How do refugees and asylum seekers obtain food, money or shelter? What’s it like rebuilding a life in the United States?

Today I have the pleasure of speaking with Havin, a former refugee and asylum seeker who survived the Anfal Genocide. The Anfal campaign was an operation carried out by Saddam Hussein’s Ba'athist Iraq in 1988 at the end of the Iran–Iraq War. The campaign targeted primarily rural Kurds with the purpose of eliminating Kurdish rebel groups to Arabize the region.

Havin is accompanied by her daughter Wan Rashid, who translates on her behalf. Wan you may know from our previous episode is Co-Founder & Chief Executive Officer of Effendi Foundation. The two of them currently reside with their family in Nashville Tennessee. This episode accompanies our previous episode and is the first part of that conversation. If you haven’t, I encourage everyone to listen to that interview “Grit, will, and representing diversity with Wan Rashid from Effendi Foundation”.

Because of the language barrier, this episode is edited to a greater extent than previous episodes. This is Havin’s story.

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Donate to Jiyan Foundation for Human Rights US at www.jiyan.org/donate

Wan Rashid is among the first Iraqi-Kurdish children born in Guam. Her family, who lived originally in northern Iraq, sought asylum in the United States after experiencing years of violence and persecution in Iraq. Today, Wan is Co-Founder & Chief Executive Officer of Effendi Foundation, a Tennessee-based non-profit that seeks to uphold and educate Kurdish-Americans about their civil rights.

In our conversation, Wan talks briefly about the culture that shaped her, her civil-society work, and she shares her thoughts on how to work with people who hold vastly different viewpoints.

This is the second part of a larger discussion. I Tarantino'd it a bit on this one, so keep an ear out for part one - later.

Learn more about Effendi Foundation: https://www.effendifoundation.org

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Donate to Jiyan Foundation for Human Rights US at www.jiyan.org/donate

Does the Earth's changing climate fill you with feelings of anxiety, stress, fear, and overwhelming emotions? In this episode, we speak with friends of Jiyan Foundation, Sarah Newman and Cindy Pace from Climate Mental Health Network (CMHN), on the impact climate change has on the mental health of adults and young people from around the world. In their latest short film, young activists, including a member of Jiyan Foundation for Human Rights' Youth Network for Peace and Dialogue, express their growing concern for the environment and discuss how it impacts their decisions about the future.

CMHN recognizes climate change and mental health as intersectional issues that are inseparable from environmental justice, women's rights, disability justice, indigenous justice, decolonization, and anti-oppression efforts underway across the world.

Sarah Newman founded the Climate Mental Health Network in the spring of 2021, after her own struggles with climate anxiety and other emotions. She has worked for many years in the film-social impact space. Previously Ms. Newman was the first Outreach Director at California Interfaith Power and Light and worked as a community organizer.

Cindy Pace is a Climate Communicator & Storyteller with Climate Mental Health Network. She also serves on CMHN's Gen Z Advisory Board. Cindy works to increase awareness about the mental health consequences of climate change through education and community engagement.

Climate Mental Health Resources Attend or host a screening event of the CMHN Gen Z film: https://www.climatementalhealth.net/genzfilm
Resources for self-care: https://www.climatementalhealth.net/resources

Creative Arts Therapy: https://www.climatementalhealth.net/artstherapy
Resources for parents & caregivers: https://www.climatementalhealth.net/parents

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Donate to Jiyan Foundation for Human Rights US at www.jiyan.org/donate