New Project for Bucharian Jews in NYC
We got our Bucharian Jewish Women's project off to a great start and celebrated the graduation of 17 participants in the Refugee Child Care Business Development Project. This is a project we are working on in collaboration with the Business Outreach Center Network in Rego Park, Queens (New York City). I spoke at the graduation ceremony - telling my story through lots of hand gestures - and the translation into Russian by Alex - our partner on the ground. There was a nice connection as I told of my great-grandfather (a Russian Jew) coming to Ellis Island in the late 19th century. These folks have come as refugees from Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan and Russia with the hope of starting a new life in the U.S. The graduates have all been trained up in how to run a home-based childcare center. Now they are getting their childcare licenses and will eligible to apply for a Trickle Up grant. Over the course of the year 15 Bucharian Jewish Women will receive grants thanks to our collaboration with the Jewish Women's Foundation of New York. This is one of those funding connections that just makes sense: Jewish women of means helping newly arrived Jewish women find a foothold in the United States. Queens is New York City's most diverse boroughs with over a million foreign born people calling Queens home. Queens has the highest number and share of foreign born people in NYC and in turn, NYC is the most diverse city in the US. But you don't need these numbers - a walk down Queens Boulevard in Rego Park says it all. The generosity of spirit and the thirst to make it in their new homeland was apparent as we shared some wonderful stuffed cabbage, salads, jokes and most of all - hope for business success.
Liberia in Staten Island
Pictured: Trickle Up Entreprenuer Etta Cantle
September 29, 2005
I visited Trickle Up funded Liberian entrepreneurs in Staten Island, New York last week. We have funded several women who receive support services from our partner, NYANA (New York Associate of New Americans). The women I met with were so compelling. They came to the US several years ago as
refugees from war-torn Liberia. Many have lost several family members and are starting anew in this country.
The women I talked to have strong ties to farming and the shift from being in the countryside in Liberia to living in a housing project in New York City is pretty dramatic. They have started businesses here - mostly catering to other Liberians who are a part of this tight knit community in Staten Island. They work collaboratively, chipping in to hire a truck to take them to a special farm in New Jersey that grows Liberian vegetables. They pick vegetables in the fields and then come back to Staten Island to sell in a makeshift open-air market. They set prices together and cover each others' vegetable stands if one needs to do an errand. Some of them save in "Susus" - a traditional African group savings model where members all contribute and then take turns withdrawing lump sums to make larger investments.
Logan, their trainer, explained to me that it is critical for them to get out to the farm. It brings them back in touch with the traditions familiar to them and gives them a great sense of peace and connection. As soon as winter breaks a little they bundle up to get outside either selling in their market or going out to the farm. It was fascinating speaking with these women. They speak Liberian English and most of the words I used were familiar to them, but I still needed Logan to translate English-to-English. It was fun seeing Logan go back and forth in English between myself and the entrepreneurs.
New York City is an incredible place - you can get on a ferry, cross the harbor and for a few hours be in the middle of Liberia - or at least Staten Island's version of Liberia!
Jonah Gensler, U.S. Program Director, Trickle Up Program
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