Meeting some of the refugees

These past couple of weeks have been a bit eye-opening for me. I was impressed by everyone during the orientation a week ago and I am honored to be working with so many compassionate and self-giving people. I can't wait to observe and to participate in every intricate part of building a relationship with the refugees. Meeting the refugees for the first time yesterday, was a bit challenging for me because I felt like I didn't really have a middle ground with which to communicate. I don't know the language and I know very little about the cultural customs even though I've been doing a bit of research on it so that this isn't so foreign to me. When my group met with a Bhutanese girl and her aunt, I had so many questions running through my head but as my group was firing away with their own questions, my questions began to shrink and dissipate. I observed and took notes more than anything because I was getting more that way. As I watched the girl and her aunt express their concerns to us, I felt their frustration. It is a bit frustrating when one has so little resources to live on daily and has such a difficult time expressing those concerns. There are so many barriers, with transportation, communication, lack of computer skills, job search, medical care, etc. that it almost seems that one's hands are tied behind their back with no where to turn. But thanks to SEWA International, their hands can be set free and a clear path can be set before them to live more peaceful lives. In spite of my ignorance of the language and culture, I felt that I understood a little bit of what the girl was experiencing with my own background, immigrating from Nigeria as a 7-year old girl. My family's situation was a bit similar to hers. We didn't come as refugees but when we got here, assimilating into the culture was slightly difficult, specifically because most of our family were still in Nigeria. We were on our own here, with few friends of whom my parents knew. Immigrating to another country, for whatever the reason, is always a challenge because one must always find a middle ground between conserving their own culture while integrating into the culture of the community around them. (By culture, I mean the language, traditions, and so forth). As these weeks go by, I pray that I am able to forego my own insecurity of "not knowing enough" and simply be a helping hand for these women. And as Hiba mentioned, it's vital to understand that these refugees are all individuals and to avoid putting them into one category as "Bhutanese refugees." I do want to form a friendship with the women so that each face has a name and a personality by which to remember. This will allow me to learn so much more than I could ever learn doing research on my own about the culture.

Agatha

Orientation Reflection

Hello everyone,
I'm really glad that I found SEWA and our first meeting location!
I was initially drawn to the Women's Issues group because of my studies in urban agriculture and community building at college. I think that the two inevitably go hand in hand because one of the most basic facts of life is that we all need to eat. Growing healthy food together in a way that honors local traditions, creates green pockets in a city, and opens dialogue, is one of my biggest sources of inspiration.

I feel that the overriding goal of the Women's Issues group is to form relationships. While direct communication might be tricky, hopefully with a translator or two my group will be able to hear the refugees stories and future goals.
I am going into this experience not assuming anything because, frankly, I cannot claim to know anything about being in a refugee camp for 18 years. Instead, I approach these early weeks as listener and learner.

My focus right now is to help with the survey and hopefully get the ball rolling on a community garden. Even if the time of year doesn't cooperate with a full-scale planting, I hope a dialogue about loses, desires, frustrations, and hopes, will create the same time of common ground.

I was very inspired by the other volunteers dedication- many of them giving to SEWA alongside full time jobs- and hope to learn from their service as much as from the refugees.

Goals

Hey guys,
Hope everyone is doing well. After meeting you all at orientation (sorry about being so late) this past Saturday, I am even more excited about this summer and am anxious to see all we accomplish at the program's completion. I applied for the SEWA Get Inspired Houston 2009 Internship with two goals in mind: to gain a full understanding of the Bhutanese Refugees and their experiences but also to find some common ground with which to integrate them into the Houston community, as difficult as this may be due to their rough past experiences. I think many times we get so hung up on the cultural differences dialogue that we leave out all humane aspects of a situation. Interacting with the Bhutanese individuals, I think we will all discover the importance of distinguishing between showing sympathy and pity which I don't believe are the same. Pity automatically establishes a superior-inferior dichotomy which is the last thing these individuals wish to be engaged in.
As excited as I am about meeting the Bhutanese women, I hope that by establishing some common ground with them I am able to maintain this separation. Also, by forming friendships with the women, it is my goal to be able to provide individual portraits of them--and not conglomerate them under the label Bhutanese Refugees as I am doing so right now.
I hope everyone is as excited as I am!! I think it is going to be a great lifechanging experience for us all. :) See you all Saturday.

Hiba

Orientation day!!

So this is my first ever blog! I'm not really sure how this works I'm still trying to figure it all out but I'm excited to have one! It makes me feel very computer savvy =) Also, just a heads up I am a horrible typer so just an advanced warning for the millions of typos that will soon probably follow in my future blogs so just be prepared! Anyways, I had the orientation with all the other newbies on Saturday and I was, I have to admit, a little nervous. I wasn't sure what to expect, I was afraid I was going to be in over my head and of no use but that seemed just the opposite! Once we met into our individual groups I got to know everyone a little better and it seems we all have something unique to bring to the table to make us stronger than ever. I found that really exciting that I was in a group of people that all had such different experiences and backgrounds but we were all gathered for a common purpose. I can't wait to actually begin the internship and I really already feel a part of a team. In the orientation it was so interesting to finally meet everyone and I hope we all become very close. What I particularly enjoyed was remembering why we were all gathered there. This program is so much more than just gaining work experience or knowledge in our specific area. It is truly about helping these refugees and I am so thrilled to be a part of something so inspiring! I just want to say thanks to everyone for allowing me into this internship and I cannot wait for what lies ahead and all of the amazing things we are going to be doing for these people. Well, that's all for now!

Until next time,

Kacey Cherry