Published: March 18, 2009
Letter to the Editor
In Response to "Categorization of Nepali Women in US"
We recently came across a story about Adhikaar in various online news media that was full of factual errors that tried to distort Adhikaar's work, and demean the staff, volunteers, members, donors, and supporters of Adhikaar. Adhikaar is a New York-based human rights and social justice organization that is led by women. We are a nonprofit organization registered in New York State. We started and continue as a community-driven organization. The core of Adhikaar's work is informed by community needs and feedback.
At Adhikaar, we have been fighting for the rights and dignity of Nepali-speaking and other marginalized communities. We have actively spoken out for improving immigration laws, changing health care policies, and implementing labor laws. We regularly meet with lawmakers at city, state, and national level to discuss these issues, and present our platform, in addition to providing one-on-one assistance, organizing English classes, and conducting workshops on various topics of importance to our community.
We take grave offense to the characterization of the people affiliated with Adhikaar as lazy and dishonest ("couch potatoes" "hate sincere and hard labor"), and that Adhikaar "makes money by cheating uneducated women who come from remote areas." Adhikaar has been able to work beyond our resources due to our large pool of volunteer men and women who have put in thousands of hours of unpaid work.
While many work extremely long hours for little pay and are supporting their families here and back home, they find time to come together to support each other, learn from each other, and share whatever resources they have. Ms. Goma Sen comes in every week to share her skills as a beautician and Ms. Bharati Rai wakes up early each Sunday (after working 6 days as a nanny and a housekeeper) to teach English to our sisters who did not get an opportunity to go to English-medium schools. They are just two examples of our strong and growing group of men and women who believe in Adhikaar's mission and vision of being united for positive social change.
CPR Training
Photo: Adhikaar |
On January 21, 2009, we completed a Child CPR training conducted by the Red Cross. Out of the $80 we charged the participants, $75 went directly to the Red Cross for providing the training, and $5 helped provide lunch. Adhikaar paid for the space rental, and also subsidized the participants who were unable to pay at the time. All nine participants received certificates at the end of the day. (Please see attached list of participants and the pictures documenting the day.) A nanny training has been planned, but not yet implemented. All of our other programs and services, including interpretation, English classes, and workshops, have been free and open to everyone in the community. Additionally, we would like to point out that there is no law that says non-profit organizations cannot charge money for services.
We would also like to clarify that Adhikaar does not have any official connection to the UN, nor does it receive any benefits from it. We do meet with Nepali delegates who come to attend UN meetings to discuss our respective work and find areas of collaboration. Adhikaar has neither the interest nor time to be known as an umbrella organization. The information about Nepali organizations have been compiled for our outreach purposes, and is built upon information widely available on the Internet.
Our community needs assessment survey results show that more than 50 percent of Nepalis in New York are getting paid below minimum wage, and also that most of our sisters are employed in domestic work or nail salons. We recognize and value the diversity within our community, including educational background, professional and personal experience, English skills, and immigration statuses. We also understand that due to US immigration and economic laws and policies, there is a level of discrimination that limits opportunities for many of us, regardless of our background. We did not all start on the same page, but through a series of ongoing conversations, everyone at Adhikaar recognizes and upholds the dignity of all types of work, including the invisible labor that is too often forgotten.
We are proud of the fact that we are currently joining our hands with other domestic workers' groups in New York to push for the Domestic Workers' Bill of Rights that will ensure basic human rights and dignity of all nannies, elder care givers, and housekeepers. We are also happy to report that the Bill of Rights has been approved by the New York Senate Labor Committee, we will be working hard to make it a law in 2009!
On March 9, 2009, we circulated a press release about the historic gathering of Nepali-speaking women and men on March 8, 2009 in Astoria, New York. Over 100 women and men from Nepal, India, Tibet, Bhutan, and Burma attended for a full-day conference from 10 am to 4 pm. Our theme of Unity Among Diversity was reflected among the panelists as well as the participants. All the panelists met at Adhikaar before the event and finalized on how they wanted to format the session. We had an overwhelmingly positive response from all the participants we talked to, as well as during the afternoon small-group discussions. The entire program has been documented in photographs, video, and an audio recording.
We welcome this opportunity to extend an invitation to everyone interested in furthering human rights and social justice among New York's Nepali-speaking communities to come visit us, witness our work, and give us feedback about how to improve our work. We are open to constructive criticism that will allow us to improve our work and serve our community better; a smear campaign will neither help us, nor our community. Adhikaar office is open six days a week (Sunday through Friday). Walk-in hours are 1pm - 6pm, and we can also meet with prior appointments. We look forward to moving ahead as a stronger, more united community.
First CPR Training
We organized the first CPR training for our members on January 21, 2009. The training was arranged in response to popular demand from our community members. The Child CPR training was conducted by a bilingual trainer from the Red Cross. One of our member leaders, Bharati Rai, completed the training earlier and assisted interpretation during the training. Nine members who work as nannies received Red Cross CPR certification at the end of the training. The participants were: Bishnu Thapa Brinda Rai Indra Kumari Gurung Jyoti Bhattrai Kalpana Aryal Kalpana Shrestha Pema Sherpa Prabha Adhikari Yesoda Shrestha
www.adhikaar.org
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