The Xiong sisters clearly remember the insecurity they felt as young girls struggling to balance their Hmong ancestry with their desire to fit in with American culture.

They also remember the strength they drew from each other, the kind of encouragement and support that can only come from someone who's been there.

They also remember the strength they drew from each other, the kind of encouragement and support that can only come from someone who's been there.

"I would never be here if it wasn't for my sisters pushing me," said Kathy Xiong, gesturing at the quiet elegance of the Amherst College campus center. "And I know that a lot of girls don't have that."

Xiong, 19, a freshman, is following the example set by her older sisters, ThaoMee and Ge, who established and nourished a mentoring program that matches Asian-American college students with Hmong teen-age girls from Springfield.
SEARCH, or Southeast Asian Refugee Coalition for Help, was established by ThaoMee Xiong in 1998, the year she graduated from Mount Holyoke College. The group, which provides role-models for Asian-American teen-age girls, has lived on despite ThaoMee's absence, thanks to the efforts of her younger sisters, Ge Xiong, 23, who graduated from Mount Holyoke College in December, and Kathy Xiong, the Amherst College student.
The Xiongs are of Hmong descent. Most of the seven girls and two boys in their family were born in Thailand, except for the youngest, who were born in Wisconsin, where the family now lives.
Most Hmong in the United States came form Laos and Vietnam. Many Hmong fled to Thailand, and then to the U.S., after the Vietnam War.
Growing up, the Xiong girls dealt with the same issues that confront many Southeast Asian immigrant families-identity clashes, generational and language conflicts, and confusion about what kind of role an Asian woman can play in American society.
Using their own experiences as a springboard, the Xiongs and other college-age mentors tackle these very same issues during their weekly meetings.
"It's education based. We're focusing on encouraging them to go to college, but it's also to give them a time to talk to us about all the things they have to deal with," said Ge Xiong.
The group targets the daughters of 13 Hmong families living in Springfield, said Ge Xiong.
"The parents are really into the group because most of their children are girls, and they really want them to have strong role models for how they can succeed in America," she said.
The Hmong girls, all high school students, are picked up by Ge Xiong every Sunday afternoon and driven to her Chicopee home for their meetings.
The meetings are conducted in an informal manner, and are facilitated by one of the college mentors in SEARCH.
The group works on a variety of activities such as performing Hmong dances for culture shows at local colleges, writing essays, keeping journals, and reading books such as "Ophelia Speaks," about how girls function in American society.
Through it's partially funded through a small grant from the University of Massachusetts Chancellor's Office, the program is essentially a shoestring operation.
ThaoMee Xiong, now a graduate students at Columbia University, paid for last year's scholarship prize for the best personal essay out of her pocket, a $100 contribution she'll make again this year.
SEARCH was born of a state-funded project based at UMass, The Center for Immigrant Leadership and Refugee Empowerment, or CIRCLE, which pairs college students and immigrants.
According to director Sally Habana Hafner, SEARCH is a natural outgrowth of her organization's commitment to grass-roots community leadership.
Habana Hafner said CIRCLE's goal is to give college students the tools to create their own partnerships with immigrants and refugees as the Xiongs have.
At a recent meeting held in the library of Mount Holyoke College, Ge Xiong passed out portfolios to the girls that contained their report cards.
She also informed them of an essay contest that asks each girl to write about a life-changing experience as a warm-up for college application essay writing.
In addition to the academics, SEARCH attempts to address the cultural values that shape the lives of the young girls involved, said Ge Xiong.
According to the Xiongs, traditional Hmong culture values obedience in girls, and often expects them to take a back seat for boys in the family, a role young girls born and raised in America have trouble reconciling.
"The way they treat boys and girls is very different," said Ge Xiong. "Maybe the girls feel like their place at home is to be quiet and listen to their brothers, but when they get together here it's totally different," she said.
According to the Lo sisters of Springfield, Nancy Aimee, and Mayei, it's not a hardship to spend Sunday afternoons writing essays and keeping journals. "It's also a way to know yourself," said Nancy Lo, 16. "We get to talk a lot and speak our minds," she said.