A Memoir of Survival and the Kindness of Strangers, will officially launch later this month.

The book dives into Banh’s story and shows how people who display acts of kindness — like the ‘magnificent five’ in Uxbridge — can lead to positive change.

“We would not be where we are without them,” he said. “They helped me, so I must help their community. Kindness spreads and it all starts with a vibration.”

Some of the proceeds of Banh’s book will go to support the Uxbridge Hospital.

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