Sam's New Arm

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

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!

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

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

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.