By Patrick D. Rosso, Town Correspondent
When Dao Trung Tran fled from Vietnam’s communist government in 1981, one community welcomed him, the Philippines. Now, after the destruction brought by Typhoon Haiyan, Tran and Boston’s Vietnamese community wants to give back.
Residents gather amongst the devastation in the aftermath of Typhoon Haiyan on November 13 in Tacloban, Leyte, Philippines. Typhoon Haiyan, packing maximum sustained winds of 195 mph (315 kph), slammed into the southern Philippines and left a trail of destruction in multiple provinces, forcing hundreds of thousands to evacuate and making travel by air and land to hard-hit provinces difficult. (Kevin Frayer/Getty Images)
“When we left Vietnam for freedom, the Philippines welcomed us with open arms,” explained Tran, 58. “They treated us like brothers and sisters during a difficult time and that memory stayed with us.”
On Saturday close to 500 of the area’s Vietnamese community will come together at the China Pearl restaurant in Quincy to raise money to help the more than 9-millon people estimated to have been impacted by the powerful November storm . The storm known as Typhoon Haiyan is also called Typhoon Yolanda in the Philippines.
“The Philippine people need help,” said Tran, a Braintree resident. “Many of us in Boston lived in the Philippines when we first escaped; they helped us in a difficult time and now it’s time for us to give back.”
Read the full story by Patrick D. Rosso from Town Correspondent.
