Former participants of Syracuse's Asian Apostolate program assist new arrivals

This program to teach Asian immigrants English is being run the same as the one I posted about the classes in Quincy, MA. I imagine they learn better when the teacher knows their struggles. - - Donna Poisl

by Maureen Sieh / The Post-Standard

When Hau Ly immigrated to Syracuse from Vietnam in 1990, she turned to the Asian Apostolate for help with English, making friends and learning American culture.

Today, Ly returns to the apostolate's summer program to help new Asian immigrants and refugees and Asian children growing up in America. She teaches arts and crafts and traditional Vietnamese dance.

"They helped me so much, so I wanted to help other kids," said Ly, 20, who attends State University College at Fredonia, where she's majoring in biology.

Ly is among more than a dozen former participants who volunteer at the Asian Apostolate, a program created by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Syracuse in 1991 to serve the wave of refugees and immigrants coming from Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia. Today, the apostolate is welcoming refugees from Bhutan and Mynamar.
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