APALA organized a bus tour during the ALA Annual Conference.
New Orleans has a sizable and vibrant Vietnamese community that began in the mid 1970s. Everything changed after Hurricane Katrina and the BP Oil Spill as the community was displaced, jobs were lost, and everyday life was disrupted. But the community of Versailles has organized and now is in the process of rebuilding. Their struggles and triumphs were captured in the documentary A Village Called Versailles. We invite you to join us on a guided tour through New Orleans East that will take you to various sites, including non-profit organizations, the intercultural charter school, youth community center, the future urban farm, and New Orleans East library (under construction), the Bayou Sauvage National Wildlife Refuge, and the landfill site that became a rallying point for the community.
The tour was led by Minh Thanh Nguyen, one of the main organizers. Presently, he is the Executive Director of the Vietnamese American Young Leaders Association (VAYLA) of New Orleans. The tour began with a lunch stop at a local Vietnamese Restaurant in Versailles.