New Mexico Women’s Global Pathways is a local grassroots mutual assistance organization, seeking to help refugees and immigrants through design and development of effective self-reliance programs that promote economic independence and independent living.
The organization began in 2008 when several newly arrived refugees from Africa and Bhutan were finding jobs only to lose them within a few days, said Nkazi Sinandile, director and volunteer program coordinator.
“As their economic situation became more desperate, we began to discuss ways to become self-sufficient but realized that we did not have the tools and did not know how to get resources from the community,” Sinandile said. “We decided to approach a local organization that served low-income women to find out how we could start a sustainable self-help economic development project building on the traditional skills that we carried from refugee camps and our native countries.”
After receiving some guidance, Sinandile and a few others approached other women who needed to take control of their financial stability — thus, New Women’s Global Pathways was born, she said.
Resettling agencies are not able to provide sufficient assistance, training and support to refugees. Outcomes are increasingly negative for families who hope for safety and a life free from want, she said.
The project has always sought to support participants, aims for them to rise out of poverty by taking control of their destinies and hopes that by collectively organizing themselves in a peaceful, thoughtful way, they can address the barriers that oppress them and start their journey to becoming self-reliant, Sinandile said.
The center offers vocational, computer and English skills assistance as well as micro-enterprise business training with the intent to benefit refugee women, their children, their families and the communities they live in, she said.
“It will also empower them to address collectively issues of poverty, hunger, peace, homelessness, security and justice,” Sinandile said.
The center also seeks to address transportation issues and health disparities the groups often face as low-income and marginalized communities.
“It was and still is extremely difficult for families to support themselves in the depressed economy and even harder because of language barriers and limited skills,” she said. “Many of us have to make difficult choices between paying for food and paying for heat or fuel, paying for food or rent, paying for food vs. medicine or medical care. Both poverty and hunger place us at risk of illness.”
“We are seeking to help them move themselves from social welfare to self-help and self-sufficiency in a nurturing environment that respects their self-worth and dignity,” she said. “We would like for everyone who participates to receive a stipend while in training. Alternatively, we hope that the center can hire and pay salaries to its employees.”
While working with New Mexico Women’s Global Pathways, Sinandile has had many notable experiences — one of which is watching men and women who were originally unable to speak English learn to speak a few sentences after one year, she said.
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The center has also seen community support, which has helped sustain the program.
“Almost monthly, I feel it closing down,” Sinandile said. “But when I see the great potential to help families I keep it going with the help of very few volunteers.”
The center hopes to find a place to summon women in the program to gather and assess or re-assess their need for the program, and to hear from participants what areas need improving.
While many refugees come to the U.S. speaking little to no English, there is great potential in helping refugees work and earn and therefore contribute to the economy of our city, Sinandile said.
“Come and let us talk,” Sinandile said. “Know that while some refugees and immigrants struggle to find jobs and keep them they are hardworking and resilient and just need to be treated with respect — cultural sensitivity and respect.”
Nichole Harwood is a reporter at the Daily Lobo. She can be contacted at news@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @Nolidoli1.
