A small inner-city park in East Oakland is an unexpected place to find a piece of Burma. Yet on Saturday May 7, dozens of refugees gathered in a community event organized by the Burma Refugee Family Network and two SF State researchers.
A grant from the Institute's Community-University Empowerment Fund, awarded earlier this year to Drs. Russell Jeung and Mai Nhung Le (Asian American Studies Department), is supporting an
on-going needs assessment of this under-recognized, underserved community.
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Prof. Mai-Nhung Le, left, and Prof. Russell Jeung, right, with student Amy Gua |
Both festive and serious, the event in the park was the latest in a series of community health fairs to help build community and conduct much-needed health screenings.They also aim to collect valuable new information on the daily life situations encountered by local refugees from Burma, and expose Ethnic Studies students to the realities of community-based research.
From refugee camps to an American inner city
Navigating a new culture is always difficult. Much more so is the transition from a refugee camp along the rural Thai-Burmese border - camps that thousands of war-displaced
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Men's discussion group
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Karen and Karenni have called home for up to 20 years - to a gritty, foreign city enduring the worst recession since the Great Depression. Once here, they immediately encounter high crime, expensive housing, low wages, scarce job opportunities, limited social services, poorly funded schools, a multitude of subcultures, and few ways to provide for their loved ones.
The new arrivals are generally ill equipped
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One of the women who agreed to be interviewed at length for the study
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to plunge into their new life here: Over 70% were not able to complete high school, and 1/3 have not had any education at all. A mere 14% can speak English well, in a city where English as a Second Language classes have been completely cut. Only 1 out of 5 has found a job. Not surprisingly, the combination of experiences - from the long-running war and military oppression at home to the poverty, culture shock, marginal housing and the harsh odds against finding employment - almost half of the refugees are suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Syndrome or other mental health problems.
Making a difference
Starting in 2008, the Burma Refugee Family Network's social workers and health professionals have been evaluating this population's pressing needs and successfully advocating for appropriate services. The first task was to address the multiple
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One little girl was unsure about getting a face-painting.
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language barriers faced by a population comprised of seven distinct cultural groups, each with their own language. Dr. Jeung's activist and social research background are allowing him to get to know the refugees' needs and the changes that need to occur at the level of policy, programs, and long-term planning.
Dr. Jeung and his colleague Dr. Le are conducting the additional research needed to generate the first comprehensive report on this topic, entitled Oakland's Refugees from Burma: A policy Report of Community Needs and Assets.
Students from Dr. Le's Asian American Community Health Issues class at SF State provided huge support at the May 7 health fair, raising needed funds, painting the faces of the many children gleefully running about, helping adults fill out research questionnaires, and serving a home-made lunch to everyone.
When asked about her experience taking this brief look at community based research, one of Dr. Le's students commented that "the little things we gave out were so appreciated, like candy and toys. I sense that they
haven't been given much before, (like) love from people who really care and are concerned about their well-being."
Photographs courtesy of Matthew Van Saun
View all his images from this event at his website.
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