Street roots
OcL 24, 2014
7
J
Afield
of their
own
Far from home, refugees
reconnect with their roots
through a special
MercyCorps N W project,
Refuge Gardens
BY SARAH HANSELL
STAFF W R ITE R
s early as five in the morning, you can
find refugee growers kneeling in the
dirt of the Refuge Gardens in
Damascus, among the row sof broccoli, kale,
squash, onions and other autumn crops.
Neatly planted vegetables and fruits stretch
out across the two acres of planned plots at
. / PHOTOS BY SARAH HANSELL
the south side of the five-acre property.
Above, Sei (standing) and his mom Tee
The Refuge Gardens is a program of
H sar work in one o f the Refuge Gardens
MercyCorps Northwest that engages
created by MercyCorps NW. A t right, Saw
refugee families in farming at three Oregon
P ipi hauls a wagon o f vegetables grown at a
sites, one in Damascus and two in Southeast Refuge Garden.
Portland. The program sells a large portion
of the produce at two Portland farmers
markets and through Community Supported
with refugee experience.”
Agriculture, and the growers keep th e ;
MercyCorps NW provides training 16? the
profits — as well as some of their own crop.
growers on best farming practices, but
Sei has been a grower at the Refuge
allows farmers to govern their own plot
Gardens Damascus site for three years —
according to their own jurisdiction. Some of
the same age he was when his family left
the refugees, like Thaw Thit, a father of four
their home country of Myanmar for a Thai
refugee camp. His family is ethnically Karen, young adults, was a fanner by occupation
before emigrating to the U.S., so working in
an oppressed minority group in Myanmar,
the Gardens comes naturally to him. In fact,
and were no longer safe in their home
learning more about farming is one of the
country.
things he values most about the program.
“Burmese people, they keep fighting with
. “It’s easy for him and he likes to work
Karen people,” Sei said. “So, they nevef
with plants,” Sei said, translating for Thaw
have peace in the land, they just keep
Thit. “It’s his favorite to work on the
fighting and kick out the Karen people.”
His family of five was among an estimated garden.”
MercyCorps NW has a centralized crop
140,000 refiigees living in border camps in
plan
they coordinate throughout their three
Thailand, according to the United Nations
Refuge Garden sites. They decide what to
High Commissioner for Refugees. The area
plant each year in collaboration with the
surrounding the refugee camps, however,
where many refugees went to work, was also growers, and facilitate the marketing aspect
Growers usually accompany the program
not safe. Sei remembers Thai police taking
staff to their stands at the two farmers
refugees without the proper paperwork to
markets where they sell, and sales are
jail if they didn’t receive bribes.
continuing to increase, Belber said.
“You have to be careful,” Sei said.
“The produce always looks fabulous, and
“Sometimes, they see you, they don’t ask
it’s
for a good cause,” Karen Ludes said, a
you, they just shoot you.”
regular Shemanski Farmers Market
When he was 13, Sei’s family relocated to
customer.
the United States, joining a population of
In addition, the western section of the
about 55,000 Karen refugees living in the
Gardens is reserved for families to grow
U.S., according to the Burmese American
whatever they want, rather than the crop
Community Institute. At the Refuge
provided by MercyCorps NW. They can sell
Gardens site in Damascus, there are
this
crop or keep it to bring home.
currently four Karen families each planting
“I like this because you plant — | ;
and harvesting their own half-acre plot
sometimes you don’t have to go buy the
Families come to the program through
referrals from refugee resettlement agencies fruit in store,” Sei said. “You can pick it
here and take it home, and you can sell.”
and word-of-mouth recommendations from
Working at the Refuge Gardens is one
other refugees in their community.
“We’re really trying to meet people where way that Sei helps support his mother and
three siblings, especially since his father
they’re at and give them a place to engage
died last year. According to Belber, families
and be productive in their lives, help their
make on average $l,500-$3,000 a year from
households through having extra fresh food
selling their produce.
to bring home, supplemental income to
“I just help (my family) to make them be
bring home, and also to build networks of
safe and make everything good,” Sei said.
community,” MercyCorps NW Agriculture
“This year January, my father just passed
Program Manager Seth Belber said. “Both
away so he cannot come here anymore. So I
within their own ethnic communities and
just try to help out my mom with my
also to meet and interact with people
family.”
outside of those communities and break out
Refugees’ income from the Gardens
of the isolation that’s sometimes associated
■
doesn’t quite cover all the expenses. Sei’s
older brother is also looking for a job to
support the family. Thaw Thit’s wife is a
housekeeper and one of his children also
works to help support their family. But the
Gardens provide more than just food and
financial security. They’re a place where
people who speak little to no English, who
may be lacking a network of friends and
family, who are new to American culture,
can find a sense of place and begin to build
their own community.
“Lots of folks have gone through pretty
traumatic times in their life, and so it takes
a while to warm up and be comfortable,
laughing and smiling and sharing that stuff,”
Belber said. “So even beyond the kind of
changes we’re talking about in terms of
financial security and food security, it’s
really those personalities and people
growing more into themselves and
becoming more comfortable here and in the
Portland community, and in their own
personality interacting with the folks around
them.”
But throughout my talks with both Sei .
and Thaw Thit, one theme was
overwhelming: family. They didn’t speak
about the new friends they’d made or
relationships they’d built through the
program, though it’s clear this is exactly
what’s happened through the easy
camaraderie among the growers.
For the Karen refugees, working at the
Gardens, farming is a family affair. Sei’s
mother, brothers and sister also work on
their plot of land, sometimes bringing lunch
with them and spending thé whole day
working in the Gardens. Thaw Thit’s family
farms with him as well.
“They can’t keep up with Thaw Thit
though,” Belber said. “He’s a hard worker.”
Sei laughs as he tells me that, like Thaw
Thit, he doesn’tfind farming difficult — “it’s
easy for me” — he says. But unlike Thaw
Thit, for whom farming is a way of life, it’s
not what Sei wants to do forever. He wants
to be an auto mechanic; he loves the
freedom that cars provide. And like many
things in his life, it comes back to family.
“IPs easy to take your family
everywhere,” he said. “It helps o u t”
For Thaw Thit, his family working
together is his favorite thing about the
Gardens. The same is true for Sei.
“(Here it) helps us every time so I feel so
happy for that, and sometimes we work
together to help each other,” Sei said.
“That’s a good thing to me.”
Refuge Gardens will be selling produce at
the Shemanski Park Farmers M arket (10
a.m.-2 p.m .) and the Portland State
University Farmers M arket (8:30 a.m.-2
p.m .) un til Thanksgiving.
T h a n k y o u f o r g iv in g a h a n d u p in P o rtla n d a n d s u p p o r tin g y o u r neighborhood vendor!