We're celebrating Asian American
and Pacific Islander Heritage month
by exploring the rich diversity
woven into the cultural fabric
of San Diego all month long.
We're highlighting some of the ethnic
groups from all over the world.
CBS's Richard Allen spent time with
members of our Mung community who are
working to preserve and share their
culture while living the American dream.
I feel like we've been locked up,
but away San Diego and Paul
Yang is ready to celebrate.
I miss seeing the monk
community come together.
A vibrant community here in San Diego
County largely kept apart for the
past two years by the pandemic,
a community that many San
Diegans know little about.
Historically, we've come a long way.
A history that stretches
back thousands of years.
Members of an ethnic group
without a country of their own.
The **** migrated from China to Laos,
Thailand and nearby countries
more than three centuries ago.
We were considered, you know,
the poor people of Asia.
We lived in the mountains we lived in huts.
And following the Vietnam War,
in which the **** helped U.S.
forces fight the Communists,
10s of thousands were forced
to flee first to refugee camps
and then to the United States.
It was during the late 1970s
and early 80s that about 5000,
**** made their way from Southeast Asia
here to San Diego to start a new life.
Among them was iravu, one of only six
in her family to survive the war.
He has settled in Linda Vista in 1980,
where she raised her family,
helping support them through
her unique talents.
In this elaborate form of cross stitching,
creating elaborate story clothes,
capturing through images not only
her people's history but her own
personal journey, fleeing to safety,
so she had to cut bamboo to put it
under the arms to help them float.
Across the river.
To get her experience far different
from members of the **** Community.
Born and raised here in San Diego.
Like her son Richard growing
up, it was a little bit difficult for me
like it was a clash classroom culture.
Richard is also committed
to keeping the monk culture
alive for the past 20 years,
he has served his community as a shaman,
a spiritual healer who performs
traditional rituals and ceremonies
including weddings and funerals.
We helped celebrate the
person's life to heal them.
Part of those ceremonies
is the traditional monk clothing
on full display. During ****
New Year's celebrations,
we used to be more bland,
more plain, and now or more colorful.
Also critical to keeping the culture
alive is maintaining the Mog language.
Tonal language that historically
was not written down.
Pyongyang is now working
to teach it to her kids,
including 12 year old Lily.
Yeah, I wanna try to learn more
of it just so I can keep on like
passing it down over the decades.
Though San Diego's **** population
has dwindled in numbers,
many moving out of the area in
search of more affordable housing,
recent UCSD Grad Kong Yang plans
on staying though to work as a
social worker in City Heights.
Where he grew up and you know,
for me growing up it's like
trying to find that balance of
being Hong and being American
at the same time.
North County One **** family is
working to bring those cultures
together. This would be the gathering area.
We'll have a big communal table here.
Yang lore and her husband do a Chang
recently moved to this eight acre
property in the hills of San Marcos.
I think that gives us that feeling of
going home, going back to the mountains.
They're now working to transform
their five bedroom Spanish colonial
into a bed and breakfast showcasing
their **** culture to all guests.
No matter what their background.
And we really want to transform this place
into something that's very welcoming
with the fusion of our common culture,
including cultural workshops from
music to crafts as well as typical
**** dishes to serve their guests.
If you've ever been to my house,
you know that you cannot leave until you eat.
Nestled next to a vineyard,
we're still doing a lot of work.
This unique BNB will also feature ****
Gardens as well as a traditional and
educational **** house to teach guests
about the history of their people.
It's very humbling actually,
and it's just something that that we
can also be very proud of because I
feel like we've have come so far a story
that continues into the future.
I'm just really proud of who
we've become and where we've come
from, and so it's
exciting to see where our next generation
of kids will will go.
I love all the colors in their
culture and we've got some of the
cross stitching examples here.
This is the one that Richard was showcasing.
I mean, these guys have have guns
rifles and this was the story of them
fleeing from the military and the
bamboo under the arms so that they
were able to float across the river
to escape and then their journey
to their new land as refugees.
It's just it's so meaningful and poignant
their stories so unique it's
such a challenge to keep culture,
language and community together
when you're basically in exile.
They don't have their own country and
the community they have is vibrant.
You can see that they're sticking together.
They it matters to them.
They have a unique language,
a unique culture,
and I think it's beautiful that we
could bring some of that to people.
Yeah, and so now that they're gonna
have an A bed and breakfast we
could do little staycation right?
And experience some of that
traditional food and eat in culture,
educational and vacation. And one I love it.