KaRen Community Development Ministry
Starfish
Ministries is now working to provide assistance to KaRen refugees, the
newest refugees arriving in Minnesota.
The KaRen is an indigenous group who live primarily in the mountainous
regions of Burma, now known as Myanmar where they are the
second-largest ethnic group in the country. The military
government is trying to eradicate the people and their culture.
They
began arriving in large numbers in 2007 and the numbers arriving
continue to grow. Because they come from an agrarian society,
the
are unequipped for employment in this country. And, since
many of
them have been hiding in the jungle or living in refugee camps for
decades, they are often illiterate in their own language which makes
learning English that much more challenging.
Starfish
Ministries is partnering with New Life Christian Reformed Church, a
church now predominantly KaRen, to identify needs, connect refugees
with existing resources, and find resources where none currently exist.
ELL (English language learning) is being provided in
cooperation with Hmong American Partnership at their facility on
University and Western Avenues in St. Paul. Volunteers are
needed.
Tutoring
for elementary, middle and high school children is currently being done
by volunteers from Faith Christian Reformed Church at their
building in New Brighton. Volunteers are needed.
CAPI,
another non-profit who serves refugees, is seeking a KaRen speaking
employee so they can provide employment services at a location we are
seeking in St. Paul.
In the summer of 2009, New Life Church
had a soccer league made up of KaRen men and boys. It was
very
successful and will continue.
We are seeking space to lease
within 1.5 miles of where most of the KaRen live in St. Paul so that we
can make our services more accessible. More information on
that
should be forthcoming soon.
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