Tag Archives: Cultural Influences

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.

Cultural Sensitivity

My grandmother used to always tell me that there are few things in this world like a cultural bond; to always remember my roots. She never elaborated very much on the statement, but as a young girl, I didn’t question it or think much of it. I trusted her words as they slipped to the back of my mind. Recently, I was reminded of my grandmother’s powerful and extremely accurate statement.

My most recent adventure with my roommate who is from Turkey was unlike any experience I have ever had. I had brought her with me because I knew we were visiting Turkish establishments and I thought she might of some help with translating. But, little did I know that she was going to speak to these owners for hours, sharing stories, memories, and essentially gaining two Turkish families here in Hartford.

Prior to that trip, when it came time to speak to the owners, they were extremely hesitant and seemed a bit suspicious to even just briefly talk to us. As an immigrant who is most likely constantly being questioned about legality, documents, ownership, etc., can we blame them for the hesitation? They had no idea who we were, what information we wanted, or what we were going to do with the information. I completely understood their dismissive actions. But, our last attempt to break the barrier and talk to them was bringing my Turkish roommate.

My roommate confidently walked into the first business and immediately began speaking to the owner in their native language. I watched the owner’s face change from a scowl into a huge smile. The past three times I was there, I had never seen that. But, he stopped everything he was doing and immediately engaged in conversation with her. This continued for quite some time as they learned of details about their pasts, the current lives, and just reminisced on stories from back home in Turkey. The same exact thing happened at the next business, with my roommate being introduced to his extended family and engaging in another long conversation. He offered her tea, invited her back to his house, and told her that if she ever needed anything, she had a second family just five minutes away.

Listening to my roommate recollect on her conversations and this experience, I broke into tears. These two men had never met my roommate before, but that cultural bond was so obviously present. Meeting someone who knew their culture and understood this culture was all these men needed; someone who was sensitive, understanding of their culture. Although the United States and Hartford were their new homes and have been for quite some time, there is something comforting about meeting someone else who speaks your native language, that can relate to where and how you grew up, that understands your way of life. As my roommate reinforced my grandmother’s statement, that there are few things in this world like a cultural bond. Cultural sensitivity and understanding make a huge difference in this world.

Women and Immigrant Businesses

As there is a growing female presence in business and politics, there has been a lot of progress towards gender equality. After reading Lean In by Sheryl Sandberg on empowering women in the workforce, I couldn’t help but think of the increasing role of women in business. How does this happen? There has been a sudden burst of women making the Forbes List, such as Sheryl Sandberg. There’s obviously no right way of doing it, but there is one thing that is increasingly happening and that is that there is an increasing number of women entering the market. As I increasingly hear about woman entering really competitive industries, it’s impressive to see this. The real question is has it been because women weren’t able to do it or because they weren’t given the opportunity due to a law or a cultural norm.

Doing my research on New Britain Avenue, I couldn’t help but think about culture and how it played into the role that woman have in business. I observed the different roles of Spanish and Asian women in business. In about the ten Asian owned businesses that I went to, eight out of the ten were owned by woman or by a couple. On the contrary, the owners at the Spanish owned small businesses were all men. I thought that was quite interesting. I started speculating about why that might be.

In the woman owned travel agencies, the Asian woman was sitting at a large desk in the end of the store. They were the center of attention, right smack down in the middle. There were also men at both of these stores, however the men were either standing or sitting on either side of the store; they were on the sidelines. A thought came to mind of what I learned in one of my courses on authoritarianism in Northeast Asia. Andrei Lankov explains in his book, The Real North Korea (2013) that women in North Korea are increasingly engaging in the black market because they aren’t considered a political threat. Opposed to women, men are forced to work and are conscripted into militias, giving them very little space to engage in any activities that are not administered by the state. Many women are engaging in the black market and selling all types of household appliances and the state allows them to. They are gaining valuable skills and teaching their kids the same thing. The factors that inhibit men while allowing women’s presence and giving them the opportunity to participate in the market in North Korea might shed some light on why so many Asian (particularly Vietnamese-American) women have established businesses on New Britain Avenue in Hartford

By contrast, men predominantly own stores in the other commercial strip that I observed on New Britain Ave. That surprised me. I expected at least one female owned business; however out of the ten businesses I entered on that block, there weren’t any owned by women. Also, Hispanic people owned most of them. I come from a Hispanic background and from personal experience I know men “pull the strings”. The two men that I interviewed mentioned how they left their home countries due to the authoritarian political systems that did not let them pursue what they wanted in their countries (similar to the Asian context). The men I met were very hardworking and ambitious, always taking on new jobs and willing to take odd jobs. They were very knowledgeable about a lot of things. When these men started their business, they weren’t alone. They were the face of the business, while women family members were in charge of the financial aspect of the business. Wives weren’t always on site, but they were mentioned many times as the assistants to these men and critical to the existence of the businesses. Men were the face of the business. They deal with purchasing merchandise and meeting with suppliers, but the women are in charge of the administrative side of the business.

Upon reflection, I realized that cultural differences have affected what role woman have in immigrant businesses in the US. The political situations in the home culture have also shaped business entrepreneurship in Hartford. The men that I spoke to had different experiences that prompted them to be take a chance and start a business. And, in some cases women were given opportunities to create businesses. Overall, I noticed that woman might seem underrepresented in these businesses, but really, they are very present. They are not necessarily the “face” of some immigrant businesses but they do have a strong presence and impact on the success of these establishments. Efforts to empower women around the world are on the rise. These are examples of how women (as business owners or business managers) in Hartford are just as able as men and their example can empower future women to get more involved.