Wednesday, June 24, 2009
It was a beautiful day in more ways than one on Saturday, if you happened to be in Minnehaha Park in Minneapolis. For you would have found there a warmth even greater than that being generated by the glorious June sunshine.I should explain.
Each year on June 20 there are a series of events organized across the globe to mark World Refugee Day, as designated by the UNHCR which is the refugee agency of the United Nations. The day was first celebrated in 2001 and, as at the end of 2008 there were an estimated 15.2 million refugees among the 42 million forcibly displaced people throughout the world, it is hoped that all their plights will be brought to the attention of a wider audience.
To those of you unsure of who or exactly what the Twin Cities are, I can tell you that they are Minneapolis and St Paul, the largest city and capital city respectively, in the state of Minnesota. And the warmth to which I referred earlier is that shown by the people of the Twin Cities to their new friends and neighbors whose arrival in Minnesota was as a consequence of persecution in their own homeland.
Whilst my own arrival in the US was as a result of a happy event, namely my marriage to my American wife, and I found myself speaking a language and encountering a culture at times almost identical to that of my British homeland, I do have my own connection to one of the many communities represented at the Twin Cities World Refugee Day. Because, for some 7 months now, I have been spending one or two evenings a week helping to teach English to the Somali residents of one of St Paul’s largest apartment complexes.
Before I report on some of the activities that you could have seen and the people you could have met in Minnehaha Park on Saturday, it is worth providing a few statistics on the role of Minnesota in providing assistance to some of the many refugees that arrive in the US each year to make new, and hopefully more peaceful, lives for themselves.
During 2008, of the 80,000 limit set on refugee arrivals for the year by the US government, Minnesota received 1,321 of the 60,188 who were resettled in the country as a whole. In 2009, when the same limit applies, to date 43,957 have arrived across the US, of which 484 have made it to Minnesota.
Since 1979, this friendly state in the Upper Mid-West has welcomed more than 90,000 refugees, many of whom have then been joined by relatives from elsewhere in the US. Families are reunited, often after horrific experiences many of us can only imagine, new communities are formed and a new way of life is begun.
The Twin Cities are a particular hub for the new arrivals and the cities boast the largest Somali community in the US, one of the largest Hmong (predominantly from Laos) communities anywhere in the world, as well as Karen (mainly Burmese), Liberian and many other communities besides.
Now to the event itself where there was a variety of music, dance, arts and crafts, multicultural food and community speakers for visitors to enjoy as well as information available on a wide range of issues such as health, education, housing and employment.
Being more of a talker than a listener or watcher, some friends or family might not put it quite so diplomatically, I particularly enjoyed walking around the Immigrant Resource Fair, where I spoke to several of the exhibitors. After briefly renewing my acquaintance with Allison Runchey from the Minnesota Literacy Council, who had helped me find my volunteer teaching placement, I stopped at the stand of the American Refugee Committee (ARC) where Therese Gales spoke to me and gave me some very interesting information about the work of her organization.
As the name suggests the ARC are on the front-line of efforts to assist displaced peoples and refugees and they work in many parts of the world. Therese told me that one of the areas giving ARC particular cause for concern at the moment is Pakistan where no less than three million people have been displaced by the recent fighting in the Swat Valley. And these new displacements are merely adding to existing problems such as helping refugees from the conflict in Afghanistan, who are mainly found in the Balochistan Province, and the continuing consequences of the 2005 earthquake in Bagh District.
A leaflet I picked up from the stand for The Center for Victims of Torture contained one image that I thought particularly poignant. In it you simply see a pair of adult hands holding the hand of a 10 year old victim of torture. The words accompanying the image also speak volumes – “What we should do is to learn to forgive those who have done this act. If we do not learn to forgive the war, it will continue to the next generation”. A sentiment it is very hard to disagree with.
Other exhibits where I stopped to chat or collect information included the Council on Black Minnesotans, the mentoring scheme for Saint Paul Public Schools and the Slavic Community Center. In honesty I could have stopped at every stand I saw, there were some 50 of them, but many of their staff and volunteers were busy providing important information to other visitors and my needs were much less of a priority.
It would be truly wonderful if come June 20 2010 there was not a single displaced person or refugee to be found any where in the world. World Refugee Day would not have to exist. But bitter experience tells us that such a wish will remain just that. Yet that does not mean we should stop trying to make it a reality. And after what I saw on Saturday I can certainly vouch for the many and varied organizations there are who are working hard towards that goal and who would always welcome one or two hours of your valuable time.
Each year on June 20 there are a series of events organized across the globe to mark World Refugee Day, as designated by the UNHCR which is the refugee agency of the United Nations. The day was first celebrated in 2001 and, as at the end of 2008 there were an estimated 15.2 million refugees among the 42 million forcibly displaced people throughout the world, it is hoped that all their plights will be brought to the attention of a wider audience.
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And so, in what is still my own first year as a resident of the United States, I went along to the event, for which the 2009 theme is “Real People, Real Needs”, being held in my new Twin Cities home. To those of you unsure of who or exactly what the Twin Cities are, I can tell you that they are Minneapolis and St Paul, the largest city and capital city respectively, in the state of Minnesota. And the warmth to which I referred earlier is that shown by the people of the Twin Cities to their new friends and neighbors whose arrival in Minnesota was as a consequence of persecution in their own homeland.
Whilst my own arrival in the US was as a result of a happy event, namely my marriage to my American wife, and I found myself speaking a language and encountering a culture at times almost identical to that of my British homeland, I do have my own connection to one of the many communities represented at the Twin Cities World Refugee Day. Because, for some 7 months now, I have been spending one or two evenings a week helping to teach English to the Somali residents of one of St Paul’s largest apartment complexes.
Before I report on some of the activities that you could have seen and the people you could have met in Minnehaha Park on Saturday, it is worth providing a few statistics on the role of Minnesota in providing assistance to some of the many refugees that arrive in the US each year to make new, and hopefully more peaceful, lives for themselves.
During 2008, of the 80,000 limit set on refugee arrivals for the year by the US government, Minnesota received 1,321 of the 60,188 who were resettled in the country as a whole. In 2009, when the same limit applies, to date 43,957 have arrived across the US, of which 484 have made it to Minnesota.
Since 1979, this friendly state in the Upper Mid-West has welcomed more than 90,000 refugees, many of whom have then been joined by relatives from elsewhere in the US. Families are reunited, often after horrific experiences many of us can only imagine, new communities are formed and a new way of life is begun.
The Twin Cities are a particular hub for the new arrivals and the cities boast the largest Somali community in the US, one of the largest Hmong (predominantly from Laos) communities anywhere in the world, as well as Karen (mainly Burmese), Liberian and many other communities besides.
Now to the event itself where there was a variety of music, dance, arts and crafts, multicultural food and community speakers for visitors to enjoy as well as information available on a wide range of issues such as health, education, housing and employment.
Being more of a talker than a listener or watcher, some friends or family might not put it quite so diplomatically, I particularly enjoyed walking around the Immigrant Resource Fair, where I spoke to several of the exhibitors. After briefly renewing my acquaintance with Allison Runchey from the Minnesota Literacy Council, who had helped me find my volunteer teaching placement, I stopped at the stand of the American Refugee Committee (ARC) where Therese Gales spoke to me and gave me some very interesting information about the work of her organization.
As the name suggests the ARC are on the front-line of efforts to assist displaced peoples and refugees and they work in many parts of the world. Therese told me that one of the areas giving ARC particular cause for concern at the moment is Pakistan where no less than three million people have been displaced by the recent fighting in the Swat Valley. And these new displacements are merely adding to existing problems such as helping refugees from the conflict in Afghanistan, who are mainly found in the Balochistan Province, and the continuing consequences of the 2005 earthquake in Bagh District.
A leaflet I picked up from the stand for The Center for Victims of Torture contained one image that I thought particularly poignant. In it you simply see a pair of adult hands holding the hand of a 10 year old victim of torture. The words accompanying the image also speak volumes – “What we should do is to learn to forgive those who have done this act. If we do not learn to forgive the war, it will continue to the next generation”. A sentiment it is very hard to disagree with.
Other exhibits where I stopped to chat or collect information included the Council on Black Minnesotans, the mentoring scheme for Saint Paul Public Schools and the Slavic Community Center. In honesty I could have stopped at every stand I saw, there were some 50 of them, but many of their staff and volunteers were busy providing important information to other visitors and my needs were much less of a priority.
It would be truly wonderful if come June 20 2010 there was not a single displaced person or refugee to be found any where in the world. World Refugee Day would not have to exist. But bitter experience tells us that such a wish will remain just that. Yet that does not mean we should stop trying to make it a reality. And after what I saw on Saturday I can certainly vouch for the many and varied organizations there are who are working hard towards that goal and who would always welcome one or two hours of your valuable time.