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The Karen Community in St. Paul
Karen refugee camp (Photo by Atti-la, licensed under Creative Commons)
St. Paul is home to the largest Karen refugee population in the U.S. There are approximately 3,000 Karen (pronounced Ka-REN) living in St. Paul, most of whom arrived in the 2003 resettlement wave. Many more families are expected to come to Minnesota over the course of this year in order to reunite with family members already living here. Most Karen live in the Arlington Avenue and Westminster areas or in Roseville.
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There are two Karen community organizations in St. Paul. The Karen Community of Minnesota (KCM) promotes cultural activities as well as political activities in the home country. Every year, the KCM puts on a New Year’s Festival. Held this year at Arlington High School, the celebration featured free Karen food, dance performances, and a diverse gathering of people, many wearing traditional red or blue woven shirts and dresses.
The Minnesota American Karen Society (MAKS) supports Karen family and spiritual development and helps connect Karen people to social services. The First Karen Baptist Church, which is located on 400 Oxford St. in St. Paul, is also an important center of community.
The chairperson of MAKS, Saw Josiah, on both a personal and a professional level what Karen refugees go through. Saw Josiah and his family spent more than a decade living in the refugee camps in Thailand, where he worked for Doctors Without Borders. Like many young Karen in the refugee camps, his daughters were born in Thailand and have never been to their home country. Conditions “in the camp is okay, but outside is very hard,” said Josiah. Karen refugees are not allowed to work in Thailand—outside of the camps—and maintaining a living can be difficult.
Saw Josiah’s family came to the U.S. in 2000, and since 2004 he has worked as a case manager at the Minnesota Council of Churches, Refugee Services, where he guides them through the web of federal and social services for their first three months in the U.S. Family members and other members of the Karen community play a vital role in helping each new family through the massive adjustments of learning a new landscape, language, and social system, as well as finding a job.
“Most of the families are struggling for their lives when they arrive [in the U.S.]” said Josiah. “It’s a big change for them. It’s very hard to find employment. Some move to Nebraska or South Dakota or other states for jobs.” Considering that they came to St. Paul to reunite with family, moving to another state can mean the loss of important community.
Emily K. Bright writes poetry, fiction, and human rights articles in Minneapolis, where she also used to teach orientation courses for refugees settling in the Twin Cities.
Comments
the Karen Community in St. Paul
Dear Emily K. Bright,
Firstly, I would like to introduce by self that my name is “Wilfred D. Tun Baw” and I’m working as a “Project Manager” for the “Karen Support Project“at the Vietnamese Social Services of Minnesota. Also volunteer for the Chair of the Karen Community of Minnesota.
We the Karen Community of Minnesota is the majourity and MAKS is minority. Since we form our KCM, MAKS annouced that they will focus on religion only. If you need more detail about that you can also ask “Asian American Press”. But for KCM, we will provide all of the social services as we can. You can find our services and activities at “Pioneer Press”, “Star Tribune”, “Asian American Press”, WCCO 4 NEWS, Channel # 5/9and 11. We got a grant from federal because of our KCM services and activities. You can also ask “Minnesota Department of Human Services”. Last month, Representatives from Office of Refugee Resettlement did their site visit and interviewed with KCM E.C already.
My point is all of the Karen from KCM who came to US are refugee. So that, who know the Karen refugee more than KCM. The one who lead the MAKS was came to US as a asylum seeker. Not a refugee. This is very important in our Karen Community.
If you have any question, do not hesitate to call me or E-mail me.
Thanks,
Wilfred D. Tun Baw
Project Manager
Karen Support Project
C/O Vietnamese Social Services of Minnesota
1159 University Avenue, Suite # 100
Saint Paul, MN 55104
Tel: (651) 645-5940 (W)/ (651) 789-0168 (W)
Fax: (651) 641-8908
E-mail: wilfredshwe@vssmn.org
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