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Refugees - SharnagatiSeva
HASC aims to assist the Bhutanese refugees and other refugee
communities resettle in the United States, directly and/or with its
partners. HASC is developing a partnerships with national organizations (International
Institute of New Jersey, Catholic Charities, Department of
Human Services, etal) to provide services to refugee youth, students and
seniors starting with Minneapolis and North Dakota As a partner of HHS
(Health and Human Service), HASC promoted awareness of National Influenza Vaccine. Bhutanese refugees have arrived in the United States. These refugees are
originally from Nepal and are primarily of the Hindu faith. Language and
communication barriers and cultural gaps make it difficult for these refugees
to integrate into mainstream American life and therefore end up living in inner
cities, becoming dependent on government assistance. As the Bhutanese refugees
have more affinity to the Hindu faith and Indian culture, HASC considers it a
moral obligation to assist them with resettlement in their new environment,
learn English, and help develop skills for job prospects so that they can
become self sufficient and self empowered. This effort will be extended to
impoverished communities of all faiths in the vicinity
The purpose of the service
initiative is twofold: to engage and help refugees settle in the United States
and to become exposed to the new way of life, culture, religion; and to engage
with communities, particularly women, youth and children, through social media
and technology to build upon cultural, social and educational exchanges, with
the ultimate objective to empower them to become self reliant. Examples of the Sharnagati Program include:
Expanding the interfaith Service in Minneapolis,
HASC collaborated with the Salvation Army and “The Lord’s Diner”
to adopt a family for the holidays. Additional efforts were made to
provide warm clothes and shoes for a homeless shelter in Minnesota.
Furthermore, HASC held meetings with organizations like Lutheran Social
Services and Department of Human Services to establish contacts with
community based organizations and also with other refugee communities
outside of Minneapolis and North Dakota to provide services to refugees, youth and students as well as seniors. Based on the consensus building efforts, it was agreed that the community should provide assistance in two main areas: (1) assisting students with ESL training and after-school mentoring and tutoring and (2) assisting senior citizens for civic citizenship and ESL courses.
With International
Institute of New Jersey. HASC organized a
workshop providing yoga and meditation, healthy eating emphasizing vegetarian
diet, more fruits and vegetables and practicing a healthy lifestyle through
exercise, which include: running, swimming, yoga and Pilates and biking. HASC
is working to provide additional yoga workshops at the Hanuman
Temple
in Jersey City, NJ.
}Cleveland,
OH: Case Western Reserve University
◦Providing
assistance to obtain driver’s license
◦ESL
training and youth development(Education)
◦Social
and cultural integration activities
◦Agricultural
assistance (Economic Growth)
◦Yoga and
physical activity (Health)
}Minneapolis,
MN: Hindu American Seva Charities:
◦Linguistic,
social and cultural integration for adults, children, youth and women
◦ESL,
career development and training (Education and Economic Growth)
◦Coordinating
to provide jobs for the youth (Economic Growth)
◦Assisting
with case management
◦Yoga and
health screenings (Health)
◦Civic
engagement and tutoring for seniors and adults
◦
}Raleigh,
North Carolina: University of North
Carolina and Duke University
◦ESL
training and SAT preparation (Education)
◦Youth
development (Education)
◦Job
employment (Economic Growth)
◦Linguistic,
social and cultural integration activities
As a partner of HHS (Health and Human Service), HASC promoted awareness of National Influenza Vaccine. Dr. Anand Parekh, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Health (Science & Medicine) gave a talk to the Bhutanese refugees and other temple attendees on December 18th, at Sri Siva Vishnu Temple in Maryland.
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