A Message from the Editor

Dear Friends:

Summer, with its long warm days, is upon us. Children are out of school with too much time on their hands. What are parents to do? Three alternatives are summer camps, recreation programs and summer school or a combination of all three. While parents are at work children shouldn’t stay at home alone without supervision. So please make sure you plan a safe and enriching summer program for your children.

This summer KHRW will continue the series of workshops and Life Skills classes. These activities will take place both in Fairfax, Virginia and San Diego California. Although the topics vary, the cross-cultural training is valuable to the clients and mainstream organizations we serve. Life skills are part of living and learning, some believe that life is a continuous education, that the school of life never ends. We learn, as we grow older and our life journey ends, or as some put it, until we reach our final destination.

The months of May and June are particularly valuable to me because of what they mean. Spring brings a sense of newness into our lives. It brings the sense of naïveté that nothing can go wrong when mother earth is reinventing herself. I love the way trees and flowers and grass regrow, everything has a sense of new and fresh. From birds building their nests under my deck to the one robin reappearing every year to the window near my office. They all breathe life and determination to make changes for the better in our lives.

In May we visited the Dallas/Fort Worth Kurdish community in Texas to explore the possibilities of conducting community building activities and setting up a community based organization.

We were pleased to be received by a community that is ready and excited about the possibilities of having a Kurdish community service center. We have learned many lessons since we embarked on the journey of refugee community strengthening and empowerment five years ago. Meeting emerging leaders and working with them is enriching. One such leader is Safeen Sindi. He is bright, ambitious, has a vision and believes in the importance of the Kurdish community. The challenges of our work sometimes seem overwhelming and we become discouraged.

So it came as a pleasant surprise one recent day when I received an E-mail from Safeen. He said: "Never give up Dr. Pary, for the Kurds need you. You are truly an independent, neutral person who holds the interest of the community in your heart".

How can one lose hope with encouraging words like these? I want to tell Safeen that the values, courage and expectations my parents gave me molded me into who I am. My mother tells people that I was born independent She likes to tell the story about a time when I was six or seven years old. My father was a member of the politburo with the Kurdish revolution in the late sixties before the 1970 autonomy agreement. My mother was a university student and ill with kidney stones.

My father couldn’t risk coming to the city. The Iraqi Government agents would have killed him. My mother told me it was time for me to go stay with my grandparents in Sulaimanya since she was going to have surgery. I couldn’t stay home with her; there was no one to take care of me. She said I took my backpack, marched toward the door and said: " I have done all I can now. I have to go. Don’t worry about me I will be okay." Then with a determined look I left with a family friend who was taking me to my grandparents. I remember the incident very well. There wasn’t much I could do. If I cried she would cry and my father was unreachable. So I tried to be funny. I drew some pictures and made some drawings for her. But it didn’t help; she was still in pain. The little girl in me thought if I acted grown up I could make it easier for her so she would not have to worry about me.

Professor Michael Gunter was in town for a book signing at the Middle East Institute, for his new book, The Kurdish Predicament in Iraq, A Political Analysis, St. Martin’s Press. He asked my father how come you have raised your daughter as you would raise a son, which in the Kurdish culture is sometimes uncommon. My father said: Well I wanted her to have a chance to live the good life; a good education, a future and a career." May and June are also special to me as a time to celebrate Mother’s and Father’s day. To all the fathers and mothers in the community a belated Happy Mothers and Happy Fathers day. Enjoy your children and the joys of summer.

Pary Karadaghi

Kurdish National Conference

The Third National Community Organizing Conference will be held this year in November in San Diego, California.  Conference material will be mailed out to the community, mainstream organizations and to the over 2,000 recipients of Kurdish Community News. This information will also be available on our Web page at http://www.khrw.com we hope you can all attend.

Preventive Health Program For Middle Eastern Refugee Families

Program Director, KHRW/San Diego

The Kurdish Human Rights Watch-San Diego is pleased to announce a new program of services on preventive health for the refugees in East County, San Diego. This program will help families take measures to protect themselves from chronic illnesses, manage their children’s health needs and live full healthy lives. These services will provide Kurdish and other Middle Eastern refugees with information and skills they need to fully participate in San Diego County’s mainstream health services.

The refugees in East County are predominately Middle Eastern and/or Muslim. KHRW is the key agency in East County funded to provide culturally appropriate resettlement services to this refugee population. The project will help to prevent health problems among this population, such as tuberculosis, malaria, dental disease, breast cancer, prostate diseases, and other contagious diseases such as measles and smallpox. Educational programs will also teach skills in family health maintenance, access to health services and guidelines for diet, exercise and overall healthy life style practices. This will include guidance on maintaining effective mental health, especially for those refugees who have experienced torture or abuse of their love ones. KHRW Health Prevention Outreach workers will help families assess their families health needs and plan actions for doctors visits, dental care, health diets, family activities and other health care steps.

The program will provide three months of classes for Middle Eastern refugee families. These classes will provide information, skills on various ways to stay healthy. The program of classes will be offered three times per year. Approximately 15 women will attend each series of three-month workshops and group support sessions. Specialists in various areas of mainstream American life will provide classes on health skills as well as conduct field trip experiences. Four days each week Vocational English as a Second Language classes will be conducted for three hours. These classes will be followed by 1-3 hours of life skill workshops. Monthly community meetings for Middle Eastern men will focus on coping with everyday pressures and tensions and working with their wives and children to have successful and happy lives.

KHRW-San Diego will build upon its current capability and its collaboration with doctors, clinics and other providers to provide a seamless system of health prevention services, which do not duplicate existing programs. The staff of KHRW-San Diego represents the culture and language of East Counties refugees. They speak Arabic, Farsi, Kurdish, Spanish, English, and various dialects. They are accustomed to the culture of these refugees and provide services in the context of these cultural values and social mores. Such cultural appropriateness is particularly crucial to helping this refugee population practice preventive health and access preventive, proactive health services for their families.

For more information on this program or how to participate in the San Diego area, please call KHRW/San Diego- 619-698-801. Facsimile 619-698-8809 and e-mail address kurdskhrw1@aol.com.

Program Director, KHRW/Nashville

One of the most exciting community events was the Open House on January 23rd, 1999.   Community members, Voluntary resettlement agencies, State Refugee Coordinator, service provider agencies attended the Open House. Warm congratulations to the Advisory Committee and the founding members of KHRW in establishing the CBO in Nashville.  Visitors signed in the visitor book for this exiting event, which was very important for the community to have access to services provided by our grass-roots Community Based Organization. 

One of the services provided to the community in Nashville is employment services. This will avoid service duplication and provide a valuable service to refugees new to the community. Along these lines and in order to help the community become self-sufficient, the KHRW, Nashville office invited a team from the Bureau of the Census to visit our office on January 29th.   They offered job training for 25 Kurds from Nashville to participate in United States Census.  As a result 45 persons were interviewed and tested.  Six individuals were given orientations and employment with the Bureau of Census.

On February 14th, Ms. Sandra Long, a Counselor from Nashville Metro Schools, was invited to present a program to our community.  The areas that were discussed were Jobs, training in computers, sewing machines and Technical Vocational English language, owning a business and business opportunities. Ms. Long is coordinating with the Tennessee Department of Employment to find job upgrades for individuals.    More than 100 individuals attended this orientation. Ms. Long is still involved in helping to find jobs for members of our community.

KHRW/Nashville office helped file 88 applications of the 1998 Federal Income taxes. That was a great support and good start-up for newly arrived refugees to learn about the importance of filing taxes on time and record keeping for community members in Nashville.

Interpretation and social services have been provided for more than 125 families since we opened our office in Nashville.  The average is one case or family a day.  The KHRW Nashville office is also open on Saturdays and Sundays to make it easy for members of the community and families to congregate and receive assistance.

The KHRW Advisory Committee in Nashville held meetings on Sunday, including January 31st;  Feb.21st, March 7th; and April 4th, May and June 1999.  All members attended the meetings.  Many issues were discussed and recommendations were made.  The Tennessee Refugee Advisory Committee (TRAC) met on February 24th, 1999, at the Catholic Charities to discuss the new ORR proposal about privatizing Refugee Cash assistance (RCA) and Refugee Medical Assistance (RMA). Many local Voluntary and Service Provider Agencies, including KHRW attended the meeting. 

Vocational English as a Second Language (VESL) classes are being provided to more than 20 students. The class is two days a week (Saturdays and Sundays) from 4:00 P.M to 6:00 P.M. and continues from April through the end of June 1999.  We are using the facilities of the Crieve Hall Church for the classes.  This in the heart of the Kurdish community.  So far we have one Kurdish teacher.  Since the Number of students is increasing every week, we will have another teacher soon to meet the increasing demand for two classes at the same time.

We are located at: 2805 Foster Ave. Suite 207, Nashville, Tennessee. Office hours are Monday through Friday, 9:00 AM to 2:00 PM Saturday:9:00 to 5:00 PM. Telephone: 615-331-1956 and Facsimile: 615-331-1946. You can visit us on the web at http://www.khrw.com/Nashville.

DALLAS - Fort Worth KURDISH    COMMUNITY ESTABLISHES A COMMUNITY CENTER

CONGRATULATIONS TO THE DALLAS FORT WORTH KURDISH COMMUNITY

A community meeting was held on May 30, 1999 in Dallas/Fort Worth. Leaders of the Dallas/Fort Worth Kurdish community gathered to consider plans to open a new Kurdish community center. The center will provide support and services to the Dallas/Fort Worth Kurdish community. The group met with Dr. Pary Karadaghi, Director of the Kurdish Human Rights Watch and staff members, Safeen Sindi and Jacques Wilson. The meeting worked on developing a plan for opening a new Kurdish community Center and establishing a Dallas/Forth Worth Advisory Committee. Dr. Kamaran Algilani graciously helped to organize the meeting.

The meeting was held at the Mr. Omar Barzani’s restaurant. He generously provided outstanding food and beverages to the guests from Fairfax, Virginia and Dr. Kamaran Algilani. A large group of leaders attended the meeting many questions were asked and many issues were considered. The Participants at the meeting explored various options and discussed the many needs of the Kurdish people in Dallas/Fort Worth. A Dallas/Fort Worth Advisory Committee was formed.

The members of the Advisory Committee are:

The Advisory Committee is open for all members of the community to participate. New members are welcome.

The meeting focused on establishing goals for the center, discussing the purpose of the center, electing an Advisory Committee and conducting an initial Advisory Committee meeting. A discussion was held on the role and functions of a Kurdish Community Center and the need to serve the entire Kurdish community. All members attending unanimously agreed to the urgent need for a center.

The newly formed Advisory Committee held its first meeting to consider selection of an office site, steps take to organize the Center, informing the community about the Center, establishing a WEB page at the KHRW WEB site, services to be provided and beginning operations. An important goal is to organize the center so that it can apply for possible funding from county, city, state or federal agencies. KHRW’s main office will provide technical assistance and funding to assist Dallas/Fort Worth in achieving these goals. The group also discussed the possibility of working with Dr. Kamaran to open a community health clinic. The Advisory Committee will further explore this. A follow-up meeting is scheduled for July.

Dr. Pary Karadaghi

Health and human rights have rarely been linked in an explicit manner. With few exceptions, involving access to health care, discussions, discussions about health have rarely included human rights considerations. Similarly, except when obvious damage to health, such as torture, is the primary manifestation of a human rights abuse, health perspectives has rarely been inclosed from human rights perspectives.

Explanation for the lack of communication between the field of health and human rights include differing philosophical perspectives, vocabularies, professional recruitment and training, societal roles and methods of work and advocacy. In addition, modern concepts of health and human rights are complex and steadily evolving. From a practical perspective, health workers may wonder about the applicability or the value and necessity of incorporating human rights perspectives into their work, and vice versa. In addition, despite pioneering work seeking to bridge the gap in bioethics, jurisprudence, and public health law a history of conflictual relationship between medicine and law or between public health officials and civil liberty advocates may contribute to anxiety and doubt to the possibilities of mutual partnership and collaboration.

Modern concepts of health derives from two related and different disciplines, medicine and public health. While on one hand medicine focuses on the health of an individual, public health emphasis on the importance of the health of populations. Individual health has been the concern of medical and other health care providers, in general from a physical and mental health illnesses and disability. Public health on the other hand has been defined as the conditions in which people’s health is promoted, prevention of diseases, disability and premature death.

The International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia recently charged the Yugoslav leader with crimes against humanity. The last few weeks forensic experts from around the world are quickly converging on Kosovo to identify massacre sites. The sooner they begin, the better they can gather evidence, reconstruct the events and uncover the extent of the atrocities so the prosecutor can argue that these were systematic abuses known or planned at the highest level. This reminds us of the Anfal campaign of genocide by Saddam Hussein against the Kurds of Iraq. The evidence painstakingly compiled over eighteen months by Middle East Watch in July 1993, states" The phenomenon of the Anfal, the officially military codename used by the government in its public pronouncements and internal memoranda, was ell known inside Iraq, especially in the Kurdish region, as all horrific details have emerged, this name has seared itself into popular consciousness—much as the Nazi German Holocaust did with its survivors. The parallels are apt, and often chillingly close".

Yet health, and human rights in the prevention of crimes of war against humanity are powerful tools, modern approaches to advancing human well being. Meaningful dialogue about interactions between health and human rights requires a common ground. In conclusion human beings are vulnerable their health and well being can be jeopardized by the actions of others. In their plight to find safe havens to survive, refugees in our backyards have to overcome these horrendous obstacles once in the United States.

Call-stop by-volunteer!

Fairfax VA

Kurdish Human Rights Watch, Inc.
10560 Main Street, Suite 207
Fairfax, VA  22030
Tel:  (703) 385-3806
Fax:  (703) 385-3643 

San Diego CA

Kurdish Human Rights Watch, Inc.
1109 East Washington Ave
El Cajon, CA 92019
Tel:  (619) 447-9933
Fax:  (619) 447-9932

 Donations Needed

Your donation can help a Kurdish family. Many families had to leave without their children. These children are stranded in Kurdistan. Many Kurds in America need help to survive until they learn English and obtain a job. You can help Kurdish refugees be successful in America! You can help reunite families with members still in Kurdistan.  KHRW depends on your donations. KHRW is a nonprofit corporation. All donations are tax deductible.   A portion of your donation will go towards the printing and mailing of Kurdish Community News.

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