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By Leonard Novarro
Special to ASIA
Years ago, when she was attending UCSD, Sally Wong-Avery was given an aptitude test which said she was cut out to be a minister. While she is well-versed in theology, she never did follow that calling. However, that did not stop her from ministering to the needs of the Asian community in dozens of different ways.
As an attorney, she helped Vietnamese refugees obtain permanent asylum in the United States and handled dozens of cases involving bankruptcy, immigration and family law, in many instances, pro bono.
As a federal and state court interpreter, she worked with diplomats as well as newly arrived Chinese who needed help finding jobs or resolving legal matters.
In 1984, she began working with the San Diego County Health Department to improve sanitary conditions in many restaurants opened by newly arrived immigrants. As founder of Chinese Professional Services, she trains and helps immigrants, mostly Chinese, find jobs, while her Chinese Service Center provides a variety of services: bus transportation for seniors, consumer education, hepatitis and liver screening and referrals to government agencies, to name a few.
In 1984, she was invited to be the principal of the oldest Chinese language school in San Diego, founded more than 100 years ago. When the school came close to closing 13 years ago, Wong-Avery took $6,000 out of her own pocket to keep it going. Today, the Chinese School of San Diego at 8775 Aero Drive in Kearny Mesa, one of six such learning centers in San Diego, has an enrollment of 110 students, children and adults alike, who come every week to learn Mandarin or Cantonese. Wong-Avery herself speaks four dialects fluently.
Asked whether she regrets not pursuing a ministerial career, she points to her chest and says: "God is here." For her work in San Diego’s Asian community, Sally Wong-Avery will receive special recognition as part of this year’s Annual Asian Heritage Awards luncheon and ceremony to be held May 18, from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., at the University of San Diego Joan B. Kroc Institute for Peace and Justice.
Wong-Avery was born in Hong Kong and raised in Malaysia before coming to the U.S. to study in 1959. As a child, her parents for awhile moved to Borneo, where she struck up a friendship with another girl her age whose father, a doctor, catered to the needs of villages deep in the jungle. For six years, the two girls tagged along on many of those trips.
Going from one floating village to the next, she saw a lot of malaria and yellow fever, but she also saw "a lot of love and giving." And that's what stuck with her.
"In my heart, I'll always be a social worker," she says.
After attending UCSD, the then Sally Wong was accepted to California Western School of Law, whose associate dean at the time was Dennis Avery. For awhile, he was her mentor, but they were not to see each other regularly until years later, after both were divorced.
Avery, himself, has strong ties to China. Born in Hong Kong, he came to Los Angeles in the 1960s, then to San Diego, to teach and later become associate dean of Cal Western. Over the years, his China Adventure Program, which he launched 20 years ago, has sent some 250 youngsters abroad to immerse themselves in Chinese culture.
The two were married six years ago after both were divorced. Wong-Avery's daughter, Natasha, like her mother, is an attorney. Soon after they married, Avery told his wife to slow down and think about retirement. At the time, she had temporarily closed her law office.
"I told him, 'God gives you so much time on earth to live up to your potential. I have to reopen my office,'" she recalled.
Last year, she took on another project – the drive for bone marrow donors in San Diego. Working with Asians for Miracle Marrow Matches, she campaigns to advertise the need for bone marrow and stem cell donors among the Asian population, where matches are dramatically low.
"There's no one word to describe this lady," says Chun Lee, who works in her office. "She has a heart of gold. She is a very compassionate person and has a good broad perspective on the Asian community."
And well she should. Wong-Avery for three decades has been an integral part of the community, having been the only woman to ever serve as president of the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association. She has also served as president of the Chinese Historical Society, vice president of the House of China in Balboa Park and legal adviser to the Indo-Chinese Association, Chinese Friendship Association and South East Asia Senior Association. She has also served as an adviser to the former Superintendent of San Diego City Schools, Thomas Payzant.
As executive director of the Chinese Social Service Center in the early 1980s, she primarily helped newcomers get jobs and overcome the language hurdle. But before long, people were coming to her for other help, including legal.
One case, in particular, involving the mother of a young boy with a hole in his heart, stands out. To pay for his medical expenses and a special breathing apparatus, the mother worked fulltime while she was receiving assistance from the state, but when a social services worker visited the home and didn't find the mother there, the assistance was stopped.
“She came to me crying: ‘My baby will die,’” recalled Wong-Avery, who challenged the decision in court, arguing that the social worker was not competent to judge the situation. She won the case.
Taking care of people in need, especially the elderly, is her passion. Often you will hear her talk about the virtue of filial piety, the need to take care of elders. "That is one of the virtues of Chinese culture. Our custom is to always take care of our elders, out of respect, love and caring," she says. In fact, she may be well ahead of the times. According to recent marketing research, several major corporations are considering assisting the working children of seniors in need of special care.
With the senior population living longer, “it makes better sense,” says Wong-Avery. Pointing to a bulletin board bearing an inscription from the philosopher Confucius on the subject, she adds: "This will rub off on the next generation. It's a wonderful thing to teach.”
The most important thing," she adds, "is sharing our language and culture with whomever is interested.
When you learn another culture, you are more of a Renaissance people.
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