Last Month at Adhikaak- October

Recent Updates – October

1. Free Mammography

2. Potluck Dashain Celebration

3. Immigrant Youth and College Education - Workshop

4. Matching Gift Challenge – Goal Met

5. Union Square Award

6. We need your help!



1. Free Mammography

In collaboration with the American Cancer Society, we organized a free mammogram event for uninsured women over 40 years. Nurse and technicians from Multi Diagnostics provided the service. The event took place in Jackson Heights at the Diversity Center of Queens. 37 women benefited from free mammogram and clinical breast exam. The participants were also trained to do their own detailed self breast exam with the help of Nepali doctors Ashwata Pokhrel and Rosy Joshi. Adhikaar Youth Group members provided logistical support, including intake and interpretation.



It was a first mammogram for most of the participants. Participants expressed joy in being able to get mammography done for free on their day off, and at a convenient location. Additionally, they were happy to have Nepali doctors explain in simple terms about breast cancer and importance of mammography and self breast exam. The event was scheduled from 9am to 4pm, but lasted till 7pm to accommodate all the women.



Sakhi for South Asian Women also attended the event to talk about domestic violence and the services offered by the organization.



October is both Domestic Violence Awareness Month and Breast Cancer Awareness Month.





2. Potluck Dashain Celebration

On the third Sunday of October, we celebrated a Nepali festival, Dashain, at Adhikaar. It was a lot of fun. We were about 40 people, of which only four were men and the rest were women. Some of our friends brought different kinds of delicious food. First we gave out tika and jamara with blessings. After that we ate food, and the group broke out into spontaneous singing and dancing.



Dashain is the most important religious festival for the Hindus, but is also celebrated as a national festival by all other groups. This is festival symbolizes the victory of good over evil, and is also a time for forgiveness. While this event reminded us of our family in Nepal, it was also a good opportunity to get over our homesickness and celebrate with friends, who have become de-facto families here.





3. Immigrant Youth and College Education - Workshop

Adhikaar Youth Group successfully conducted a college planning workshop on October 23, 2008. The one hour workshop was on the rights of undocumented youth and the college planning process. It was a workshop for immigrant students, educators, and parents discussing the process of applying to college, filling out a CUNY (City University of New York) application and scholarships search for immigrant students. The workshop was facilitated by the New York State Leadership Council
Representatives, Martin and Kiran.

The workshop enabled the participants to understand that college education is possible regardless of their economic, social, and even immigration status. The participants were a mixture of college and
high school students. They asked questions about college planning materials and the steps needed to pursue further education.

Aside from discussing about college preparation, the facilitators also talked about the New York State Leadership Council's DREAM Act Project. The Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act, which is also known as DREAM Act, is a piece of proposed bill in the United States Congress, which would allow undocumented immigrant who attended high school here the opportunity to get permanent residency. The participants asked many questions, and learned about the importance of the DREAM Act. DREAM Act could provide a solution to many undocumented young adults, however, the bill has limitations and would not help all the undocumented students.

The participants found the workshop very useful and informative. At the end of the session, participants felt more confident about college preparation process, and also gained information relevant to immigration status and DREAM Act.





4. Matching Gift Challenge – Goal Met

During our third annual award ceremony and fundraiser, one of Adhikaar's long-term supporter gave us an incentive to step up our fundraising goal by promising to match up to $6,000 for the money received within three weeks after the event. We are happy to report that we went over our goal. Including the funds raised prior to the event, institutional matching gifts, pledges, and our supporter's matching gift, we were able to raise almost $17,000.





5. Union Square Award

We are very happy to announce that Adhikaar co-founders have been selected for this year's Union Square Award. The Union Square Awards program was established in 1998 to recognize and support community activists working throughout New York City. The recognition comes with a monetary award of $50,000.



Adhikaar is one of the seven organizations selected this year, and the first Nepali organization to receive Union Square Award.



6. We need your help!

a. Please help us identify a Nepali-speaking counselor

As in other months, we have continued to provide support to individuals facing many different problems, including survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault. We have referred them to various agencies. However, none of the agencies we work with have Nepali-speaking counselors, and we have had to depend on Hindi-speaking counselors.

We have been on a lookout for a Nepali-speaking counselor in or around New York City. If you know of anyone, please help us get connected.



b. Facilitate English classes

We are looking for individuals with fluent English to facilitate our weekly English classes, starting early 2009. Ten-week commitment required.



c. Make a tax-deductible contribution

As always, we need your financial contribution. No gift is too small or too big! With our growing programs, our financial needs have gone up as well. Please make a tax-deductible contribution to help support our growth.