by Sarah Risely, Assistant Program Director

Reflecting on last season as we prepare for this season!

It is 8 a.m. on a Saturday and you can already smell the sticky August heat—today is going to be another hot one. Like clockwork everyone drives up and parks or strolls in across the field, armed with sunhats to beat the heat and laundry baskets for harvesting. Morning greetings come in English and Burmese, and then everyone gets to work.

We start our day by walking among the rows of roselle, bitter gourd, mustard, and long beans—hunting for (and squishing) pests and making plans for daily projects. Lifting up a row cover, Lu Lu spots tiny green sprouts and shouts out “Look! Oh look they grew!” Ree Lay and Than Tin valiantly yank out Bermuda grass, while Mu Mu cuts mustards and discovers a softball-sized watermelon beneath the leaves—“We will wait until Wednesday to harvest,” she says. In the next plot Ma Ree Yar skillfully sharpens bamboo into trellises and then cuts a bunch of zinnias to bring home to her daughter.

      

This garden is a special place. The gardeners are a long way from home: refugees from Burma who have arrived at this piece of earth thanks to the Center for Refugees and Immigrants of Tennessee, but more importantly thanks to their own love for growing and a desire to begin again in a new place. The garden is a place for them to come and be with friends and to share with their families and children. Refugees can make a big impact on their own families and communities by bringing fresh produce to the table, while at the same time strengthening their own health and wellbeing. In the often tumultuous and challenging time of resettlement, the garden is a place of consistency and growth.

With the heat we all rest in the shade of the two willow trees on the property. Removing hats and wiping shining brows, the gardeners talk about their day and sort through the fruits from their garden plots. “I am going to make kimchi!” exclaims Ja Sam.  Saying goodbye, they help each other load up and then drive off with baskets of fresh vegetables to take home and share with family and friends.

 

 

by Claire Cooper

In my AmeriCorps position with the Center for Refugees and Immigrants Tennessee, I enjoy the opportunity to mentor and tutor students in the Refugee and Immigrant Student Enrichment afterschool program at Apollo Middle School. Our students come from diverse national, ethnic, religious, and linguistic backgrounds. Through my role as an AmeriCorps member, I support our students as they complete language and math related activities, their homework assignments, and a variety of enhancement activities such as art, cooking, sports, and music making.

For me, the most enjoyable moments usually come during our “book club days,” on Tuesdays and Thursdays, when my group of young ladies delve into reading Lois Lowry’s Gathering Blue. To begin with, students were responsible for brainstorming book options for the club and then they had to democratically narrow down the list. This small initial step of providing students more autonomy and an opportunity to direct their learning during RISE – an opportunity that is rare in the larger classrooms of the school-day - has clearly led to an increased and sustained excitement for this part of the day. Though we have been reading the story together for over a month, the students’ interest in the story and their investment in analyzing the book has only increased. The students initiate and sustain active discussions regarding the motivations of the characters and value differences evident in the dystopian world of the book, and they work together to evaluate the text. I’ve also been impressed by the way the students in lower grades strive to persevere reading the text that is above their level – something they may not be reliably exposed to elsewhere.

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Since the school year started, we have been learning so much together at RISE Stonebrook. The students at Stonebrook are an energetic bunch to say the least, always inquisitive, motivated to learn and to help one another. Together we have been exploring so many new things and have been having a great time doing it!

During our group academic time, students have been mastering their math skills with card games, math Jenga, and word problem games. To grow our vocabulary, students have been playing Scattergories. Just last week, students laughed as they read Diary of a Wimpy Kid together, and reflected on how they can relate in their journals.

During our enhancement time, the students have had the opportunity to explore their talents through a variety of lenses. Students at Stonebrook have captured images of things they love in photography, learned about teamwork, agility and endurance in soccer, learned about stress-relief and relaxation in yoga, and reflected on the meaning of imagery in music videos. Recently in their songwriting workshop, students wrote a song together about celebrating differences. It goes a little something like this, “Let’s have a celebration, let’s have a conversation. whether we’re near or far… Let’s have a celebration, let’s have a conversation, this is the story of who we are! The story never ends….”

Just last weekend we had the opportunity to explore the outdoors on a field trip to Long Hunter State Park hosted with Great Outdoors University! Students were excited to learn about edible plants, the ecosystem, and the life of a park ranger, not to mention enjoying fire-roasted marshmallows in s’mores!

 

#NAZA #AmeriCorps #VolunteerTn #MNAC

 

      

 

We have had a great beginning of the year at RISE Apollo. Our classroom is always full of energy, and with that we have already learned many new skills and have had so much fun doing it!

During our group academic time, we have been busy with book club on Tuesdays and Thursdays. The students loved discovering the goofy poetry of Shel Silverstein and Jack Prelutsky. Now we have broken into smaller groups and are busy reading novels. On Mondays and Wednesdays, we hold math competitions. The students love playing relay races, jeopardy, and they learn and improve important math skills at the same time.

During our enhancement time, the students have enjoyed trying out many new skills. This past week, we cooked and ate delicious food from all over the world and learned about the important role food plays in our shared experiences.

Each Monday we start off our week with soccer, something the students are always excited about! This past week we challenged PACE, another NAZA program, to a friendly match on the field. It was tons of fun as the students worked as a team and roused up their RISE spirit!  #NAZA #artembrace #AmeriCorps #VolunteerTn

It seemed that as soon as the calendar spoke fall into being, the leaves began tumbling down. How quickly my mind raced to the work left to be done in the garden this year.  Each season in the garden is a lesson on timing- from the first plowing of the field to the last cover crop sown.

And yet, even with the long list of work left to be done, I pause to reflect on the wonder of our work.  How just over the course of months, a space can transform into a bountiful, life-giving garden.

  

While most programs are forced to be managed by grant cycles, the agricultural programs are first and foremost managed by the cycle of seasons. It’s a remarkably visceral way to be rooted in your work- to be bound by what can happen this season and  by what must wait for next season.

As we prepare to close out the gardens for the end of one season, we also begin dreaming and planning  for next season.

 

 

 

Few mornings do I get the opportunity to reflect on the power of space. Yet, today, as I mowed the Blackman Road Garden, my mind was consumed. When I speak about our program’s mission, I often say that our goals are to connect refugees to growing space. There is so much packed into the word ‘space’.

 

As I’m mowing and pondering more about space, I think of being able to breathe, to relax and to feel comfortable. I think of all this as the sun barely peaks through the clouds and the sunflowers are lit and dancing in the breeze. And thinking of green space offers another set of images, images of the freedom to come and go, to play and to work, to enter into solitude or community.

The conflicts that bring many refugees to the United States are conflicts that tear them from space, space used to farm or to live, to play and to learn. A son of one of our community gardeners told me last week that this was the first time in twenty or thirty years that some people in his community had been connected to the land again.

I watch the bustle of the morning, the birds chattering and the bees and wasps dancing from flower to flower. I listen as someone gasps at the size of the snake gourd now growing up our willow tree, and I know that providing growing space is more than providing a place to grow food. Our gardens are a sense of place that feel powerfully full of potential, hope and connection.

Last Friday, the Refuge gardeners and staff drove in a caravan to the TSU farm from the Refuge Garden; there was lots of chatter from the gardeners as we traveled. We were  headed to explore the  legume research of TSU professor, Dr. Blair and graduate student, Devendra.

Many of our gardeners at the Refuge Garden site have been growing beautiful yard long beans this season, and Devendra’s research specifically explored different varieties of this type of bean.

 

 

The act of growing food can cross cultural barriers. We find ourselves in the midst of the plants speaking for themselves.

 

Thanks to everyone who made this field trip possible: Dr. Blair, Devendra, Catherine Pearson-TFLI and Christina Bentrup- TNFP!

 

By Zoe Yim, Social Media Intern

We left the Nashville Public Library Tuesday, July 22, 2014, but instead of going directly home, I dropped off a few members of the elder program. The intern just became a soccer mom.

Thus, I had to ask Grant Yoder, elder program director, the elder’s choices of transportation in order to come to Hillcrest Methodist.

Here’s what I learned about these immigrant elders. Several walk. Talk about dedication.

In order to foster community interaction, CRIT host field trips through the elder program. Since immigrants have more difficulty interacting outside their own subcultures, these program are a chance to practice English and also experience the dominating in Tennessee.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In CRIT’s elder program, we serve refugees or asylees ages 60 and older.  This summer, we have had 10 regular participants. They come to Hillcrest Methodist Monday- Thursday to learn English from 8:00 a.m. to 11 a.m.

 

Partnering with the Tennessee Foreign Language Institute, a volunteer teaches the program members for four hours.

 

This program has three major components.

• ESL classes
• Citizenship classes
• Enhancement

- a period during the scheduled program which helps the individual with physical, mental and emotional health.

 

 

 
 
 
By Zoe Yim, Social Media Intern

By Zoe Yim, Social Media Intern

A green chaos before my eyes, last Friday, I felt overwhelmed by what seemed to be a micro-jungle at Wedgewood Gardens. But to some, it appears that this greenery is more like an organized pattern of abundance.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Look tomato!” calls Christina Bentrup, garden coordinator for Nashville Food project.

Eggplant, tomato, squash, red noodle bean, and - the plant that gardeners were most excited about – bitter gourd are ready to pick.

The Nepalese speaking Bhutanese dexterously pick their crops from their designated plots. Carrying plastic and vinyl totes, colorful, lush vegetables go from bush to bag.

It all seems so natural to them. In those moments, when I’m taking pictures of the Nepalese Bhutanese immigrants, I forget that I’m in Nashville, Tennessee. It seems like we could be anywhere – even Nepal.

 

This gardener proudly shows his red noodle beans.

Badri Adhikari hoes the ground before he transfer a tree to this plot.

 

Leela Rai picks her tomatoes.

 

I think it’s symbolic of what we’re trying to do – creating a place that feels like home, says Lauren Bailey, director of agricultural programs.

Many of these gardeners had an agrarian lifestyle before coming to the U.S. Allowing them to build upon the skills that they already have, empowers them.

At the garden off of Blackman Road, refugees from Burma also seem to be at home. This morning, they were looking for pests, making trellises and mulching by layering hay to keep weeds out and moisture in the soil.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

By Zoe Yim, Social Media Intern

 

July 8, 2014 - Tuesday at Stonebrook

Ten students came. Well, eleven, if you count the five year-old who came with his brother. Students are elementary and middle schoolers.

“All right, everyone! Get into groups of three, and answer this question, ‘Do you think freedom is free or does it come at a cost?’”

 

 

 

This week’s icebreaker is themed with a post-July Fourth tinge. Ms. Qena Armstrong, RISE volunteer, typically facilitates such questions. Armstrong has taught classes for almost one year, since September 2013.

As she finishes the icebreaker and hurries through a quick vocabulary lesson, a guest, Sisavanh Houghton, brings out her canvas.

 

 

Exquisite Nashville

Houghton is a part of the Exquisite Nashville project, hosted by the Frist Center.

The creators of the project are interested in the way that different cultures blend. Many immigrant groups find their home and have changed the city to have a surprisingly multicultural feel. The project incorporates the Exquisite Corpse.

Different community partners have a piece of the artwork, but none of them know what the whole looks like. After completion, the exhibition will be March-July 2015.

The children lean forward to look at Houghton’s canvases. She finished these Pollock-like canvases over the weekend. She instructs the children that they will be sketching animal shapes onto the canvases.

July 10, 2014 - Thursday at Stonebrook

Squeegee in hand, the Hip Hues assistant pushes the vert green ink across the screen. Children circled around her, the assistant produces a white t-shirt with a RISE logo.

After her instructions, RISE students form a line as they compete to be first in line to make their very own t-shirt.

 

 

 

 

After making t-shirts, students and Qena Armstrong, the volunteer teacher, congregate to the tennis court playing a short math game.