Royal Buscombe; 45 year member of PPSEAWA
Los Angeles Chapter Report
PDF Version of this Bulletin
Minnesota Chapter Report
Minnesota hosted the National Fall Board Meeting. That was our last formal meeting until the Annual meeting which will be held May 28th in Bloomington. Instead of large meetings we held small gatherings of members by interests.In January a group joined with Chinese American Minnesota to celebrate the lunar New Year. This has become a yearly event and a time to visit with friends in that organization. The year of the Tiger was greeted with good food, song and dance.
In February, a group who enjoy dance bought tickets to the Cloud Dance Troupe from Taiwan. We had dinner at a small Mongolian Restaurant near the University of Minnesota and enjoyed the performance. One of our members had arranged to have us join the troupe after the performance at a reception.
In April four members; Barbara Deneen, Dixie Riley, Darina Siv and Ann Aurelius attended the founding of the Minnesota chapter of the National Asian Pacific American Women's Forum (NAPAWF). The organization and first chapter was founded last fall in Los Angeles as a follow-up to initiatives started in Huairou and continued upon women's return to the U.S. There are chapters in six locations, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Seattle, Atlanta, New York and Minneapolis/St. Paul. Four of these locations also have PPSEAWA chapters. We met the local and national leadership and enjoyed entertainment; stories of a Japanese woman who had been interned, poetry from a Hmong woman and dancing by Chinese Americans young women. We hope to form a strong link with Minnesota NAPAWF. You can read more at their website www.lacn.org/napawf or e-mail questions to: napawf@usa.net.
This year our chapter is helping to support two students from the Solomon Islands, Alice and Martha. Diane Darr of the Minnesota chapter is hosting the women. Our annual meeting at Diane's home will allow chapter members to learn how their first two quarters at Normandale Community College. We have asked them to join us as student members.
All through the school year of 1997-98 two Minnesota PPSEAWA members, Shelly Bertrand and Patricia Fuchs have been involved with a mentoring program with junior and senior high school students. Students met monthly, programming was developed by the senior high students. Throughout the year they worked on skits which dealt with pertinent issues faced by Asian immigrants when adapting to a new culture. They ranged from pressures to join gangs to how parents react to girls dating outside their own culture. Much discussion ensued.
The students took several field trips together to various Asian cultural events, the senior high students also hosted the first Asian Club Annual banquet, replete with wonderful food and student entertainment. The year culminated with a picnic for students and families. Shelly and Patricia reported that they learned as much as the students and are looking forward to continuing the project during the next school year.
