One World Outreach

WORN

2011-10-04T11:03:00.000-05:00

The following is a promotional video for WORN, a project I'm working on as an evaluator at the University of Texas at Arlington in collaboration with Catholic Charities Diocese of Fort Worth. The research arm of the project is focused on the idea that if we're able to promote a venue for socialization and financial opportunity for refugee women, we may see benefits related to decreased depression, isolation, and PTSD as well as greater financial independence. Check it out!

A Refugee Garden

2011-05-23T13:55:00.000-05:00

There is a small movement in the refugee resettlement community to encourage community gardening. Because many refugees spent much of their lives subsistence farming, the thought is that their expertise in agriculture and gardening may assist in the transition to life in the US. There have been a good number of anecdotal stories about successful gardens in refugee communies, and a fair number of published accounts of these experiences.

So this year we decided to tap into some of the resources that we have living out in the country to put some of these ideas to the test with a sample size of one--our friend Pu Lue. Pu Lue is a Karen refugee and a carpenter by trade; he stays with us several days each week building custom furniture to sell and this spring, planting and managing a rather large garden. Our neighbor, a farmer who actively farms several hundered acres, generously donated a few acres for our project and has been an invaluable resource in helping Pu Lue to understand the ins and outs of growing vegetables in the U.S.

With Pu Lue's direction, we ordered hundreds of seeds from Thailand this past winter and had them shipped here in early February. The seeds that we ordered were vegetables and fruits grown and enjoyed by the refugees that they have been unable to locate since their arrival in the U.S. Pu Lue is thrilled with the garden, and painstakingly waters, weeds, and cares for the plants almost daily. He is anxiously looking forward to the harvest that he will be able to share with the refugee community in Dallas.

A new family...a new challenge

2011-05-23T13:36:00.000-05:00

Often, we work with families that challenge us and stretch our resources thin. This is a story about one of those families.

B.D. is married with three girls, ages 13, 9 and 7. They were resettled to the US in August 2010 to the state of Rhode Island. B.D.'s brother lives in Dallas so B.D. decided to move his family to Dallas in April 2011.

Some quick side notes about refugee resettlement.

Refugee families have a choice for the country they will be resettled. Although, about 90% of refugees resettled are resettled to the US. The families do NOT, however, get a choice of where in the US they are resettled. Even though B.D. had family members living in Dallas, they were not given the choice of states therefore they ended up being resettled to Rhode Island.

Another idiosyncrasy about refugee resettlement, the federal government is not directly resettling these families. The federal government awards grants, or contracts, with local voluntary agencies (called Volags). The federal government gives a set amount of monies to the volags to provide services to the recently resettled. These volags use this money to provide resettled families with the goods and services they need until they become "financially self-sufficient." In general, "financially self-sufficient" means that members of the family are working. Practically speaking, the families receive assistance from their volags for 6 months or so.

(Editorial comment - it's clear to us that having a job and being "financially self-sufficient" are not the same. Many families of 6 or more are deemed "financially self sufficient" when one family member is working at a job paying $8/hour. Employed? Yes!! Financially self-sufficient? Not even close!!)

The volags (in Dallas - International Rescue Committee, Catholic Charities and Refugee Services of Texas) use the federal dollars to pay for rent, utilities, case management services, employment services, etc. These agencies do amazing work with the resources they are provided. In working with these agencies, it's clear that all of them would like to continue providing services, however the financial restraints prevent them from continuing to assist these families. After the family is employed, services are discontinued - the volags must move on to new families and the previous family are often at a loss for what comes next. To put it in context, if I were to move to Burma, I would need some help. Giving me 6 months of assistance is great....I plant my crops, build a house, etc. But what should I do next, when do I harvest my crops? What do I do when my child is sick?

To take it one more step, the federal dollars provided to assist these families are given to volags that provide services to the geographic location where they are resettled. This means, if you choose to move from one place to another.....you no longer have formal case management services to assist you. You are on your own, you must find your way...or find someone willing to help even though there is no financial reimbursement for the assistance provided.

Because D.B. moved from Rhode Island to Dallas, he and his family lost all formal assistance. One of the cultural liaisons we work with told us about this family and we set off to see how we could help. We found D.B. and his family living at his brother's apartment. They had already signed a lease with an apartment complex, planning to move to their new apartment in a week or two.
As I had written previously, D.B. is married with 3 girls. The oldest (13 years) and the youngest (7 years) both have a rare genetic disorder called Osteogenesis Imperfecta. In short, Osteogenesis Imperfecta is a genetic disorder causing extremely fragile bones. Both of these girls require a wheelchair to be able to move about.

Over the course of the past three weeks, these are the things we've done to help this one family:

School
We enrolled all three girls in school, which was a process that involved a total of seven visits to the schools for academic placement testing, meetings with teachers and special education services, and arranging for bus transportation. Two of the girls are required to wear uniforms, so we purchased two sets of uniforms for each child.

Healthcare
All three children had to have additional shots to attend school in Texas, so we made two trips to the free clinic to attain the necessary vaccinations. This involves arriving at the clinic at 7 am. One day we waited until 12 noon to be seen; the next day it was 1:30 pm. Because of the girls' medical condition, we contacted the genetics clinic at Children's Medical Center to enroll them in a special clinical trial so that they will receive state of the art medical care. Their first appointments are not until August, but we were relieved that they were accepted as new patients.

Medicaid and Food Stamps
Because Medicaid and Food Stamps are state run programs, not only do new applications need to be completed and submitted here in Texas, but in order to qualify we must prove that the family is no longer receiving these benefits in Rhode Island. This, apparently, can only be done in the form of a letter from the Social Services Department in Rhode Island. I won't even go into how difficult it is to actually talk to a live person on the phone there, much less attempt to have a letter sent to us. Instead, we must wait two months and then apply using the family's new address, foregoing the letter requirement. So for two months the family will rely on donations and food from friends until their Food Stamp application can be submitted.

Settling in
D.B. and his family have an empty two bedroom apartment. We've been working with our church and others to try to find donations of furniture, housewares, clothing, and toys to help the family piece their lives back together now that they're here in Dallas.

Last week when we showed up, the apartment was full of people. We learned that 19 additional people--three more families--had just arrived from Rhode Island and were staying with D.B. and his family until they could find apartments of their own. They had heard, like D.B., that the cost of living was lower in Texas and that job prospects are better here. And so our work continues...

Reading is Fun!

2011-03-29T10:57:00.000-05:00

We partnered with Phi Kappa Phi, an honors fraternity at the University of Texas at Arlington, to promote reading among kids and adolescents in the Karen refugee community just before spring break. Student and faculty members of Phi Kappa Phi held a book drive on campus and encouraged donations of children's books. Then several members joined us one Saturday in March at the apartment complexes to distribute the books and read stories. We broke up into several groups, each with a student or faculty volunteer, a Karen leader, and a cultural broker. We had a great time and the books were very much appreciated by all of the families we spent time with that day. Below, some photos and a video from our day of reading.

Film Screening

2011-03-01T23:14:00.000-06:00

Thanks so much to all who came to see Moving to Mars tonight at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Oak Cliff. It was a wonderful fim, and we were thrilled that a number of our Karen and Karenni friends were able to join us at the screening and shared a few of their songs with us. Here are a few pics from the evening:

Introducing the Karen and Karenni

Aaron talking about our efforts at One World Outreach

Karen teenagers singing a traditional song.

Pla Shee passing out bags of popcorn.

Pu Lue taking photos of the audience :)

Kai getting into the spirit of the event.

Film Screening: Moving to Mars

2011-01-28T13:48:00.002-06:00

Note: Due to inclement weather forcasted for Tuesday evening, this event has been rescheduled for Tuesday, March 1st at 7 pm.

As part of the Social Justice Ministry at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Oak Cliff, an amazing film about the refugee resettlement experience, Moving to Mars, will be screened on Tuesday, March 1st at 7pm.

The film "follows two refugee families from Burma over the course of a year that will change their lives completely. Forced from their homeland by the repressive military junta, they have lived in a Thai refugee camp for many years. A resettlement scheme offers them the chance of a new life, but their new home, in the British city of Sheffield, will be different to everything they have ever known."

We've arranged to have a group of Karen musicians perform in conjunction with the screening, and we will also have some traditional Karen crafts available for sale after the event. We'll have a brief discussion after the film about the many volunteer opportunities that are available. It should be a really great event, and we hope that you'll join us!

Desperate times

2011-01-10T10:52:00.000-06:00

While we are often struck by the dire situations we walk into doing outreach in the refugee community, a family visit made by Aaron and Holli just before Christmas takes the cake. Pu Lue was serving as translator and liaison that day, and mentioned that there was a family that needed some help renewing their food stamps application. We do lots of food stamp and Medicaid applications, so we weren't surprised that they needed help with this.

Turns out this family needed a lot more than food stamps. When Aaron checked the fridge (a routine part of the visit, to make sure they had basic necessities), the picture above is what he saw. I should mention that the two jugs on the bottom shelf are water bottled water. Despite numerous attempts to explain that the water from the tap is safe in Dallas, we have yet to meet a Karen refugee family who is willing to drink from the tap. This stems from the years they spent in the refugee camps where the the drinking water was unsafe and full of harmful bacteria.

In doing some further investigating, Holli found a total of two bowls, three plates, and one pot in the kitchen. The closet revealed two live guinea hens, which, after much discussion, were to be on the dinner menu later in the week! You can see one of the guineas in the photo below.

Holli and Aaron made a trip to the store to purchase some additional plates and bowls, and loaded up on fresh veggies, fruit, and meats (already butchered) to get the family of seven through the remainder of the week until their emergency food stamp application could be processed.

That same week, our friends Beverly Black and Bob Bruce generously offered to provide Christmas presents for the family, which includes five children ranging in age from 1 to 10. Below is a photo of the mayhem that took place as we gathered to open the gifts together. Our son Kai is in the striped shirt looking at the camera. :)

I wish that I could say that this family is an exception, but unfortunately we run into families similar to this one every single week.

Watching the war

2011-01-07T10:57:00.000-06:00

One of the most interesting things that we've noticed in getting to know the Karen refugees over the past few years is that they maintain a deep personal connection to the ongoing fight in Burma. Though many adults lived in refugee camps in Thailand for more that 15-20 years before their arrival in the U.S., the connection that they still have with Burma is palpable. One example of this are the DVDs that they have brought with them from the Thai camps that are home videos of the Karen National Union army fighting the Burmese soldiers in the jungles of Burma. The videos are typically poor quality and depict graphic violence, including field amputations with rudimentary instruments and close-ups of dead Karen soldiers. The families that we visit ask us to sit and watch the videos with them, so that we might have a better understanding of the ongoing struggle for their country. Their children watch the videos, too, and parents provide a running commentary as the fighting continues on the screen. Here is a one minute clip of a video we watched yesterday during a lunch of noodles, pork curry, rice, and frozen pizza at one family's home.

A new name, a new day

2011-01-07T10:21:00.000-06:00

We've been remiss in updating this blog, as our attention has been squarely focused on taking a number of steps on the road to creating a more sustainable formal mechanism for helping the refugees in the DFW metroplex. We (Aaron, Diane, and Holli) spent much of the summer and fall filing paperwork to create a new nonprofit organization, One World Outreach, and we are really excited about this major step forward. Our mission statement is:

to empower "low-income refugees residing within the state of Texas to thrive culturally, physically, socially, economically, and psychologically by building on existing strengths and resources within the community."

We're currently in the process of working with a wonderful graphic designer, LLB Designs, to develop a logo for One World Outreach that exemplifies our mission, and we plan to apply for 501(c)3 status this spring, once we raise the $800 IRS application fee.

We'll be updating the blog with stories and photos of the people we're helping at least once each week, and hope that you'll join us in our efforts. I've updated the column on the left with a list of some of the most pressing current needs of the refugee families we're working with. The most valuable thing you can give, though, is your time. Please let us know if you have a few hours to spare to help a refugee family read their mail, help with homework, or provide a ride to the grocery store. It's fun and easy, and it makes a world of difference.

Thanks for reading!

Diane

Sam's New Arm

2010-07-21T22:34:00.000-05:00

A few weeks ago, I received a call from EW (a great Karen case manager from a local refugee service agency). One of his clients had an issue and wanted to know if we could help. A state agency was assisting a Kayah man in obtaining an arm prosthesis. So far, so good.

The catch?

The agency requires a physician's prescription.

Why? I'm not real sure.....I don't think it takes an advanced degree to realize the man is missing an arm. And that his life would be improved by having a prosthesis.

SIDE NOTE: A great example of one of our frequent frustrations in refugee outreach work and working within bureaucracy........ the rules are the rules. No room to question the rule. Just follow it.

Anyways, a prescription is easy.....if you have insurance, a primary care provider, an understanding of the US health care system, a good grasp of the English language, etc., etc.,

Obviously, for this gentleman, this was not the case. He had none of this. We could have signed him up for the local safety net hospital. We could gather the necessary paperwork. Make an appointment for an eligibility determination. Then, if he does qualify to be seen at the hospital clinic, be put on a waiting list (at the time of this post....8 weeks). After an 8 week wait, start calling every morning until you get an appointment (several new patient appointments open up every morning...be sure to start calling at 8 am).

So.....this was not the most efficient plan to get this man a prosthesis.

Here's where we can assist, we went by this man's apartment. And found out a little more information. Sam (for the purpose of this post), is a 40 something year old Kayah man with a wife and 2 children. With his limited English and his disability, he has found it difficult to secure employment. He lost his arm while in Thailand, from a condition called Sarcoma.

So...now we have the information we need....now to get a physician's prescription.

Luckily, a great young family practice resident (Dr. A.) is empathetic to the struggle of the refugee community helped us out. His empathy and compassion come from a very real place. While a young child, Dr. A. and his family came to this country as refugees from Laos. Dr. A's family is an inspiring story.....his parents both worked at a factory, printing shirts. Dr A. is now a family practice resident while his sister is an Internal Medicine resident. (The refugees from Burma one day? Which of these children will turn out to be Dr. A?)

Dr. A. wrote a prescription. It was delivered to Sam, who turned it in to the swift wheels of bureaucracy. Not surprisingly, no prosthesis yet....but a little closer.

A few more barriers reduced.
A little more compassion and mercy provided to a man who has lived with so much injustice.

Ta Paw's Story

2010-07-06T13:11:00.000-05:00

Ta Paw and his daughter, Hay Blu Moo

While almost all of the Karen we meet are amazingly kind, Ta Paw and his family exemplify the resiliency and determination that inspire us to continue trying to help. In late 2008, Ta Paw was waiting at the bus stop on the corner of the street where he and his family lives. He was waiting to take a series of buses that would eventually end up at a factory in Dallas where he was scheduled to interview for a job. While he was waiting, a group of teenage boys came up from behind him, beat him, and robbed him. They stole his wallet, which contained his I-94 card (similar to a passport for refugees), his ID card, and his Social Security card. In talking with a bruised and battered Ta Paw a few days later, it became clear that his attackers had taken much more than the few dollars that were in his wallet. Ta Paw had experienced a number of challenges since arriving in the U.S., but for the first time since leaving the violence of his homeland, he came face to face with physical violence just around the corner from his new home. He was devastated. And it seems that sometimes when it rains it pours. Attempting to get a replacement Social Security card OR a new ID OR a replacement I-94 proved to be nearly impossible, because in order to get a new Social Security Card, he would need to show ID, but in order to get a new ID, he needed to show his I-94. It was a compounding nightmare that literally lasted 9.5 months by the time we got all three documents back, during which time he was not permitted to work because he did not have proper documentation.

When he finally received his new I-94 card in the mail, he called us elated. The next day he went to apply for a job, and returned home devastated once again. There had been a typographical error made on his I-94 card, and his birthdate had been inverted. Instead of 3-12-61, the card read 12-3-61. Because the dates on his I-94 and ID didn't match, the employer would not hire him. We immediately applied for a new I-94, and were told that we could expect another 6 month wait for the application to be processed, despite the fact that the error was made by their office and not Ta Paw. Finally, last month Ta Paw received his corrected I-94 card. He spent 2 days applying for jobs in Dallas and when he was not hired, he drove to Kansas City because he heard from his brother-in-law that a meat packing company there was hiring. He's been in Kansas City for a month, staying in an apartment with 7 other Karen men and sending all of his earnings to his family in Dallas. He says his plan is to continue to work in Kansas City until October, then return to Dallas and try again to find work here.

Our families at Christmas this year

Ta Paw's wife, Aye Aye, holding their daughter and Kai, with her father, Pu Pu, looking on.

Much Appreciated Donations!

2010-06-19T23:08:00.000-05:00

Thank you so much to those who have donated and are planning to donate furniture and clothing. Your generosity is much appreciated and very much needed. Here are a few pictures from Thursday when we delivered a sofa, sewing table, and table and chairs to two families.

Ku Ku (19 years old, perched on edge of sofa) with Pla Shee (9 years old, 3rd from right) and friends lounging on their new sofa. Ku Ku and her family have lived in the U.S. for 8 weeks.

Pu Lu (holding Jasmila, 1) and Pa Mu, the proud recipient of a sewing machine and table.

While most of the Karen refugee families are Baptist, there is a smaller group of Karen refugees that are Muslim. To generaliz, we've found that they seem to have a more difficult time adjusting to life in the U.S. perhaps because it is harder for them to connect to a mosque in the Dallas area. We've been helping the family below for about 1.5 years, and they have a son, Mohammid, who is only 2 days older than Kai.

This four year old fell off the 3rd floor balcony of his family's apartment about 6 months ago. He knocked out a few of his teeth, but other than that just scared everyone to death. Since then we've been trying to encourage families to tie plastic fencing to close the gaps between the bars on the balconies above the first floor. Apparently the apartment complexes where most of the refugees live do not have to comply with safety regulations and are grandfathered in because they were built before new laws were passed.

Kai and Mohammid getting to know each other.

Weaving

2010-06-17T11:33:00.000-05:00

The Karen use a traditional backstrap loom to weave intricate bags, purses, and clothing. Many Karen women and girls learned how to weave while living in refugee camps in Thailand. The Karen here in the U.S. still wear traditional woven clothing most of the time when they are at home. We are trying to get a weaving co-op started that would provide an opportunity for Karen women to socialize, weave, and sell their handmade products to a receptive American audience.

Below, Ha La, a Karen refugee who has lived in the U.S. for 1 month, demonstrating traditional weaving at the craft fair two weeks ago in Waxahachie, TX.

Karen women in Garland wearing traditional hand woven dress.

A Karen family wearing traditional dress--Aye Aye & Taw Paw with their children,

Hay Blut Moo (3), Moo Kae Blu (8), and Moo Blut Htoo (7)

If this project sounds interesting to you in any way, please let us know--we can use all of the help we can get!
Some of the help we need includes:

someone who can create marketing pieces such as a website and brochure/flyer
someone who can find out about craft fairs in the area where merchandise could be sold
someone to maintain an Etsy store online
someone who could coordinate the purchase and distribution of yarn
And many other opportunities! Just let us know what you want to do and we can make it work!

Weekend Trip to Houston

2010-06-17T11:01:00.000-05:00

We have been working with the Karen on some microenterprise projects. To date, we are engaged in building furniture and starting a weaving co-op. On June 5th and 6th, we attended a craft fair in Waxahachie. While we were not very successful in selling our wares, we did make some great contacts. Laura and Joey, jewelry crafts persons, invited us to share their booth at the Winnie (TX) trade days on the weekend of June 12th and 13th. Always looking to capitalize on an opportunity (and visit our family in Houston), we agreed to attend.

So....Diane, Kai, Pu Lue (furniture builder), Pla Shee (Pu Lue's son) and I were off on an adventure to Houston. Pu Lue found several Karen men to watch our farm in our absence (many thanks to Eh Say, Moe Say, and Wah Nay Soe).

The trade days were fine, although we were not as successful as we had hoped ($50 total revenue). While in Houston, we set off to visit some of the recently resettled refugees now living in Houston. How do we find them? Luckily, in September of 2009, the Houston Press published a great article about the refugee community in Houston (see The Burmese Come to Houston ). This article gave us the name of the apartment complex in Houston, Sun Blossom Mountain. So, a quick mapquest search and off we went.

Neither Pu Lue, Pla Shee or I knew any of the recentaly resettled in Houston. You may be wondering, "How do you visit people if you don't know anyone?" Simply put, we went to the apartments, kept a lookout for people who may be from Burma, introduced ourselves and then we were welcomed with open arms. This may seem very strange from an American perspective (How many strangers come to your door that you welcome in?) Let me explain.....

Peoples from Burma engage in a collectivist culture. In short, collectivism is an outlook that emphasizes the group over the individual. This is quite the opposite of what we typically think of "Western Countries" where the needs/rights of the individual takes precendence over the needs of the group. So with peoples from Burma, when one of 'our group' is at our door....it is expected that we will do anything we can to make them as comfortable as our own family.

We met several great families....one Kayah (from the Karenni state) and two Karen families.