Tag Archives: Family

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.

Father and Son Relations

Many stores on Park Street are family run. While Yosa and I were out doing our field research we noticed that many of the stores owners had their daughters and sons working for them. These kids were very instrumental in the prosperity of their parents’ businesses.  The reason I say this is that in many of the shops we visited the parents did not speak English but rather Spanish. The owners depend upon their sons and daughters to translate for the parents.   On more than one occasion when we visited these stores, we saw kids hanging around with parents and one time a son was filling  in for the father while he was away on a business trip.

We found that some stores started by parents have been taken on by the children inadvertently. One storeowner told us that it was out of respect for his father that he took on the business not because he wanted to. This gentleman is now running a jewelry store on Park Street. When you walk into his store you don’t see that much jewelry for sale or many clients. What is important to note is that there are many jewelry stores on Park Street so there is a lot of competition. I compared this gentleman’s jewelry store to another one up the block. The other store had a wider selection of jewelry and more clients when we visited. The daughter of the second jewelry store owner told us that the father started this business and built a personal connection with his clients. That is why they have been in business for 30 plus years. What this jewelry store seems to do differently than other jewelry stores in the area is running radio advertisements and building a loyal client base. These stores are built from the ground up and bring pride to the family. Thus the kids want to keep these businesses going for these reasons.

Learning Business in the Family

We went to Park Street in Frog Hollow of Hartford to interview a woman and her son.  The woman, owns a party supply business.  She moved to Hartford from Puerto Rico and started this store because there was a demand for the items she sells and no supply nearby.  She sells everything you could think of that one would need for a party–be it a wedding, a baby shower, or a quinceañera (15th birthday celebration in Hispanic Culture).

She began her business without borrowing money or taking loans, just using capital she had acquired from her previous jobs. This is an important note for future business owners, as it proves that taking out heavy loans is not always necessary to have a successful business. She did say, however, that she felt support from the Spanish American Merchants Association that operates in Hartford, as she took courses that helped her in her startup.

Her son, born in Hartford, worked for her when he was younger–for  about 14 years.  He gained a lot of business experience from her, and decided to open up his own clothing business.  Like many business owners, the idea of having ones own business was attractive because he could be his own boss and not have a salary cap. Starting as a street vendor with 100 dollars in his pocket, he built a customer base in the area.

His business soon flourished enough for him to get a space on Park Street just a block away from his mother’s business.  He likes Park Street because there is a lot of demand for his product–clothing and some accessories such as hats.  There is also a lot of foot traffic in the area, so he said it was an ideal place to open a business.

His mother’s advice to prospective business owners was two fold, both practical and personal. She encouraged good treatment of customers to build a solid clientele base, citing that “that’s why I’ve been here for 26 years!” On a more personal level, she advised people to ensure that business ownership was a field they really want to get into before they made the decision to begin a business.