Mekong Founder & Board President
Minh Ta is a man of vision, commitment and perseverance. It is not difficult to describe Minh. He is straight forward, honest and consistent. What you see is what you get. A man who has passed the test of time and challenges to remain always true to himself and to other people around him, including remaining forever young and fit! Minh established Mekong, a mental health center for Vietnamese in 1989. If you were among the Vietnamese mental health professionals during the 1990s, you would appreciate how important and precious it was to have a treatment center with bilingual and bicultural staffs. At that time, mental illness to Vietnamese was an unfortunate stigma and a bad karma that Vietnamese people would rather die to avoid than to accept and seek treatment for. Most Vietnamese think mental illness is something the others have, who belongs to a bad family with bad deeds from past lives. It is a shame not only for yourselves but also for your family. The barriers of not seeking treatment, not complying with treatment, and the language and culture differences were almost insurmountable if not for the bilingual mental health professionals and agencies like Mekong. Minh was right there at the right place, at the right time with his courageous act to establish Mekong, where Vietnamese patients and families felt at home, like they never left Vietnam. Being the founder of Mekong, Minh did not limit his activities to it, like he was not busy enough. He worked tirelessly everywhere, at every clinical setting; never felt he saved enough lives. He was involved in Dr. Phuong Thuy Le’s radio talk show in Vietnamese language to bring awareness of mental health issues to Vietnamese families. Minh has been very lucky is his personal and married life. His wife of over 40 years has been always supportive and understanding. They successfully raised 5 children and now enjoy the grandchildren. He did not stop at his own marriage, Minh went on being a facilitator of his class of “Improvement of Marriage” to help his peer couples to improve theirs, as one of his Church activities as a Catholic man. Minh is now semi-retired, but his heart and mind are still with his clients, friends, and colleagues in the mental health profession. He has built the foundation; his only wish is for the younger Vietnamese Mental Health professionals to build the house. In his spare time, Minh enjoys going fishing and spending time with his family.