Nou Xiong immigrated to Eau Claire, Wisconsin from Thailand in 1988. She had been living in a camp with her husband, but the Thai people wanted all the Hmong to leave. She brought only one suitcase, which held some clothes, pictures and dishes. Her friend told her that she needed to "make a new life" in America, so she left many of her belongings behind. Nou says that "I was afraid to come, but all of my family came, so I came too." Today, Nou is happy with her life in America because she is with her family.

She says the hardest part about life in America is not having any formal education and not being able to understand the English language. She says that without an education it is difficult to get a good job. Xiong has been studying English for the past three years with the Literacy Volunteers of Chippewa Valley. Twice a week, for an hour and fifteen minutes, she studies with a tutor. When she has spare time, which is not often, she also studies at home. Nou is very dedicated to learning English because she says it will make it easier for her to talk with her friends and children. Although she and her husband speak Hmong with each other, her six children speak mostly English.

Besides trying to learn the English language, Xiong has a very busy life. She works 36-40 hours a week at a company that provides uniforms, linen, and laundry services to various local businesses in the Chippewa Valley region. She also enjoys taking care of her family and spending time with them. Her family is very important to her, and she likes "to talk about (her) culture" with her children because "they know America better than Laos." Xiong also tries to teach her values to her children. For example, she always tells her oldest son to be a good model for his younger brothers and sisters. She also reminds them quite often that they need to help each other.

Nou would like Americans to understand why the Hmong came to the United States. She thinks Americans should read about Hmong history so that they will understand that many of the Hmong had no other choice but to come to America.

The following was written by Nou for the Literacy Volunteers-Chippewa Valley annual anthology of student writings, which is titled Celebrate Writing.Growing Vegetables

Every year on May 20, I plant vegetables. I like to grow the vegetables because I like the fresh vegetables. I grow corn, tomatoes, potatoes, green onions, watermelon, cucumbers, hot peppers and lettuce. After they grow 20 days I go to see the plants. They are growing like one inch, so I have to remove the weeds. I go to see them every weekend for three months. The tomatoes, lettuce, peppers and the green onions are ready now to be taken home. These vegetables are difficult to take care of but I like them. My family likes to plant vegetables because we like the fresh vegetables. If you would like to learn more about the Literacy Volunteers-Chippewa Valley, call Jessica Ebert at 855-3144 or email at ebertjr@uwec.edu.