Refugees Voice has a Facebook page!

Updating news blog from Bhutanese refugees camps…

REFUGEES VOICE

Check it out:

http://www.facebook.com/RefugeesVoice

Lisa Thao’s Response to “30 Hmongs in a house” Parody

In March 2011, local Twin Cities KDWB radio program employee sang a song depicting the Hmong community negatively.

Lisa Thao responded with her powerful photography and text.
From Exile to Resettlement applaud’s her work; we believe that diversity, especially our refugee and immigrant communities, enrich and strengthen communities.

“Inspired by KDWB’s “30 Hmongs in a house” and the divide that song has caused our community, I [Lisa Thao] think it was time to re-examine why we are all proud to be Hmong no matter what generation you are. I asked random Hmong people at Hmong Village to tell me why they are proud to be Hmong.”

Click on an image to view full size

Visit her facebook page at:

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Lisa-Thao-Photography

Meet our Photographer

From Exile to Resettlement is excited to have two talented photographers dedicated to adding another unique dimension to this project with photographs of each participant. We are fortunate to have Lisa Thao, a photographer committed to community driven projects.

Lisa Thao is a first generation Hmong-American, wife, mother, and photographer studying Art at the University of Minnesota.  Lisa was born and raised in St. Paul, Minnesota and continues to reside in the St. Paul area. The majority of her photographic work deals with growing up as a first generation Hmong-American and the transition of living in between two cultures.

Have you seen our Facebook page?

Visit us at: Voices of the Bhutanese

www.facebook.com/VoicesoftheBhutanese

The Refugee Herald

Here is the second issue of The Refugee Herald published from Refugees Voices!

Click to read the full edition!

Refugees Voice

Here is an amazing blog that we want to share:

REFUGEES VOICE

Check it out:

Refugees Voice is the young group formed in exile, we are a team of young and dynamic refugees. As a group formed in exile, Refugees Voice doesn’t have a fixed postal address. Though operated from Bhutanese Refugee Camp, Jhapa, Nepal.We hope to grow this site into one of the largest group, the Bhutanese Diaspora and the related aspects.

Expressing of ethereal skills, talency, articles, feelings and all news of all refugees….

Culture Matters: racial and ethnic disparities in health care

Increasing the cultural competence of health care providers serving diverse populations

Read more about this important subject:

http://culturecareconnection.org/matters/diversity/bhutanese.html

 

CULTURE MATTERS

Evidence shows that racial and ethnic minorities tend to receive a lower quality of health care than non-minorities―even when factors related to access such as patient insurance and income are controlled. The Institute of Medicine’s 2002 report Unequal Treatment: Confronting Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Health Care revealed that failing to support and foster culturally competent health care can increase costs for the individual and society through increased hospitalizations and medical complications.

Cultural competence is having the capacity to function effectively within the context of the cultural beliefs, behaviors, and needs of consumers and their communities. Several different definitions describe cultural competence. No single definition is universally accepted and many approaches are possible for providing culturally competent care. Fundamentally:

• Culture refers to a variety of factors, including age, education level, income level, place of birth, length of residency in a country, individual experience, and identification with community groups.
• Competence refers to knowledge that enables a person to effectively communicate.
• Care refers to the ability to provide effective clinical care.

Minnesota’s Increasing Diversity

Health care providers across Minnesota are providing care to an increasingly diverse patient population that may not speak English, may not be familiar with Western medical customs, and may be distrustful of the American way of delivering health care. In addition, the changing demographics of the state necessitate a mindful approach to providing effective clinical care.

Did you know?

• Minnesota has the largest Somali population in the United States.
• Minnesota’s Hmong population is second only to California, and St. Paul is home to the largest urban population of Hmong in the world.
• The numbers of African American, Asian, and Hispanic/Latino Minnesotans are expected to more than double over the next 30 years while the number of white Minnesotans is projected to fall.
• The continued aging of the baby boom population will produce a significant increase in the number of people ages 55-69. By 2035, 22 percent of the population will be age 65 or older.
• American Indian women are seven times more likely to receive inadequate care or no care during their pregnancy than white women.
• Death rates for African Americans are more than one and a half times higher than whites in most age groups.

Exhibit at Hennepin History Museum

Check out this amazing exhibit from our partner!

Flamboyant Tableaux

A selection of strange works by William Dietrichson 

This exhibition looks at selected works of William Dietrichson.  The collection examines paintings, drawings, and other pieces from the late 1930s to the present.  Dietrichson, a longtime instructor at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design, is also known for his set designs for local theatre and television, including the design for television’s ‘Axel’s Tree House’ in the 1950s

Hennepin History Museum
2303 Third Avenue South
Minneapolis, MN 55404
tel 612-870-1329
museum.info@hennepinhistory.org

Meet our Web Designer

Without the pro bono web design and continued services of Alex Andrei, this oral history project would not be as accessible, unique, or have the potential to involve the entire Bhutanese refugee community in the Twin Cities. This small initial project will only collect 10 resettlement oral histories; Alex’s dedication to this project has made it possible to expand and reach the entire community and beyond. We are  grateful for his brilliant website and excitement for this project.

Alex Andrei, Web Designer & Administrator

Alex Andrei is a consultant for small business development. He specializes in research, design, adaptation, and implementation of low-cost technologies to achieve strategic goals and increase the overall value of projects.

He has a B.Sc in Computer Science from the University of Haifa; currently he is studying for his second degree in Information Systems focusing on administration and organization management.

Alex was born and raised in Romania under the Communist regime. After the Revolution of 1989, he and his parents immigrated to Israel.

Being familiar with the issue of human rights violations, the struggle of minorities, and the obstacles immigrants and refugees are faced with– he hopes that this project will begin to shed light on the Bhutanese community as well as improve the understanding and knowledge about others sharing the same land, facing the same struggles.

With the guidance of the project director, Alex invests his time in promoting and publishing the project online and designing and administering the website and the other related features.

Meet our Research Coordinator

Elyse Day, Research Coordinator

Elyse Day recently graduated from Saint Catherine University with a degree in History. Her interests are primarily in American History, though she’s been known to enjoy a European History class from time to time. For her recent senior paper, Elyse wrote a case study of the daily lives of six Minnesotan women on the home front during World War II; a period that she has a passion for studying. While her interests span movie trivia to traveling (Namibia, South Africa, and even Scotland), her passion truly is history, having volunteered with Mill City Museum, the History Center, the MN Historical Society and the Jewish Historical Society of the Upper Midwest.

In her studies, Elyse has seen that historians have excluded groups (women, African Americans, the poor, etc.) and that including these groups’ histories to the bigger picture helps us better see events and time periods. That is why Elyse is eager to help this project because she sees the importance of collecting the Bhutanese refugees’ stories. Though a small group in our state, they are still a part of Minnesota’s history.