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The Work of a “Cultural Broker” Is Never Done

As part of the Global Hartford Migration Lab I spent time with Jody Putnam, a “cultural broker” in Hartford who helps refugees in any way they need. This week I went with Jody to visit three Burmese refugee families in Hartford. The first family was a 50-year-old woman named L.M. who had two children. She lived in newly-built subsidized housing with rent determined by your income—a luxury not all refugees are given. This woman was temporarily disabled and therefore could not work and had no income. Jody was paying her a visit because her food stamps had been discontinued and not only did she not have any way of buying food, but she was unsure of how the system worked to renew her food stamps. Jody explained to me that the process of renewing food stamps was not overly complicated, but very time consuming due to budget deficits in the state government. So, Jody considered this visit a relationship-building experience. In this time I got to know L. M. and hear about her recent citizenship ceremony, which she was extremely excited and proud of, about her children, and about her upcoming back surgery.

In the background, Jody waited on hold for over an hour to speak with someone about L. M.’s food stamps. When they finally connected, Jody was able to represent L. M. for the short interview to renew her food stamps—an easy effort yet a victory for L. M. . There were many moments like this throughout the day. The last family we visited needed Jody to look at a letter they received from the hospital about recent x-rays the daughter had gotten. The letter simply said that their insurance would cover all medical expenses. However, the family could not understand the letter and just saw the large sum of money. It only took Jody and me five minutes to clear this up with the family. It was an easy task for us, but a stressful and confusing moment in these refugees’ lives. When I returned back to campus and continued with my day, it was a staggering feeling. When living on Trinity’s campus, right in the center of Hartford, it is difficult to realize that people are living so drastically different than us within our community, just blocks away. And that, although we live in the same communities, the obstacles we face, such as language, economic, and cultural barriers, vary so much. Chloe S.

Helping a Syrian Family Gets a New Start in Greater Hartford

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As always, we met around 6:45 at Mather Circle to Uber to the Syrian family’s house. The day before, Peter had kindly left booklets with Chaplain Read for us to use and I had picked them up earlier. I called the eldest son and he met us downstairs to let us in the apartment. We started out talking about what he and his mother did during the day; His mother said that she went to her ESL class, came back, called her family, cleaned the house and cooked for her children. Later his younger brother came out of his room and when we asked him what he was doing, he said he was watching X-Men: First Class. I couldn’t believe it; it was one of my favorite movies! We talked about the X-men series for a while, and started to work when he went back to his room. Tenzin and I worked with the mom, and Chris worked with the older son.

The booklet that Peter had given us had four parts to it; reading, true/false, yes/no, and short answer. We read along with the mother and described the words that she didn’t quite get by breaking down into easier words and using our phones. The format was really helpful, but on our car ride back to Trinity, we agreed that the material might be slightly advanced for the mom. Nevertheless, we worked on two sections.

The second section was a story of a girl who needed to choose between a vacation to Hawaii or tuition for college. The mom told me that the girl should choose college because education is very important. The story emphasized the concept of making a difficult decision, and the short answer portion asked about a difficult decision that the reader had to make. When we asked her, she thought about the question for a while, then told us that she needed to make a difficult decision when she was choosing to leave for Egypt or to stay in Syria. I knew, just because of the fact that they’re a refugee family, that they have been through so much already. However, when the mom said this, I realized that they’ve been through more than I could imagine and was reminded of the sacrifices and difficulties they had to face coming to the United States.

This time was especially amazing for numerous reasons. When we were talking about what food she made for her children, she ran to the fridge and brought us a delicious Syrian dish called tabouleh (it was kind of like salsa) and brought each of us a plate to try it. Later, when Chris mentioned that he didn’t have a chance to eat dinner yet because he was busy, the mom again ran to the fridge, grabbed and heated up food for him. When Chris said that she didn’t have to do that because he would eat once he goes back to campus, she insisted saying that Chris was her son now. And she called us her daughters and that whenever we’re hungry we should tell her. Not that I think this experience was amazing because she offered us food, but it was very a very touching moment for all of us for her to describe us as her children. I can feel that we are now much closer and have a special bond. I am very thankful for them and their hospitality.

On our ride back, Chris explained what we had just done to the Uber driver. He listened but didn’t say much, but later asked Chris where to go if he wants to do the same. He told us that he speaks four languages including Punjabi but is not good at speaking English, and that he wants to learn too. Chris said that he would speak to Professor Bauer and gave him his number.

It’s amazing how since I started this semester I’m beginning to meet people who have started a new life in America. As they share their stories, they share their resilience, bravery and love with me. I am truly grateful for this opportunity. Susie R.

International Hartford

The Family Business

Throughout my time exploring the many immigrant owned businesses in Hartford, I noticed one factor that stood out. Family plays an extremely important role in helping and managing the business at hand. In some cases, it almost seems as though the business would not be able to run at all without this family support.

A classmate and I were given the opportunity to interview the Italian born owner of a Maple Avenue Laundromat. The Laundromat was a busy place and had clothes piled everywhere. The customers seemed very diverse, including a large number of Hispanic customers. I know that many Trinity students also go to this Laundromat. Before the interview even began the owner insisted we wait for his son to come conduct the interview. He made it seem as though he knew nothing about his own business. Later he told us “my wife and I run the business together. My son helps do the paperwork and finance.” When we asked him if he faced any adversities when he first opened his business, he replied, “When I started the paying bills and the paperwork was hardest. Then it got better.” His son clearly played and continues to play a pivotal role in this business, as he takes the responsibility in paying the bills, which covers for his father’s weakness in finance.

The theme of family in an immigrant business also came up in a discussion in a nearby market and smoke shop. Unfortunately, that owner was out so we decided to take the opportunity to ask a few questions informally to the man working the counter.

The gentleman turned out to be the father of the owner. He told us that he works many hours at the counter looking over his son’s new business. While the father works at the shop, his son is delivering pizza for Dominos. The amount of support the father was giving to his son and his business astounded me. It was evident that owning the shop was not enough on its own, so the son had to find other ways to make money. Without his father working at the shop, it would be very questionable whether the business would still be existent.

I have noticed the importance of family help in my own life and through experience. My mother, who is an immigrant, opened a restaurant in Boston 15 years ago. To this day her mother still makes the recipes, her brother has become co-owner, and her sister is the floor manager. I also help out at the restaurant and often times am happy to do so without compensation. She has told me that without this support, things would be a lot harder on her and the business. This idea is further expressed in Valdez’s article “Beyond the Ethnic Enclave,” as he writes about how one’s family helps facilitate their entrepreneurship. Valdez states, “Ethnic business owners often hire family or co-ethnic community from which they emigrated. Family members experience the “reciprocal obligation” to work in the family business, often without pay” (245).

The family’s role proves to be a unique type of support for immigrant entrepreneurs. Economically, they provide work and service for the business at little to no cost in many cases. This service is especially valuable in new businesses when the entrepreneur needs help starting things up. Morally, the family is there to offer emotional stability and ultimately serves as a sturdy support team. From my interviews, discussions and experience, it his clear just how much the families of an immigrant business owners contribute to their businesses.