The following article is courtesy of Nadia Hussein, originally published on her blog Us Ordinary People.

I’ve been interested in learning more about the Karen people from Burma ever since my adopted parents, Michael Shafer and Evelind Schecter, established a nonprofit called Warm Heart Worldwide that works primarily with Karen people in Northern Thailand. The Karen (pronounced kah-REN) are a minority group that has faced and continues to face intense political oppression from the Burmese military government, causing many of them to escape to the Thai/Burma border as refugees. The border has thousands of Karen who populate several different camps along the border.

Bebe is a young Karen woman whom I met in Oakland. After we met, she invited me to her church to learn more about the Karen community here. As Bebe took me through the halls of the church and introduced me to her family, I was a bit overwhelmed by how warm and open the people were around me. More than anything, however, I was interested in hearing Bebe’s story. I finally got the chance during lunch, where I had awesome Burmese and Thai food (for me one of the best parts of intercultural connecting is definitely the food!).

Bebe began by telling me about how her father first came to Thailand from Burma by accident. At sixteen years old, he and some friends crossed the border, then were not allowed back in. He left his old life behind without his family having any clue about his whereabouts. Later, he and Bebe’s mother met at the Thai/Burma border and Bebe was subsequently born in the Mae La refugee camp in Thailand. The Mae La camp was set up by the United Nations and is the largest refugee camp in Thailand, with over 45,000 Burmese refugees. Bebe explained how in the camp, families received food every fifteen days, and would get donated clothes, mostly from Japan. When it came to housing, Bebe recalled how, unlike America where “you can live forever,” they had to build a house every year because the homes were made out of bamboo that had to be replaced due to damage caused by heavy rains. Bebe would climb on her house along with her mother to help rebuild. She also explained that the UN didn’t provide income for the refugees; they were just given food and a place to live. As a result, her parents worked in the fields to make money. Since there weren’t many jobs available outside the camp, people often worked in the fields planting vegetables. Generally though, there weren’t really jobs available on the outside, so most young people would work inside the camps after graduating high school. Bebe said that many young people would also marry early because they don’t know what else to do.

Bebe did attend school while in the camp; there were about 22 schools in her camp alone. The schools are not connected with the UN, though. Different schools had different sponsors and different connections. After hearing about her experiences in Mae La, I asked her if life was generally okay, since they did have many of the basic amenities. “No it’s not" she said "I’m telling you the truth, you don’t want to live like that. At night you just want to sleep and you want to go to school, if you walk one hour and a half or two hours you get to the border and theBurmese soldiers would shoot over. The camp was in a valley, and the soldiers would climb up in the mountains and shoot down.” She described how shells would get thrown in, and that one of her uncles got struck with shrapnel near his hip. One of her friends, who was thirteen at the time, also got hit and was unable to go to school for a very long time. "A lot of people have been hurt, some have no legs, hands, eyes, most Karen people you see are hurt like that," she said. The soldiers would also come into the camps, and sometimes burn down homes. "They came into the camp when they know that there are no people to fight them." Bebe recalled an incident when she was 5 or 6, where she was worshiping inside a church with many others while soldiers were walking through the camp. Everyone was quiet as the parishioners prayed, and the soldiers thought that no one was in the church due to the silence. I asked her if the UN did anything about soldiers coming into the camp or if there was any security. She said that when Thai soldiers in the area heard the gunshots, they would go to the hills and leave the people alone. "Camp is just Camp, there isn’t security, there is a fence and that’s it," she told me.

Bebe immigrated to the United States along with her father and two brothers in 2007. Her mother had to come separately with Bebe’s grandmother, who had been ill. When immigrating to other nations, refugees often have to satisfy strict criteria. These include things like health, or if someone is truthfully telling their story in order to leave the country. Bebe’s older sister also arrived separately since she was over 21, which is the legal age limit to file for refugee status on your own.

When Bebe came to the United States with her father and brothers, her family first received assistance from the Burmese Mission Baptist Church, the same church where I was interviewing her. She told me how they helped her and her family with clothes, and how they also got support from the IRC (International Rescue Committee). When she started school, she didn’t speak English. Luckily, she was enrolled in an international school in Oakland that had the resources to work with immigrant students by providing English language learning and translation.

Today, Bebe speaks great English, and is waiting to hear back from the colleges that she has applied to for next year. During her time in the US, she has had some amazing experiences, from attending a summer program in Boston, for which she was able to travel to the east coast for the first time, to kayaking and mountain climbing in Yosemite National Park. However, she still holds a very special place in her heart for her culture and her people. She hopes to find a way to go back to Thailand, to help the Karen there. As for Burma, Bebe says, “I really don’t want to go to Burma at all, because I heard that when people go there bad things happen." She relayed a story of one of her friends from the camp in Thailand whose father had been an opposition soldier a long time ago in Burma. He can never return to Burma or he will be killed, even though he has no involvement anymore as a soldier. "Even at the checkpoints, the only people who are allowed in are those who have connections or know the military".

In the end, Bebe said, “Everything is a blessing from God. My family spends time to come to church to give thanks, because if they look behind at their lifetime, things are so different. And if you live on the Thai border, you cannot open your eyes to see the world, to have good opportunities, to get good education and learn English."

When I asked Bebe if there was anything else she wanted people to know, she responded that she wants people to know that there are Karen people everywhere, with the largest group outside of Burma and Thailand being in America. There is a Karen New Year celebration every year, which is one of the few times when Karen people become somewhat visible. "Usually, people do not know who they are or their culture, but that it would be nice for people to know about Karen people," Bebe says. When she tells people that she is “Karen” they say “Korean?" because people have never heard of it before. "It is Karen, not Korean!" she exclaims, laughing.

As our interview ended, we had to rush out. We had been talking for so long that people had started folding the tables and chairs around us. As I said goodbye to her, I looked back on the two days I spent with Bebe at her church. It is truly an amazing experience to be welcomed into a space when you are an outsider and where a smile gets you so far even though you don’t know the language. It was a rare opportunity to be given an inside look into a culture that I had never been exposed to, and I was lucky to have had such a great guide.

Thank you, Bebe, for sharing your story with me. I know you will only go on to do more, and experience more amazing things in your life!

Just days after the devastating earthquake and tsunami that claimed more than 30,000 Japanese lives, CHAA and its partners raised over $3500 for relief efforts through the 1000 Peace Cranes event on March 19.

Hosted by CHAA, the Tibetan Association of Northern California (TANC), and Friends of TANC at the New Tibetan Community Center in Richmond, the fundraiser featured an opportunity for community members to donate to the Japan Relief Fund and fold paper cranes while listening to a message of hope and acceptance from keynote speaker and Hiroshima survivor Takashi Tanemori.

The day commenced with introductory remarks by CHAA Executive Director Beatrice Lee and Tibetan activist Dechen Tsering.

“We are thankful to be able to cosponsor this event,” Lee said. “It’s not a happy occasion why we’re here today — to mourn — but we can take what has happened, even if painful, and turn it into a positive action. Today is to show our solidarity.”

Tanemori then relayed his experience of surviving and moving on from feelings of anger and revenge after the historic blast that claimed six members of his immediate family when he was only eight years old.

“I’m no longer living in fear because no one knows what will happen tomorrow,” Tanemori said. “The past — good or bad — is gone. So what do you have left? The moment. You and I have this very moment, right now.”

Tanemori continued to share lessons for living taught to him by his father shortly before his death. Those lessons, born from the Samurai code, eventually led Tanemori to a place of acceptance and an opportunity to give an inspiring message in the wake of perceived hopelessness.

“Know yourself,” Tanemori said. “Honor your heart and what’s true, no matter what the consequences. Finally, learn to live for the benefit of others.”

Before, during, and after Tanemori’s remarks, the 200 community members in attendance folded more than 300 paper cranes that are now split among the newly acquired Tibetan community center, CHAA offices, and a Hiroshima memorial museum that collects cranes from around the globe, according to Eva Herzer, Co-Chair of Friends of TANC.

“We asked members of the Japanese community what we could do after such a tragedy, and the feedback we received was that peace cranes would fit into the event nicely, as they serve as a traditional cultural symbol of hope and comfort,” Herzer said. “It was encouraging to see such a diversity of people folding cranes, from little children to elders in their 80s and across racial and ethnic groups, including Tibetans associated with Japanese, Caucasians, and African Americans.”

CHAA staff member Kyoko Tsuchiya agreed.

“It was touching to see many different types of people there, particularly the Tibetans, whose presence I felt was so peaceful,” Tsuchiya said. “They were generous in sharing their hearts even when they too are suffering and worrying that their country is always in danger of being conquered. Everyone’s presence was warm and encouraging, and the sense of community support brought much comfort.”

If you would like to donate to the Japan Relief Fund, please visit www.jcccnc.org for ways to contribute. To view more pictures of the event, click here.

While growing up in her hometown of Kolomotu’a in Tonga, Loa Niumeitolu witnessed that many families in her homeland did not have money for food, clothing, or education. Despite a childhood filled with relatives and friends, she and her family were forced to find work internationally as Tonga underwent the transition from subsistent to capitalist society.

Loa’s situation was not unique. In the 1980s, thousands of poor Tongans and other Pacific Islanders traveled to economically dominant countries in search of jobs and education, particularly to the U.S., Australia, and New Zealand. Her own family arrived in the U.S. through an educational scholarship awarded to her mother by the Mormon Church, landing first in Hawaii and later moving to Utah.

Now in Oakland, Loa works alongside Tongans and allies to transform negative messages about Tongans that Tongans themselves believe to be true. In her role as Community Wellness Advocate for CHAA’s API Connections program, Loa spends her time promoting mental health and wellness, a piece of which includes combating harmful stereotypes within the community.

Mental health and wellness are particularly important among Tongans, according to Niumeitolu, because multiple generations have experienced the adverse affects of believing negative stereotypes and name calling born from dominant cultures.

“There’s a lot of internalized racism in our community and a lot of Tongans and Pacific Islanders are made to feel ashamed and to blame themselves for working low-wage labor jobs and not assimilating to Western culture,” Niumeitolu said. “These factors then understandably lead to poor physical health, low self-esteem, decreased happiness, and ultimately a loss of productivity.”

Loa recalls that a recent focus group featured Pacific Islanders of all shapes and sizes sharing their individual experiences with a Western doctor who was “fixated with solving their obesity.” That’s a problem, she says, because there are plenty of other, more important challenges that are not being recognized.

“The stereotype of Pacific Islanders in the U.S. is that we’re fat,” Niumeitolu says. “In reality, our wellness challenge is not obesity, but to live and work in the U.S. legally, obtain decent paying jobs with safe working conditions, have access to caring legal representation, and to tap into opportunities for education and quality child care for our children so they can go to college instead of being victims of community violence.”

In addition, the stereotypes and invisibility felt by Pacific Islanders are also worsened by the practice of lumping Pacific Islanders in the API (Asian Pacific Islander) rubric, according to Niumeitolu.

“Many agencies receive funding for Pacific Islander communities under their API title, but they do not serve Pacific Islanders or have a single Pacific Islander staff or board member in their organization,” Niumeitolu said. “The API rubric does not allow Pacific Islanders to fully serve our communities’ needs because we do not have equal footing under this rubric. The Asian part of API is privileged over “PI”, the Pacific Islander tag along at the end.”

By using innovative methods, Loa hopes to involve the Tongan community in both healing and maintaining wellness. While recent history has demonstrated otherwise, Loa wants to facilitate discussion among Tongans, promote solidarity, and encourage individuals to find their voices and speak up.

And she believes being a good example herself is the first step.

“When Tongans and Pacific Islanders see that one of their own works in mental health and wellness, they start to imagine that they are included in the institutional mental health and wellness arena, instead of being barred from it,” Niumeitolu said. “It’s exciting that CHAA trusts and respects me to work well with Pacific Islanders to employ creative and sustaining ways to empower them to be their own leaders and make their own goals and dreams for healthier lives.”

As part of her role in leading community wellness efforts, Loa has been using tools provided by API Connections — such as Community Based Participatory Research, cameras, filmmaking, sound recorders, and an interactive website — to promote the sharing of personal stories by Pacific Islanders. By doing so, she hopes to hear real Tongan voices and, with facilitated public input, learn how to hear and implement what the Tongan people want and need.

“As a Tongan and Pacific Islander woman, I learn a lot each day about community organizing and service from the difficult struggles and the many gains that my co-workers and their communities have experienced,” Niumeitolu said. “It’s not easy, but it’s incredibly rewarding and absolutely necessary.”

In collaboration with more than 15 agencies, CHAA and its partners hosted the first annual Multicultural Health and Wellness Fair at Oakland’s Clinton Park on December 4, 2010. With more than 150 attendees, the fair featured primary health screenings, wellness activities and multicultural performances, and provided interpretation in 16 languages to make the event accessible to a diverse community audience.

Despite the rainy and overcast day, turnout was good. In addition to preventive services such as flu and T-Dap vaccinations and screenings for blood pressure, BMI, and dental screenings, attendees also were able to get free consultation from doctors, public health nurses, and trainee volunteers, and attend workshops on health topics picked for their relevance to attending communities.

Workshops included “Lifestyle Modification for a Healthier Life” by Daw Yee Yee Htwe and a Hepatitis B session presented by the United States Burmese Medical Association.

Kathy Ahoy, Public Health Nurse of Alameda County and co-founder of the Street Level Health Project, was encouraged by the teamwork and spirit shown by the medical staff and volunteers who performed health screenings for more than 100 individuals.

“While the logistics could be a bit challenging at times, it was heartwarming to see those at varying stages of their medical careers unite for a common cause,” Ahoy said. “We had everyone from undergraduate and graduate students to established professionals, and it was nice to make a difference both for patients and those with health career aspirations.”

Dede Dolma of the Tibetan Association of Northern California (TANC) served as one such medical volunteer, helping a registered nurse with triage duties.

“My favorite part of the day was just being able to serve the community and being able to screen people at risk of many diseases at an early stage,” Dolma said.” “I’m thankful we can intervene at an important time or at least attempt to connect uninsured clients with health services.”

While the health services were popular, the day included alternative health activities designed to expose attendees to ways to support health and well-being, and diverse cultural entertainment. Before or after receiving immunizations, community members had the option to partake in a variety of fun wellness activities, including tai chi with Mr. G, yoga with Mitch Hall, acupressure from Til Gurung, and massage from a Thai therapist. During lunch, attendees enjoyed traditional Thai, Nepali, and Mongolian dances, magic with Stephen Bartz, a poetry slam by a Cambodian Youth Speaks member, and an address from Pat Kernighan, councilmember for Alameda County District 2.

Olivia Byler, Coordinator of the East Bay Refugee Forum, was not only happy to see the mingling of various ethnicities within the Asian community at the event, but also the intersection of other cultures living in the immediate neighborhoods.

“It was beautiful to witness the attendees receiving services, enjoying performances, and eating food,” Byler said. “Perhaps the most memorable moment of the day for me was realizing that while we were carrying on a multi-cultural health and wellness fair in this community park, the local Latino community was celebrating a religious festival, including a parade right down International in front of our venue. It was very satisfying to see all of these cultures collide.”

“One notable challenge we had was a lack of funding to organize this big community event; however, we overcame it and all the partner agencies pulled together to make it very successful,” Angelo Ercia, CHAA Community Health Specialist, said. “I would like to see the event held in a bigger location in the future so we can serve more people and expand the wellness activities and entertainment. I also look forward to restructuring the workshops so they can be more interactive.”

For its first year, CHAA and its partners are happy with the event’s outcome and looks forward to ways of building on the successes and lessons learned from this health fair in years to come.

“We are encouraged by the positive feedback we’ve received about the fair, and hope this first one serves as a model for greater collaboration and building cross-community relationships,” said CHAA’s Associate Director, Sean Kirkpatrick. “We feel confident that integrating health resources with activities, information, entertainment and alternative approaches to promoting wellness are key to engaging communities, recognizing that wellbeing is best supported holistically.”

 Celebrating its seventh year as hosts, Southeast Asian Young Leaders (SEAYL) attracted more than 300 attendees to the West County Youth Stopping Violence event on October 16th. Held at Lovonya DeJean Middle School, the day featured motivational speakers, performers, and workshops promoting the creation of a safer and healthier community while spreading a message of peace and unity to youth.

The event is designed to encourage youth leadership in addressing issues that lead to violence, according to CHAA Program Coordinator John Abella. Engaging youth and getting them involved in learning and leading through workshops and other dialogue ensures that their voice is heard and fosters a shared purpose in preventing community violence, he said.

“Our goals are to prevent violence by bringing our communities together through education and exploration of the issues that affect our streets,” Abella said. “We want to create unity of the diverse populations of the Bay Area, especially West Contra Costa County, because violence is an issue that affects everyone.”

While each annual summit is characterized by spirited discussions and performances, this year’s event possessed a strong introduced social media as a tool for promoting positive youth leadership, dialogue and support for youth-led violence prevention efforts. In addition to promoting and marketing the event through Web 2.0 means like Facebook, RYSEportal.org, LifePortal.com, and email blasts, SEAYL members displayed original music videos and other works conveying their anti-violence stance via YouTube.

“The idea of incorporating social media into the summit became even more timely in light of several recent youth suicides related to cyber bullying,” said Sue Denny, CHAA Clinical and Prevention Supervisor. “The youth are experts in familiar with using social media forums and we wanted to help them and their adult allies find ways to use these same forums used for bullying in ways that prevent violence.”

In addition to promoting current technology in spreading the anti-violence message, the day also featured more traditional outlets of expression.

“We try to make the event a platform where youth can speak their voice, and share their talents,” Abella said. “We look for youth to perform, because there is so much creative energy with younger people. We also aim to incorporate artistic and creative components to the event, such as a peace quilt where people wrote messages to those who they’ve lost or simply general messages of peace.”

Another memorable part of the day featured a speech by Gwai Boonekut, the father of Chan Boonekut, the teenage girl whose murder in 2003 led to the creation of both SEAYL and the summit. Gwai movingly reminded attendees about the murder and how it has impacted his family.

“It’s hard to believe that it was seven years ago, it seems like yesterday to me,” Boonekut said as he encouraged young people at the event to continue working to prevent violence in their communities. “You are all my sons and my daughters.”

Denny was struck by Boonekut’s address.

“Gwai’s speech was a reminder to me why SEAYL was created and the importance of violence prevention groups and events,” Denny said. “It seemed like his address was both helpful for him in dealing with his loss as well as meaningful for the youth and adults in the audience. It was a reminder that death is a permanent loss for the families and communities.”

While encouraged by the enthusiasm and dedication shown by attendees at the event, CHAA recognize that there remains much to be done to make Richmond a safer place.

“Events like this are intended to be inspiring, motivating and stimulating; however, real, sustainable change doesn’t occur because of one event,” said David Young, Program Director for CHAA Richmond Contra Costa County. “We need to institutionalize follow-up efforts, such as creating and promoting violence prevention curricula through our partners and stakeholders, utilizing the inspiration of the summit to engage volunteers in forwarding our work by supporting their violence prevention efforts, and creating systems and structures that enable both attendees and non-attendees to initiate violence prevention initiatives of their own.”

Abella agrees that progress needs to be a widespread community effort.

“We encourage other organizations to mobilize to bring their youth to these events, because it is sure to benefit everyone,” Abella said. “The more people we reach, the more of an impact we have on this community. I’ve worked with youth who say that the summit literally changed their lives. Knowing that is priceless.”

 

By Matt O’Brien
The Oakland Tribune

Refugees who once harvested food in the foothills of the Himalayas and the lush fields of Southeast Asia are nourishing a garden culture in the flatlands of East Oakland.

Their first crop is emerging this fall from a fenced-in plot off 11th Avenue, crammed between a basketball court and a grove of old palm trees.

Green mustard seeds peeked out from the grounds last week. Bhutanese refugees hope to pluck the leafy greens in a few weeks, sun dry them and transform them through weeks of fermentation into a dish called "gundruk."

"The farm activity makes them stand on their own feet," said Tila Dhakal, a 27-year-old refugee from Bhutan. "They don’t want to buy any vegetables from the markets. If they grow by themselves, they won’t use any pesticides. It will be more nutritious, more tasty."

Gundruk is also a rare treat in Oakland, he said. It’s a food he would be unable to buy without paying a premium. Burmese refugees are tilling the same 11th Avenue grounds alongside the Bhutanese and have a similar dish in mind, but they ferment the greens differently, using cooked rice and salt. Cambodian women have cultivated rows of pansies a few feet away.

The team hopes later to terrace a slope that leads down to a parking lot, and to build a bench where gardeners can rest in the shade of a California pepper tree. Few of the gardeners are clamoring for fancy implements. They don’t need them. Nor do they need footpaths, which get in the way of the vegetables. But the garden is so successful, said 65-year-old Bhawani Dhimal, that the gardeners are running out of room.

"These spaces are so small for us," he said. "At some time, we are hoping we get some more space."
Dhimal knows something about farming. He worked for Bhutan’s Ministry of Agriculture before he was forced out of his homeland in an ethnic conflict 18 years ago. When he arrived in Oakland last year, he quickly realized he would have trouble working the land. He planted marigolds in some pots, but could not work outside. The landlord of his multifamily apartment building would not permit a backyard garden, fearing excessive water costs.

That was before Dhimal met volunteer Zack Reidman.

The test garden off 11th Avenue, a collaboration among three refugee groups, is Reidman’s brainchild. He worked on community gardening projects in Oakland and Maine, but noticed the Bay Area’s popular urban gardening movements were not tapping into the agrarian heritage of hundreds of refugees who live in neighborhoods east of Lake Merritt.

"They come from a rich tradition and vocation for farming," Reidman said. "Gardening at this scale is kind of a no-brainer, except for some of the local climatic conditions."

Such initiatives have worked elsewhere. First lady Michelle Obama visited a 2.3-acre farm in San Diego this spring that is considered a model for refugee garden projects. When Dhakal visited his Bhutanese relatives in Idaho this year, he saw a garden project there.

In Oakland, where refugees have settled in many neighborhoods, organizers hope to make the tiny community garden on 11th Avenue part of a bigger movement, expanding small farm projects to yards and vacant plots.

Their goal, says Reidman: "Find as many spaces in as many creative ways as possible. Make sure those spaces are sustainable and can be used for at least a few years, if not indefinitely."

The community plot in the San Antonio district was offered to the refugee groups at no cost by Harbor House Ministries, a nonprofit organization that works with low-income families and had some land to spare. It is not the first community garden in East Oakland cared for by refugees — a garden at the Peralta Hacienda, the historic estate in the Fruitvale district, serves the Laotian Mien community. But the pent-up demand for gardening space is so great that refugees feel there could be many more.

The gardens grew in number this summer, mostly in secluded backyard plots. One Burmese family’s plot abuts an Interstate 580 sound wall. Another is near a school off of 35th Avenue. Reidman serves as a liaison between refugees and their landlords, trying to convince the landlords that offering garden space to their tenants is a good idea.

The idea won backing from a local nonprofit group, Community Health for Asian-Americans, which is trying to help Reidman scour the region for space to grow and money to secure land and equipment. The health advocates say the gardening brings a continuity to lives thrust from the countryside to a big city.

"We thought a garden would be a space where people could socialize, do things together away from home," said Sotheavy Tan of Community Health’s Cambodian Women’s Health Project, which is sharing the 11th Avenue land with the Burmese and Bhutanese groups.

Tila Dhakal’s father, Hem Dhakal, was jailed for 13 months in Bhutan before he signed a form promising he would voluntarily leave the country. The family was among tens of thousands of members of a Nepali-speaking minority pushed out of the Himalayan kingdom in the early 1990s.

When the Dhakals fled, they took a few belongings but left behind acres of cardamom, orange trees, vegetable fields and honey-producing beehives. They lived for 17 years in a refugee camp in Nepal, where they grew whatever food they could around their tiny hut, before migrating to Oakland last year.

Tila Dhakal found work at a store and is usually too busy to garden, but his aging father finds solace in the work, a way to lessen the frustrations of living in a new country where he speaks little English and must rely on his children for everything.

"He feels happy to walk there (to the garden)," said his son. "He doesn’t want to sit idly."

How to help
Anyone with open space, donations or ideas to help refugee gardeners can contact Zack Reidman, the refugee garden coordinator, at 818-738-8948 or zackreidman@gmail.com. The project to provide garden space to East Bay refugees is a collaboration between Community Health for Asian Americans, the Bhutanese American Community Center and the Burmese Refugee Family Network.

Reprinted with permission from the Oakland Tribune.

(Photo Shadia Merukeb)

Nwe Oo is quite familiar with the daily obstacles faced by Oakland’s Burma refugee population. Born on the Burma-Bangladesh border and a longtime resident of Thailand, she has experienced the challenges of transitioning to life in a foreign urban environment from a rural war-torn society. 

She has also witnessed the stress within her community brought about by the resettlement process and the noticeable lack of health and wellness resources available to her approximately 400 fellow Burma refugees who are ethnically diverse, mostly Karen and Karenni, living in the East Bay.

It is because of her personal experiences, she says, that she is passionate about her role as CHAA’s Community Advocate for Burma refugee communities. As a team member of API Connections — an innovative program providing culturally competent health and wellness services to unserved and underserved populations — Oo is hopeful that her efforts will promote healthier behaviors in the Burma refugee community through methods of prevention and treatment.

“These refugees have come to build new lives, but are now facing a host of challenges, including emotional trauma,” Oo says. “They were driven from a land they loved and have lost friends, homes, and members of their families. The transition can not only lead to an unhealthy emotional state, but it can also lead to physical problems and cause an individual to isolate themselves, which is why our outreach work is so important.”

Eased with promises of an easier, safer, and healthier life by government and NGO officials, local Burma refugees have quickly learned the subjectivity of those terms. The transition from jungle refugee camps on the Thai/Burma border to a foreign, urban environment has been traumatic for many. Further, these refugees are also struggling with physical and mental health issues born from their experiences living in conflict areas.

“The challenges here are much more complicated than those in their native land, said Su Su Maung, Marriage and Family Therapist Intern/psychotherapist and board member of Burma Refugee Family Network (BRFN) “Most refugees were farmers or lived in rural areas, so they are new to the urban living and navigating these systems and institutions. There are now so many procedures to follow; in their native land, there are fewer procedures to follow. Also, the language barrier is huge, and not being able to read or speak or write in English is hard for anyone trying to navigate the systems here.”

Oo believes that for her community to be truly healthy, it needs support in a variety of areas. While mainstream medicine may be important, Oo also believes that health is influenced by other factors.

“The Burma refugee community needs a link to prevention, health education, screening, diagnoses, and treatment,” Oo said. “Further, they also need things that don’t fall under the mainstream medical model for health, such as quality education, community relationships, and support. It’s known that stress can aggravate isolation and lead to depression and anxiety and vice versa, so we want to make sure all these factors are addressed since they are all linked to well-being.”

Zar Ni Maung, board member of Burma Refugee Family Network, agrees that the diversity and depth of the challenges faced by refugees from Burma can lead to debilitating stresses related to acculturation to a new environment. However, because of a lack of English fluency and societal stigma, many of these issues simply go unrecognized and unaddressed.

“Many Burma refugees do not know how to navigate existing health issues they may have in their new environment, and the language barrier can make it very challenging to find out how,” Maung said. “In addition, the idea of mental and physical health being intertwined isn’t well developed in traditional Burma refugee culture, so educational workshops on overall wellness could be very beneficial for the community.”

In addition to providing the Burma refugee population with health resources, community leaders are serving as support and spreading healthy messages through workshops, trainings, consultation, events, cultural celebrations, and festivals. CHAA and the Burma Refugee Family Network, with other partners including Burmese Youth Association, Karen Culture and Tradition Committee and others, are coordinating efforts to become a consistent, trusted presence in the community. Efforts include, also, community-driven approaches to wellness, such as gardening (see Oakland Tribune article: http://www.insidebayarea.com/news/ci_16299545)

“My hope is that our community will be better able to collaborate effectively in unity around the various goals we would like to achieve for ourselves, and to address our community’s needs,” Maung said. “My hope is that our community can be self-sufficient, integrated within ourselves and into the American culture, and be well-represented and advocated for in the United States, and that we can also preserve our own unique culture(s) for the next generation to come so that we can create a home here for ourselves.”

While it won’t be an easy task, Oo is hopeful that API Connections and local leaders will lead to Maung’s vision of self-sufficiency and integration.

“I want to help the community become more engaged — and I think it can be — which is why I’m excited to be part of this project,” Oo said.  “I’ve always wanted to work internationally, and I’m glad I can help them connect with one another here and serve as a source of much needed support.”

About API Connections
API Connections is an initiative funded by Alameda County Behavioral Health Care Services through funding made possible by the Mental Health Services Act (MHSA), passed by California voters in 2004. MHSA is intended to expand mental health services throughout California and transform the model for delivering mental health care to one that foregrounds wellness, resiliency and recovery. API Connections is one of five initiatives funded through the Prevention and Early Intervention phase for MHSA in Alameda County, targeting communities that are un- and underserved. Asian Community Mental Health Services (ACMHS) is the fiscal agent and co-lead agency along with CHAA for the Asian and Pacific Islander strategy.  CHAA’s work involves partnering with communities designated as “unserved” Asian, South Asian and Pacific Islander communities, including Tongan, Tibetan, Mongolian, Thai, Bhutanese/Nepali refugees, Sri Lankan Tamil refugees, and refugees from Burma living in Alameda County (primarily Karen and Karenni ethnicities currently).

photo: Sean Kirkpatrick

More than 300 attendees celebrated and promoted the awareness of Bay Area refugees on June 20th during Oakland’s annual World Refugee Day picnic in San Antonio Park. Held the same weekend as UNHCR’s World Refugee Day, the picnic featured speeches, performances, and international cuisines by members of the refugee community. 

Olivia Byler, coordinator of the East Bay Refugee Forum, was impressed with the day’s activities and was heartened by the enthusiasm shown by the crowd.

“Considering that the day had less than ideal weather, those who attended were so enthusiastic,” Byler said. “From refugees sharing their personal stories of accomplishment to entertaining us with traditional cultural performances, everyone seemed very happy to be there.”

The day started with speeches by Alameda County District 3 Supervisor Alice Lai-Bitker and Oakland Councilwoman Pat Kernighan highlighting the accomplishments of local refugees.

Following the introductory remarks, two former refugees who had successfully resettled spoke to the group.

Vietnamese refugee Luan Huynh and Burmese refugee Ko Ko Lay reflected on their experiences coming to the United States and finding a career that allows them to give back to the community. While both find themselves advocating for refugee rights, Huynh uses her skills for the East Bay Community Law Center and Lay recently finished his third term as a member of the Strategic Coordinating Committee, the only worldwide Burmese coalition group including the National Coalition Government Union of Burma (NCGUB) and National Council of the Union of Burma (NCUB).

In addition to exchanging personal stories, refugees and their families enjoyed lunch, raffles, and soccer games organized by Soccer without Borders. A dozen community organizations and their representatives were also present to provide resources to those in need of information.

While Byler enjoyed all events of the day, she was particularly moved by a performance given by the Refugee Transitions youth leadership group.

“Students were nominated for this group to further improve their leadership skills both within and outside of their native Bhutanese and Burmese communities,” Byler said. “These kids performed a Michael Jackson song (“Heal the World”) with a theme of unification, and they showed so much heart and soul while they closed their eyes and sang. The moment went perfectly with this year’s UNHCR’s theme of ‘Home,’ with its message of ‘You can take our home, but you can’t take our future.’”

Founded in 1978, the East Bay Refugee Forum has sponsored at least 10 picnics and enjoyed the participation of approximately 40 agencies this year. Despite the large amount of cooperation, however, Byler says the event is always looking for volunteers.

“While we have many agencies coming together for the day’s activities, there are still gaps that need to be filled,” Byler said. “We encourage anyone who would like to give back or who is interested in refugee issues to contact us and ask how they can help.”

Volunteers are especially needed in the areas of translation, interpretation, and food service, according to Byler. Additionally, anyone with technology or A/V experience to help with audio and taking pictures of the event would be highly appreciated.

If you’re interested in volunteering at next year’s World Refugee Day or helping with other East Bay Refugee Forum events, please contact Olivia Byler at eastbayrefugeeforum@gmail.com.

(Photo Ko Ko Lay)

Nine months ago, a group of five graduate students embarked on a journey to learn what it takes to become a professional mental health clinician. After completing CHAA’s rigorous internship program in June, those students are leaving more prepared, focused, and confident for the next stages of their careers.

The goal of the internship, according to CHAA Program Director Kenneth Kim, is to ensure the opportunity to apply theories and techniques taught in psychology programs. Further, students develop clinical skills and judgment through the everyday challenges encountered in the community.

“CHAA has a culture of innovation, and we’re always looking to break barriers and try new ways of providing strength-based services in the community.,” Kim said. “We emphasize shades of gray, and that thinking is encouraged when mentors ask students what they think should be done, instead of having the student blindly follow the clinical supervisor’s orders.”

The strategy to producing well-rounded interns, Kim says, is to utilize a multicultural approach, give quality professional development, and create an intimate environment in which students and supervisors can be creative with their interventions.

The program places most students in the Oakland public school system, preparing them to deal with challenges working in diverse environments and across various age groups.

“On a daily basis, interns are interacting with Asian, black, and Latino communities, as well as working with elementary to high school kids, which prepares them to deal with the challenges of working in diverse environments,” Kim said. “As a result, they’ve learned to build bridges and work with communities outside their focus to bring about positive change.”

Before commencing the internship, Audrey Musni had never worked with high school students and was nervous to do so. Now, after having worked with teenagers during the practicum, she says her self-confidence in working with diverse populations has blossomed.

“The only experience I came in with was having worked with young children on the autism spectrum,” Musni said. “I knew I loved working with young children, so I was nervous when I found out I would be working with high school students. It was definitely challenging, but the experience and support made me realize that I’m capable of working with different populations and more open to new challenges than I thought.“

As for professional development, Intern Heather LaBouy learned that there is much more to being a therapist than just giving therapy.

“I had the opportunity to discover all that is involved in working in a school setting, including interacting with teachers and school staff, communicating with parents who were not readily available, and conducting individual and group therapy in an elementary school,” LaBouy said. “I also learned how to conduct meetings with a translator present, understand cultural differences in learning styles and classroom etiquette, and work with families in a culturally competent manner.”

Kim believes that preparing interns with such professional development is key to helping them manage time when they begin to see their own clients.

“The professional development aspect really helps interns learn how to deal with all the non-clinical items, like the school system bureaucracy, talking to parents, and managing time around documentation,” Kim said. “Unfortunately it’s all too easy to be bogged down by the extras, so preparing them for what they will see in their working lives will really help ease the transition between student and professional clinician.”

Arguably the most important quality of the CHAA program, Kim says, is the small, personalized atmosphere that encourages a high degree of interaction between students and clinical supervisors.

“This internship is a smaller program in a larger agency, so students get a lot of attention and don’t feel lost as a cog in a bigger machine,” Kim said.  “We hope such support allows them to take risks and explore a potential interest or confirm a pre-existing strength. After reading the final evaluations, we were thrilled to hear how supported the interns felt throughout the year.”

Cambodian women in Oakland now have an opportunity to identify and address areas for improvement in their community with the help of CHAA’s new Cambodian Women’s Health Project. Designed to promote wellness in the Cambodian community, the two-year program is co-led by Prevention Research Center (co-lead agency and research partner) and community host partners Center for Empowering Refugees and Immigrants (CERI) and Cambodian Community Development, Inc. (CCDI).  

Funded by the National Institute of Health’s National Center on Minority Health and Health Disparities, the project involves a multi-generational group of nine Cambodian women sharing and using their personal experiences to promote healthy behaviors in their community.

"Our goal is to build capacities of the local Cambodian community to assess health issues affecting members and respond proactively, and to build the capacities of scientific researchers to partner with communities," said CHAA Project Supervisor Shadia Merukeb. "Another goal is to work with the community to determine and create a culturally appropriate intervention for an issue that they, as a community, consider important and relevant, as opposed to the way traditional research works."

While the project is still in its early stages, Merukeb has seen increased involvement and project ownership from the participants in just a few weeks. 

"They really seem to enjoy having a place to meet and talk about positive change," Merukeb said. "Further, they are interested in making connections with community outside of the designated project time." 

Research Assistant Talaya Sin agrees. 

"The women are really taking this project to the top," Sin said. "They are so committed, on time, and always on top of things. And ironically, these are women who people would normally be casted as refugees with mental problems." 

And while no project is without its challenges, Merukeb is confident in the CHAA team’s ability to work through them. 

"The biggest challenge so far has been language," Merukeb said. "The language used to describe Community Based Participatory Research (CBPR) concepts doesn’t always translate smoothly, so we have needed to adjust the English as necessary. It’s certainly been a learning process, and I feel that we are successfully working through it." 

The project is also making strides to go beyond isolated health issues, according to CBPR Consultant Ann Rojas-Cheatham. 

"This endeavor is very groundbreaking as it has dedicated tremendous resources to CBPR and has committed to mutual learning, co-decision making and social justice," Rojas-Cheatham said. "These two things bring it tremendous potential." 

Community Health Worker Sotheavy Tan sees the group’s activities as valuable in not only promoting community health, but also life skills for a minority population as well. 

"I think the project has helped empower women by encouraging them to talk about their issues in the community that have an impact on their life," Sotheavy said. "Activities like role playing and skits on alcohol and violence won’t only lead to healthier communities, but will also generate leadership and communication skills for something greater, such as employment." 

Despite translation challenges, the team is motivated by the unique and innovative nature of the CBPR model. 

"I love the CBPR approach and realize that the real world application can certainly be challenging, but the experience and potential for change is exciting," Merukeb said. "We are dedicated to ensuring that this is a CBPR process and are very honored and excited to be able to work with the Cambodian community in this particular endeavor."

(Photo by Juliet Lee)