JUNE Volume 4 • Issue 1
Lucky to be
working the land Afortunadas por Poder
Trabajar la Tierra Por Adam Ward Hajia Kangame is a City Heights resident and member of the Bahati Mama group as well as the Mid-City CAN Food Justice Momentum Team. “Farming to us is a way of life,” she said through an interpreter.“ It goes generation to generation.” Hajia Kangame vive en City Heights y es miembro de Bahati Mamas y del Equipo Momentum para la Justicia Alimenticia de Mid-City CAN. “ La agricultura para nosotros es una forma de vida”, dijo a través de un intérprete. “Es algo que se pasa de generación a generación.” Photos courtesy of Brian Belasco
By Adam Ward Mid-City CAN
The Bahati Mamas consider themselves some of the luckiest people in City Heights. The group of almost a dozen Somali refugees grows produce at small gardens here and at a larger farm, called Tierra Miguel, in the North County community of Pauma Valley. They’ve formed a business known as Bahati Mamas, which means “lucky mothers” in Swahili. Although the farmers say they don’t earn enough on which to survive from farming alone, the cultural link and values they pass on to their children are a rich reward.
“You say, ‘Why are they lucky?’ ” said Bilali Muya, a leader of the Somali Bantu community and International Rescue Committee farm educator who works with the group. “They are lucky to be able to produce the produce for the community. Also they are lucky to be back on the land in the USA.” But being lucky doesn’t mean they don’t struggle, Muya said. The Bahati Mamas want to expand their farm, and “maximize their land and be able to produce more with small-scale farming, because everything’s expensive,” Muya said. “Land is expensive. Water is expensive.” Hajia Kangame is a member
of the Bahati Mamas as well as the Mid-City CAN Food Justice Momentum Team who discussed some of the group’s challenges. “The difference is we were not counting the water when we were back home,” Kangame said through a translator. “Here we have to count the water, how much water we use. There we were not expecting bills for water.” Besides bills and having to do more with less, the group had to change the types of plants it grew. “We never planted leafy greens like cabbage, kale,”
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Las Bahati Mamas se consideran unas de las personas más afortunadas en City Heights. El grupo de casi una decena de refugiadas somalíes cultiva hortalizas en pequeños huertos aquí y en una granja más grande, llamada Tierra Miguel ubicada en la comunidad de Pauma Valley, al norte del condado. Han establecido un negocio llamado Bahati Mamas, significa “madres afortunadas” en swahili. Aunque las granjeras dicen no ganar lo suficiente como para sobrevivir solo de la tierra, poder enseñar a sus hijos el vínculo cultural y los valores relacionados con trabajar la tierra, es algo que consideran una gran recompensa. “Si nos preguntas, ¿por qué son afortunadas?”, dice Bilali Muya una de las líderes de la
Comunidad Somalí Bantú y educadora agrícola del Comité de Rescate quien trabaja con el grupo. “Porque tienen la suerte de poder producir hortalizas para la comunidad. También tienen la suerte de volver a trabajar la tierra en los EE.UU...” Pero tener suerte no significa que no pasan trabajos, dijo Muya. Las Bahati Mamas quieren ampliar la granja y “maximizar su tierra para producir más a través de la agricultura a pequeña escala, porque todo está muy caro”, dijo Muya. “La tierra es cara. El agua es cara.” Hajia Kangame miembro de Bahati Mamas y del Equipo Momentum para la Justicia Alimenticia de MidCity CAN, nos habló acerca de algunos de los desafíos que enfrenta el grupo. “La diferencia es que no teníamos que preocuparnos del agua cuando estábamos en nuestro país”, dijo Kangame a través de un intérprete. “Aquí tenemos que tomar en cuenta el agua, cuánta agua usamos. Allá no recibíamos facturas del agua.” Además de las facturas y de tener que hacer más con menos, el grupo ha tenido que cambiar los tipos de plantas que cultivan. “Nunca habíamos plantado verduras de hojas verdes como repollos o col rizada”, dijo Sitey Mbere quien forma parte del grupo, a través de un intérprete. “Nunca nos dedicamos a cultivarlas en nuestro país porque crecen naturalmente. Nos concentrábamos
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Residents gain access to free legal advice Para español, vea Página 2 By David Ogul City Heights Life
They come for help in dealing with such things as landlords who won’t properly maintain their rental units. They come for help in dealing with such things as trying to collect back pay from a reluctant employer. They come for help in dealing with such things as clearing up their
immigration status. Through the City Heights Community Law Project, scores of residents who cannot afford to hire an attorney can access free legal services to help them navigate a wide range of issues. “This is a community that really needs our help perhaps more than any other in San Diego,” said Udoka Nwanna, a
lawyer and law professor who teaches at both California Western School of Law and Thomas Jefferson School of Law and who serves as a pro bono coordinator of the endeavor. “It is such a diverse community with such a wide range of issues…These are people who ordinarily would not
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Lawyers and law students at the California Western School of Law who are part of the City Heights Community Law Project provide free legal services to City Heights residents. Photo credit: California Western School of Law.