Buffalo Expatriate

On Saturday, at the International Education Harvest Fest at the Friends of the Elderly Community Center on E. Utica, I met some of the members of the Bantu Youth Council of Buffalo. They brought great food and some information about their group, which meets on a weekly basis.

Members of the Bantu Youth Counci

From their mission

The Bantu Youth Council is an organization of young people committed to improving their literacy and leadership [skills] by engaging in activities that improve academic excellence, promote social interaction, advocate the understanding of Bantu culture, and heighten awareness of the needs of the Bantu community in Western New York and worldwide

Membership is open to anyone at least 14 years of age or attending at least 7th grade.

Meetings are normally held on Monday evenings from 6-8pm. They ask that people bring ideas, opinions, schoolwork and invite others to join. The group offers things like ELA/tutoring, college prep, leadership skills, and outings. Here is a link to some of their activities this year

Sherry Byrnes of the Literacy Volunteers explained the group has been active for about a year now. They are always looking for new and active volunteers.

“Members of the Bantu Youth Council attended Citizen Action’s Alliance for Quality Education first annual International Education Harvest with Junior League mentor Brooke Smith to serve up Bantu culture, history and contemporary community–with a delicious serving of sambusa, a traditional Bantu food made of spicy meat fried in a paper thin shell.  The Bantu Community Organization of Buffalo also provided several other dishes.  The Youth Council invites all youth age 14 or over who share an interest in–and commitment to–the advancement of Bantu people in WNY and elsewhere to join their group.”

-Sherry Byrnes, Literacy Volunteers of Buffalo & Erie County, Inc.

For more information, please contact Sherry at sherry@literacybuffalo.org.

Today was the flag-raising ceremony for the Seventh Annual Peace Conference, themed “Diversity and Peace: Integrating Inquiry and Action” will be held at Buffalo State College. It will be held in Rockwell Hall on Thursday, October 23.

Here is a video of the conference’s featured guest speaker, Abraham Awolich:

Here some of the information and agenda off of a Buffalo Rising post:

Guest scholars, community leaders, college faculty, and students will attend and provide presentations revolving around this theme: “Diversity and Peace: Integrating Inquiry and Action.” All and any community members can attend to watch and listen to the presenters, which will include essays from a competition specifically centered on the Peace Conference, by four finalists selected from around fifty entrees.

The featured guest speaker this year will be Abraham Awolich, a Lost Boy of Sudan who spent years in refugee camps before being resettled in the United States. The Lost Boys of Sudan, some of which are the picture with this post, were a group of around 27,000 boys who were displaced and some orphaned during the Second Sudanese Civil War. Awolich was separated from his family and endured a grueling journey through the desert and other trials as he struggled to survive.

Awolich co-founded NESEI, the New Sudan Education Initiative, which will help children in Sudan get an education by building twenty secondary schools. Their very first school opened in May of this year, and more will follow. Awolich will give a presentation at 1:35 PM about his organization, a video of which can be found here [I embedded it above], and his struggles as a Lost Boy of Sudan

Agenda:
9:15 AM - Dr. Muriel A. Howard, Buffalo State College President
9:25 AM - Lisa Morrison-Puckett, UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs
11:40 AM - Milton Rogovin, social-documentary photographer, honored
1 PM - Brenda McDuffie, Buffalo Urban League President
2:15 PM - Awadiya Ahmed-Yahia, Darfur native and activist
3:40 PM - Elea Mihou, WNY Peace Center President
3:50 PM - Clifford Cawthon, Students for Peace President

A topic near-and-dear to my heart, and an organization I spent my college years with, Journey’s End Refugee Services is holding a two-day celebration from June 20 to 21 for World Refugee Day. Here is the link to the website and the announcement listed below. The picture is from WRD 2006, but I absolutely love it.

Come Celebrate

WORLD REFUGEE DAY
June 20 & 21

With:
Episcopal Migration Ministries of WNY
St. John’s-Grace Episcopal Church
Journey’s End Refugee Services
Vive LaCasa Refugee Shelter

Friday 6/20
Attend an Inter-Faith service with refugee testimonies,
prayers, choir pieces, and concluded with a candlelight
vigil/walk to Colonial Circle.
Begins at 8:00PM –St. John’s-Grace
Lafayette & Colonial Circle(Richmond Ave.)
Bring a personal care item, or household item, to donate to the
refugee agencies!

Saturday 6/21
The celebration continues on Bidwell Pkwy. With musical
entertainment throughout the afternoon, refugee agency
displays and awards, films inside the church, liquid
refreshments, and others. Meet and greet refugees.
Begins at 12PM and ends at 5PM.
Bring a personal care item, or household item, to donate to the
refugee agencies!

Refugees in Western New York contribute to the community, and have an enduring and contagious spirit. I’ll still be in Ukraine when this happens, but I would encourage anyone to attend either of the days and get to know people with a tremendous life experience.

Then come to this event on November 29th:

CONFLICT IN BURMA: LECTURE & DISCUSSION
MYO THANT, Buffalo State Master’s Candidate & Burmese Activist and Advocate, will speak

Recent headlines reveal the tragic human rights violations committed by the Burmese military dictatorship. Thousands of monks, students and citizens have held peaceful street protests and the military has responded by killing hundreds of protestors and imprisoning more than 4,000 activists. Yet many know little about the roots of this conflict, the history of Burma or the struggle of its people. Join us for this informative event.

Thursday, Nov 29, 2007
7pm-9pm
695 Elmwood, Buffalo NY 14222
Unitarian Universalist Church of Buffalo

Sponsored by: Western New York Peace Center, Unitarian Universalist Church of Buffalo, Social Justice Committee of UU of Buffalo, and People United for Sustainable Housing

For more information about the event, call 716.894.2013 or email elea@wnypeace.org
For more information about Myo, click here.

I was pleasantly surprised to see Hassan’s face on the home page of the Buffalo News this afternoon as well as a lengthy article about (mostly) African refugees in Buffalo. I wrote a review of the Somali Star back in August. As the article says, it will be closing down soon for the season, but will reopen in the Spring. The article took me back to my conversation with Safia as I waited for Hassan to prepare the food I had ordered. It took me back to working with Journey’s End and all of the refugees I had met who had been sent to Buffalo. I remember Safia mentioning that she wanted to study culinary so that her father’s dreams of expanding the restaurant could be realized.

I think the article also brings up some interesting thoughts and ideas about the potential for these refugees to even further contribute to a better Buffalo if given the opportunity:

But like any other group in Buffalo, Somalis are looking for economic opportunity, and they’ll move to other parts of the country to find it, said Mohamed.

He sees such departures as lost opportunities for the larger Buffalo community.

Instead of spending millions of dollars demolishing dilapidated homes, the city and county could be helping immigrants establish credit, obtain mortgages and become owners of those houses, he said.

“If you bring those people, they become taxpayers,” he said. “There’s no system in Erie County government or the City of Buffalo that will say, ‘How do we promote new immigrants to come to the city?’ There’s no planning, or if there is, immigrants are not part of it.”

As I recall, there was a Sudanese gentleman that was undergoing the purchase and renovation of a home on the West Side with the money he and hais family had saved right as I was leaving over the summer so I could see how this untapped idea could be realized given the right conditions.

Again, tried to post this yesterday and after my last post, I experienced complications with my internet here at work. So let’s try this again. As I’m sure many of you know, Ishmael Beah is coming to UB on October 24th as part of the UB Distinguised Speakers Series. This is something definitely worth going to if tickets aren’t already sold out. Being the geek I am, I would think they’re selling quickly, but maybe not.

Regardless, I did read his book, A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier, and it was a thoroughly detailed and humbling read. Not just because of the content, but also because of the way he describes things. If I had brought my copy with me, or if I had a better memory, I’d quote from it. But the way he illustrates his family life and obsession with hip-hop music and then contrasts it with the life he led as a boy soldier candidly gives the reader an idea of what armed conflict does to a young child. And, as the website says, “This is, at last, a story of redemption and hope.” His chapters on life in rehabilitation at the UNICEF center don’t disguise the difficulty and struggle it took to overcome the drugs and violence that consumed his life during the war. However he has truly taken his recovery to the next level, speaking to major international organizations and, as he is going to be doing at UB, to the greater international community. So, I can imagine through his literary eloquence that his speech is going to be truly moving. Any chance someone could get me an autograph or recording of the speech?

I apologize for the serious breaks between my posts. Surprise, surprise my schedule has gotten a little out of control, particularly in this week before the elections. As it turns out I will be stationed in Odesa, which should prove to be interesting. But I’ll obviously post more about that later. This is my first post from my fantastic digs at the IOM Mission in Ukraine (as I still do not have internet in my apartment). I finally have a permanent office for the duration of my research! Before I have to run to another election-related event, I wanted to post about these extemely important developments in Burma as the government of Myanmar has turned to violence to suppress the tens of thousands of monks who are at the heart of the protests of the military junta in power.

From the NY Times:

On Wednesday, in a chaotic day of huge demonstrations, shooting, teargas and running confrontations between protesters and the military, many people were reported injured and half a dozen were reported to have been killed, most of them by gunshots.

Beginning the second day of their crackdown on nationwide protests in Myanmar before dawn today, security forces raided at least two Buddhist monasteries, beating and arresting dozens of monks, according to reports from the capital, Yangon.

The BBC is reporting that now there are more regular citizens protesting on the streets 1) in a show of solidarity with the monks and defiance to the government and 2) because so many monks have been arrested already.Two members of the National League for Democracy including Myint Thein, the spokesman for the party led by pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, were also arrested last night. Reports coming in have indicated there have been as many as 70,000 people filling the streets against government orders to disband. This is the largest uprising against the military junta since 1988, when at least 3,000 people were reported to have been killed by the government in response to the protests.

This time again, as the crowds have continued to grow over the last few weeks, the military has become more and more violent. Military vehicles, fire trucks with water canons, and riot police armed with (and using) tear gas have been dispersed throughout Rangoon, mostly targeting the Buddhist monasteries. The BBC Article has an easy-to-read Q&A about the situation with some background information.

And China could not make its position more obvious, even if it tried. There is no way to hide behind diplomatic language on the position of your country on this crisis. Some of the official statements of China read:

According to participants in the closed session, Wang Guangya, the Chinese ambassador, told council members that the conflict in Myanmar was a domestic one that had to be settled by the people of Myanmar and that even a statement by the council would “not be useful.”

Addressing reporters outside the council chamber, Mr. Wang said, “The situation there has some problems, but does not constitute a threat to international and regional peace.” His words were carefully chosen since the council can become involved in only those crises that are deemed threats to international security. -NY Times

“China hopes that all parties in Burma exercise restraint and properly handle the current issue so as to ensure the situation there does not escalate and get complicated,” Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu

Complicated? There’s a word. I think the violent repression and murder of protesters and monks has already brought this situation passed “complicated.” China is also the country that blocked a Security Council Resolution condemning the current violence on Wednesday, as well as a Resolution last January with a similar effect towards violent government suppression, specifically towards ethnic minority regions and calling on the government to begin a substantive political dialogue that would lead to a genuine democratic transition.

Russia’s hands are dirty here as well, as another of Burma’s major trading partners with the military regime. There are even plans to sell Burma a nuclear research reactor from Russia. Both are responsible for vetos on Resolutions directed towards Burma. Both are also major inhibitors to a response in Darfur as well, also claiming the conflicts represent internal matters. Pattern, anyone?

Unfortunately, although the U.S. has taken a strong response through sanctions, the support Burma receives from China and Russia will probably be able to keep the government afloat for a while. The U.S. was, in part, responsible for helping to bring the situation in Burma to the formal agenda of the UN Security Council a year ago.

THAT is in part because of people like Myo Thant, who served as an assistant to Aung San Suu Kyi until he was able to gain refugee status in the U.S. and came through Journey’s End Refugee Services, where he and I were working before I left. Myo is one of the hardest working activists I have ever met. Myo was there during the 1988 uprising and subsequent crackdown. He, and the monks, citizens, and activists in and from Burma have a dream for their country. This may be the time they will be able to realize it.

More after my return from Odesa…

Well I was going to post a little update on what’s been going on with me here, but I’ll do that tomorrow. This is much more exciting! Unfortunately, it’s about two weeks old, but I just received an email about it from Citizens for Global Solutions. Here’s a link to the Post article about it:

An unprecedented gathering this week of international war crimes prosecutors — those seeking justice for recent atrocities and two who made history at the Nazi trials at Nuremberg 62 years ago — issued a joint appeal to the world community to arrest war criminals still at large and turn them over to stand trial….

The general thrust of arguments Wednesday during day-long public and private meetings was that certain war crimes suspects remained free because of politics and that arresting them would end a culture of impunity.

“To turn these over is a political decision now, not a legal one. We have done our job,” Crane said of the suspects. “Let the word go out to warlords and leaders all over the world. However powerful, however mighty, however feared you may be, the law is above you. The law will bring you down,” said Desmond de Silva, deputy prosecutor at the Sierra Leone tribunal.

Was anybody present for any of the public meeting? Totally fantastic. The document itself was signed by nine international prosecutors- Whitney R. Harris and Henry T. King Jr. from the International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg; Luis Moreno-Ocampo, from the ICC; Jallow, from the tribunal for Rwanda; Crane, de Silva and Stephen Rapp from the Sierra Leone court; David Tolbert from the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia; and Robert Petit, from the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia. The actual text of the Declaration is quite short, but it makes its point clear.

The Post article has some great quotes from the participants of the gathering. I particularly liked the one from David M. Crane, the first chief prosecutor of the Special Court for Sierra Leone about coping with the difficult and horrific material from the Charles Taylor case, which has been dragging on.

Crane recalled how, after three years in Sierra Leone, and still decompressing from the horror of atrocities, he asked Nuremberg veteran King what it took to cope with the pain.
“About a coupla glasses of Scotch” was the answer. With Nuremberg’s Grand Hotel serving it at 20 cents a shot, it was the cheapest remedy, said King, 88.

Ha! That’s great. More seriously, it goes to the incredible difficulty these prosecutors go through in order to acheive success in cases on crimes against humanity. More personally, these are the people I look to for inspiration in my field. It’s an area I would seriously like to become involved in eventually, and it is part of the reason I took up the topic of human trafficking for my Fulbright reasearch.

Yes, I might be in Ukraine, but that doesn’t mean I’ve stopped paying attention to the events in my hometown. This Tuesday night, the Mayor’s office is holding the 9th Annual Sister Cities Dinner from 5:30 to 9 PM at the Larkin at Exchange Building’s Chautauqua Café, 726 Exchange Street. Oddly enough, the release doesn’t stipulate how much the tickets are. If anyone else knows, please post it. It does say they can either be reserved ahead of time or purchased at the door. Anyway, this is a good opportunity to meet with other people that have a connection with Buffalo, even if they’ve never lived there. It promotes international understanding, which I think if we had more of, I wouldn’t have been suggested to eat at McDonalds the other day. At least at this dinner, they’re offering fine food, wine, door prizes, and music provided by Neville Francis & Riddim Posse.

I saw that one of our sister cities is in Ukraine- Drohobych. To be honest, I had never heard of it before, which means it is probably pretty small. Apparently close to Lviv in the western region of Ukraine, it has some importance to oil-refinery. I went to the city’s website, which, of course, is only in Ukrainian (although there are little language icons for English and Polish that don’t work). The photograph page doesn’t work at the moment. Or the About the City page. But at least the news posts are up-to-date. Actually, it kind of looks like a charming little city. I might have to go check it out. TryUkraine.com has some nice photos of the highlights of Drohobych.

There’s also a wooden church here- St. George, which like every other church in Ukraine, has an interesting tale of construction, destruction and rehabilitation.

The church was built sometime in the late XVI century in the village of Nadiyiv. (Nadiyiv is about 40 miles south-east of Drohobyc). In 1657 the church was purchased for a barrel of salt, taken apart, transported and erected in Drohobyc on the site of an earlier church which was destroyed by tartars in 1499. The bell tower was built in 1670. The church is officially labelled as a “three-room log constructed church with three levels”.

The church was repaired and improved during the period of 1820-1830 and then again in 1974-5. The church has been labelled as an architectural monument for a long time and has been used as a museum during the Soviet period.

Yes, I’m sure you’re all fascinated. The point being, even cities that may seem insignificant in the grander scheme all have their own stories and mysteries. Buffalo’s Sister Cities (Dortmund, Germany; Kanazawa, Japan; Horlivka, Ukraine; Lille, France; Rzeszow, Poland; Tver, Russia; Kiryat Gat, Israel; Cape Coast, Ghana; Drohobych, Ukraine; Siena, Italy; Torremaggiore, Italy) represent, as the Sister Cities International website puts it, our chance to “promote peace through mutual respect, understanding, & cooperation - one individual, one community at a time.” Behold, we actually have another city in Ukraine. Horlivka? Not too far from Donestk in the eastern part of Ukraine. What else? Ruslan Ponomariov, the chess champion, was born there. Hmmm. Anyway, this dinner is definitely one of the more obvious ways to gain some international friends and contacts in Buffalo, so give it a shot.

In 1996, Ahmed Hassan and his daughters and sons came to the United States from the Utanga Brava and Kakuma refugee camps in Kenya, after living there for several years after fleeing worn-torn Somalia. Safia Munye, his daughter, seemed to get a little quieter when telling me that her mom had passed when she was much younger. Their story was published last year in an Artvoice two-part series on the Somali community. The description Peter Koch gave of Hassan is both accurate and thoughtful-

Hassan is bald on top, though he still has graying hair on the sides. He has a trim moustache set on a friendly face, and gray stubble sprouts from his chin and jaw line. He is a genial man, though he doesn’t smile as much as you’d expect. It’s when he talks about his children that his face softens and his eyes smile.

Now a student at Grover Cleveland, Safia helps her father run the Somali Star on Grant Street. This small yellow building shines on the block between Auburn and Lafayette at 195 Grant. I stopped there today for lunch and talked to Safia for a bit while Mr. Hassan made a delicious Somalian chapati with chicken, peas, and onions. As I have since the restaurant opened last year, I paid $4.99 for an incredible amount of food. I even splurged and grabbed a couple of beef sambusas for home at $1.00 each. I know, I’m a high roller.

As I watched my food coming together, Safia gave me a warm cup of chai with milk and entertained my questions. By the way, the chai was fantastic. I like the chai at the local coffee shops, but there’s nothing like chai made from scratch. Oh, the mango juice is really good, too. She told me about how her family took the small building and renovated everything inside. Once they got the equipment in, finding the ingredients also proved to be a challenge.

Now the Somali Star has a small, but delicious menu including spiced basmati rice and curry goat or chicken (come on, be adventurous), Somali injera or chapati (a flat spongy bread used to scoop up meat and veggies), as well as some American sandwiches I didn’t see on their menu before. They even do catering, which turned me on to the fact that the Somali community in Buffalo has some great parties I’m going to need to get to when I get back next year.

Safia was excited to tell me that their customer base has expanded beyond the Somali community, which allowed them to do further renovations in the spring. She wants to go on to study culinary so she can expand her father’s work.

So when you stop by to pick up a delicious and affordable lunch, don’t be afraid to say hi to Safia and Mr. Hassan. They’re great and friendly people, and their family makes Buffalo a better place one sambusa at a time.