Film Screening: Moving to Mars

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

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

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

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

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.