Actually, I've stopped watching SNL. But they always had a nice title which I'm going to borrow for this blog.
Apparently, we're supposed to be writing an entry for every week (whoops), so I'm going to try and do one for this week.
This week has been a lot of fun. I really enjoy working with the people on the team. Everyone seems very nice and chill, and they have pretty good ideas. And, the people who aren't the PR team are just as nice and chill as the PR people, so it's even nicer.
So what have we actually been up to? This week was focused on brainstorming and getting an idea on what we want to accomplish. Even though there was an orientation day, it still felt we needed this week to orient ourselves. I guess to just to really need to get a grasp on everything? This is a big project. Bigger than I had expected. BUT! I think we have the creativity and the work ethic to do it. I sure hope we do.
Frankly, it doesn't especially feel like work. It's so flexible. We had a group meeting over bowling. This is so much cooler than I had thought it would be. I'm excited to be working with Sewa this summer.
Also, I just want to add that I appreciate the opportunity getting to know these people and learning from their experience. It's actually (as the internship suggests) inspiring! =] It's wonderful seeing how so many people give back to the community.
Your friendly, neighborhood intern,
Kathy
PS - Is this under the right Blog? O.o?
Sunday, June 14, 2009
Monday, June 8, 2009
Late Night Musings
So here I sit at my computer. Finger jammed from trying to catch a football earlier today, and so I started thinking how hard it would be to type a post in the blog with an pseudo-injured phalange. (I also got a pretty big bruise on my foot from today; today was a bit accident prone now that I think about it...)
Anyway, since I'm just up late and typing random things, I thought it would be a good time to document my first encounter with the refugees. To sum, it up, "I don't know where to begin." That's how I feel about the experience and about where to start helping them.
This was the first time I entered our office building. It was so new-looking with all the shine. All I was really thinking about was how they got a camel for the camel rides for the carnival. All of us with Sewa checked in and then had walked toward this conference room. I trailing in the back; there were a lot of people I didn't recognize walking ahead of me. I thought they were other Sewa employees when I was walking behind them. "Possibly more interns?" I thought.
We got into the conference room, and, to my not-so-great-but-still-a-surprise surprise, the people I had walked behind were the Bhutanese refugees. They seemed to know each other too, but I don't think they did. Similar experiences always makes it seem like you're talking to an old friend even if he/ she is a complete stranger. There's that (almost) instantaneous empathetic connection you feel to someone of the same background. You feel that they will understand you just a bit more easily. It's comforting to see how people in a community can bond together.
We all sat around trying to get to know the other people a bit better. Though, I do have to say, I noticed the interns gravitated a bit more to the interns while the Bhutanese gravitated towards the other Bhutanese. It was that similar background thing coming into play I believe. They brought out a cake for our program director and passed out water. Then, we got to hear one of the refugees get up and speak to us about their most pressing issues. This is my impression of what I heard:
Actually, he gave us a bit of background information. The whole thing started around 1990. The Bhutanese government decided (arbitrarily it seems) to restore old Bhutanese traditions and culture back to its former glory. It was perfectly fine, but only if you were Bhutanese. The Nepali population in Bhutan began to be discriminated against. They couldn't practice their own cultural traditions freely; they noticed discrepancies in pay and jobs and other areas. They spoke out and were beaten. "Nightly." I remember his use of that word very clearly. Eventually, the situation degenerated into refugee camps. Finally, after over decade of these camps, a settlement was reached with other national governments and the government of Bhutan: the other nations would take in the refugees. The U.S. agreed to open itself to 60,000 refugees. Thousands of them are in Houston.
It seemed to be a promising new life for the refugees, but it has not quite worked out the way they hoped. It's basically like they were just airdropped into the U.S. with some basic papers and a few helpful contacts. After years in the refugee camps, they have been placed in the sink-or-swim, job-obsessed environment of the U.S. They are left here with barely any idea of how our cultural system works.
As one of our leaders pointed out, in refugee camps you do not have to work to earn a living. Food and shelter, though substandard, are provided for you. You began to develop a sense of learned helplessness. You just exist with no freedom in your however many square mile camp. Never leaving, never really getting to explore your own interests. Never finding that "need to work."
This is a stark contrast to the U.S. Almost every child starts planning their career when they're about 5 or 6. "Mom, I want to be a (enter career choice here) when I grow up." Here, you are often defined by what career or job you hold. When people ask, "what are you?" the usual response is something along the lines of, "I'm a teacher/ contractor/ pharmacist/ teller/ etc."
These refugees are going from one extreme to the other. Most of us take at least 18 years to get the hang of this whole being completely independent. I would bet half of us don't even have the hang of it now. They're trying to make this transition in a matter of months. In fact, they have to if they want to continue eating.
So now, they're in a new country with a culture and environment that could not be more different than the one they've come from, and they need to catch up on our fast-pace before they get trampled. They don't have anyone here to explain how this country operates to them. They don't know English, and cannot communicate well with their new peers. Few people know their language, so that makes it even more difficult. Their community is small, so it's harder to find other people like yourself that can really guide you through the process.
They look for jobs, but don't know how to dress or work through an interview. They show up to the interview, but are told they do not speak English well enough to work. They (luckily!) get a job, but do not know how to use a map to use the bus, and they have no other means of transportation. They don't know how to drive either, so even if they had access to a car, they wouldn't be able to operate it. They get a job and find transportation, but then don't know how to use the computers and electronics. There goes their job!
The man finishes speaking. The room claps. Then, we break off into our separate work groups. Refugees join every group now, and that gap between people of different cultures begins to close.
My group has about half the interns present, so they're about three of us. We have three young refugees join us as well. We talk and learn about their lives. They are all very intelligent. They do well in school. One wants to be a physicist, the other a doctor and the third a businessman. But, for now, they're primary concern is finding a summer job. They want to work to help earn money. Their parents do not know English and are having a hard time applying to work. The parents are sick and unable to work steadily. The neighborhood is unsafe, and some of the kids have been beaten. Other refugees have had their groceries stolen. The kids are going to work in the summer to give their parents time to learn computer and English skills; they are going to be the primary source of income for their families.
These are all teenagers, and they're all younger than me. I've been fortunate enough to never have to worry about being mugged while walking to the grocery store or about how to get a ride to a place. I didn't even start thinking about earning money to pay rent until about a year ago, and I'm in college. I respect and admire these teens for what they what they trying to do. They just need a leg up. That's all the refugees really need; a leg up.
But, like I said earlier, I have no idea where to begin. Which leg do you give the boost up?
Random fact I looked up while finding the origin of the idiom "a leg up": Phalange is not the singular of phalanges as I thought. It's actually phalanx... O.o
Speaking of phalanges, it does sorta hurt to type longer entries right now. (Maybe the finger is sprained?) I did not think it would be this long either... x.x Thus, I will take my leave wish you all a happy Monday. Good night folks! Sorry for any typos and for the sheer length of this entry!
(BTW- If you're reading this Katy, I hope you had an awesome birthday!)
Your friendly, neighborhood intern,
Kathy
Anyway, since I'm just up late and typing random things, I thought it would be a good time to document my first encounter with the refugees. To sum, it up, "I don't know where to begin." That's how I feel about the experience and about where to start helping them.
This was the first time I entered our office building. It was so new-looking with all the shine. All I was really thinking about was how they got a camel for the camel rides for the carnival. All of us with Sewa checked in and then had walked toward this conference room. I trailing in the back; there were a lot of people I didn't recognize walking ahead of me. I thought they were other Sewa employees when I was walking behind them. "Possibly more interns?" I thought.
We got into the conference room, and, to my not-so-great-but-still-a-surprise surprise, the people I had walked behind were the Bhutanese refugees. They seemed to know each other too, but I don't think they did. Similar experiences always makes it seem like you're talking to an old friend even if he/ she is a complete stranger. There's that (almost) instantaneous empathetic connection you feel to someone of the same background. You feel that they will understand you just a bit more easily. It's comforting to see how people in a community can bond together.
We all sat around trying to get to know the other people a bit better. Though, I do have to say, I noticed the interns gravitated a bit more to the interns while the Bhutanese gravitated towards the other Bhutanese. It was that similar background thing coming into play I believe. They brought out a cake for our program director and passed out water. Then, we got to hear one of the refugees get up and speak to us about their most pressing issues. This is my impression of what I heard:
Actually, he gave us a bit of background information. The whole thing started around 1990. The Bhutanese government decided (arbitrarily it seems) to restore old Bhutanese traditions and culture back to its former glory. It was perfectly fine, but only if you were Bhutanese. The Nepali population in Bhutan began to be discriminated against. They couldn't practice their own cultural traditions freely; they noticed discrepancies in pay and jobs and other areas. They spoke out and were beaten. "Nightly." I remember his use of that word very clearly. Eventually, the situation degenerated into refugee camps. Finally, after over decade of these camps, a settlement was reached with other national governments and the government of Bhutan: the other nations would take in the refugees. The U.S. agreed to open itself to 60,000 refugees. Thousands of them are in Houston.
It seemed to be a promising new life for the refugees, but it has not quite worked out the way they hoped. It's basically like they were just airdropped into the U.S. with some basic papers and a few helpful contacts. After years in the refugee camps, they have been placed in the sink-or-swim, job-obsessed environment of the U.S. They are left here with barely any idea of how our cultural system works.
As one of our leaders pointed out, in refugee camps you do not have to work to earn a living. Food and shelter, though substandard, are provided for you. You began to develop a sense of learned helplessness. You just exist with no freedom in your however many square mile camp. Never leaving, never really getting to explore your own interests. Never finding that "need to work."
This is a stark contrast to the U.S. Almost every child starts planning their career when they're about 5 or 6. "Mom, I want to be a (enter career choice here) when I grow up." Here, you are often defined by what career or job you hold. When people ask, "what are you?" the usual response is something along the lines of, "I'm a teacher/ contractor/ pharmacist/ teller/ etc."
These refugees are going from one extreme to the other. Most of us take at least 18 years to get the hang of this whole being completely independent. I would bet half of us don't even have the hang of it now. They're trying to make this transition in a matter of months. In fact, they have to if they want to continue eating.
So now, they're in a new country with a culture and environment that could not be more different than the one they've come from, and they need to catch up on our fast-pace before they get trampled. They don't have anyone here to explain how this country operates to them. They don't know English, and cannot communicate well with their new peers. Few people know their language, so that makes it even more difficult. Their community is small, so it's harder to find other people like yourself that can really guide you through the process.
They look for jobs, but don't know how to dress or work through an interview. They show up to the interview, but are told they do not speak English well enough to work. They (luckily!) get a job, but do not know how to use a map to use the bus, and they have no other means of transportation. They don't know how to drive either, so even if they had access to a car, they wouldn't be able to operate it. They get a job and find transportation, but then don't know how to use the computers and electronics. There goes their job!
The man finishes speaking. The room claps. Then, we break off into our separate work groups. Refugees join every group now, and that gap between people of different cultures begins to close.
My group has about half the interns present, so they're about three of us. We have three young refugees join us as well. We talk and learn about their lives. They are all very intelligent. They do well in school. One wants to be a physicist, the other a doctor and the third a businessman. But, for now, they're primary concern is finding a summer job. They want to work to help earn money. Their parents do not know English and are having a hard time applying to work. The parents are sick and unable to work steadily. The neighborhood is unsafe, and some of the kids have been beaten. Other refugees have had their groceries stolen. The kids are going to work in the summer to give their parents time to learn computer and English skills; they are going to be the primary source of income for their families.
These are all teenagers, and they're all younger than me. I've been fortunate enough to never have to worry about being mugged while walking to the grocery store or about how to get a ride to a place. I didn't even start thinking about earning money to pay rent until about a year ago, and I'm in college. I respect and admire these teens for what they what they trying to do. They just need a leg up. That's all the refugees really need; a leg up.
But, like I said earlier, I have no idea where to begin. Which leg do you give the boost up?
Random fact I looked up while finding the origin of the idiom "a leg up": Phalange is not the singular of phalanges as I thought. It's actually phalanx... O.o
Speaking of phalanges, it does sorta hurt to type longer entries right now. (Maybe the finger is sprained?) I did not think it would be this long either... x.x Thus, I will take my leave wish you all a happy Monday. Good night folks! Sorry for any typos and for the sheer length of this entry!
(BTW- If you're reading this Katy, I hope you had an awesome birthday!)
Your friendly, neighborhood intern,
Kathy
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Why i joined?
Orientation day was great, good people together for a good cause. I decided to join SEWA to make a positive contribution in the lives of the Bhutanese. I can relate to their hardships they faced. It is truly an honor to serve them and serve with such dedicated diverse group of people. SEWA is doing a great job in helping to settle families in Houston.
Monday, June 1, 2009
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
Until next time,
Kacey Cherry
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