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Bridging Communities, Empowering People
South Asian Network
Fall 2009, Volume 1, Issue 1
Welcome to SAN’s first online quarterly newsletter! Look out for updates onceevery three months and stay connected to us!
 Have suggestions? Click here!
 
IN THIS ISSUE
AWAZ Online Release of Public Service Announcement
UNIT UPDATES:
* Online Release of PSA! –
pg. 1
* Worker’s Rights Project Launched! –
pg. 1
* Isolation and Belonging –
pg. 1
* Koreatown Residents HostUnity Townhall –
pg. 5
 
ACTION ALERTS:
* ICE and Police Scaring Communities, NotSecuring –
pg. 4
COMMUNITY STORIES:
* Survivor Battles Systemic Violence –
pg. 6
-
By
Saima Husain
, AWAZ Associate Coordinator and
 
 PreetiSharma
, Communications Associate
 
The AWAZ Voices Against Violence unit and the survivor’ssupport group are proud to announce both the television release
and 
online release of their jointly created Public ServiceAnnouncement (PSA)! Starting mid-September 2009, the PSAbegan screening on the U.S. version of the national Banglachannel, Ntv, and is
now available for viewing on youtube here
.The PSA plays a large part of AWAZ’s efforts to preventdomestic violence and to develop leadership amongst survivors
Continued on Page 3.
 
Pioneer Blvd. Worker’s Rights ProjectSuccessfully Launched
- BY
Sannah Rahim
, SAN Intern
Forty workers attended SAN’s official launch of the PioneerBlvd. Worker’s Rights Organizing Project. The event took place atHeritage Park in Cerritos on Monday, August 3
rd
, 2009. Held inresponse to the prevalence of labor rights abuses impacting lowincome workers, the event is a part of a larger goal to end theexploitation of South Asian and Latino workers on Pioneer Blvd.,and build relationships between them.
Continued on Page 1.
Workers speak out at Launch of Organizing Project 
Isolation and Belonging: SAN’s Older Adults Walk it Off!
- BY
 Preeti Sharma
, Communications Associate
On Wednesday, September 30
th
, twenty-five older adultsstretched near the benches outside the Artesia Senior Center. Likelongtime friends, many chatted about their children, their children’schildren, and family matters. Amidst the camaraderie and laughter,everyday activities suddenly transform into moments of excitement.A group of seniors gather outside the center two times a week –Wednesdays and Fridays – to walk.
Continued on Page 2.
Walking Club Members Play Games
Page1
 
 
Walking Club Members and CHAI Staff Gather Together After a Potluck 
(From Isolation and Belonging, Pg. 1)
 The “Walking Club,” as addressed by both SANstaff and the seniors, is a space where elderlymembers of Artesia’s South Asian communityparticipate in exercise and social activities.South Asian Network’s Community HealthAction Initiative (CHAI) began case managementwith the elderly South Asian community in late2003. In between case management visits andintake questions, lead advocate Farhana Shahidconstantly heard undertones of isolation andlonging.In late 2008, older adults clients, communityleaders, and CHAI staff researched ways to gatherthe seniors in the area. They decided upon forming aspace where elderly can both walk and talk.Elderly play games like cards or antakshari (apopular Desi singing game), engage in light exerciseof stretching aerobics and walking, and alsoparticipate in workshops on nutrition and health.Santosh, one of the walking club members,attends the club because “it helps me deal with mydepression. I don’t feel stuck at home anymore.”This is the first formal South Asian walking clubto form across the country.“In the beginning, some members were quiet.They never shared anything,” says Prakash Ghimire, aSAN Lead Community Advocate, “These days, theyare speaking more, visiting each others homes, andbringing other people who live alone to the club. Wedon’t even have to outreach about the club.”However, the club’s walking path has not been aneasy one. While community partners, like the AsianPacific Islander’s Older Adult Task force commendSAN’s walking club, building bridges with the ArtesiaSenior Center has been a challenge in terms of integration due to language and cultural activities.Despite the differences, SAN’s walking clubcontinues to meet twice a week to share their storiesand to go for a walk.
The South Asian Network (SAN)is a grassroots community-based organization dedicated to advancing the health, empowerment, and solidarity of persons of South Asian origin. Fundamental to SAN’s mission is equality for all.
SAN is a 501 c(3) Non-Profit Organization * Tax ID No. 33-0608166
Page2
SAN Artesia Office:
18173 Pioneer Blvd.2nd Floor, Suite IArtesia, CA 90701Phone: (562) 403-0488Fax: (562) 403-0487
www.southasiannetwork.org
email: saninfo@southasiannetwork.org
 
 
(From Pioneer Blvd., pg. 1
)Low income workers in thisarea face many challengesincluding: denial of minimumwage, lack of overtime pay, longwork hours, denial of meal andrest periods, and a general lack of health and safety in theworkplace. In addition, languagebarriers, immigration status, age,problems finding transportation,fear of retaliation, the pressure of the economic crisis, isolation frommainstream America anddiscrimination comprise otherobstacles for workers.During part of the picnic,staff and workers made plans forthe next year to challenge and endexploitation in the area.Additionally, Steve Zrucky,Senior Attorney at Legal AidFoundation of Los Angeles,Employment Law unit, conducteda “Know your Rights”presentation around CA laborlaws.
Timeline for Workers Rights at Display
Many workers shared their stories,willingness and strength to fightagainst these injustices and todemand their rights.In the last two years,
SAN
 helped workers obtain over $75,000in back wages and penalties. SAN’sstrategies include: writing demandletters, holding settlement meetings,and organizing visits and publicactions in front of violating stores.
SAN
hopes that the PioneerBlvd. Worker Right's OrganizingProject will bring together diversecommunities and create change,ultimately allowing the employer-worker relationship to be supportive,rather than exploitative.(
From Online Release, Pg. 1)
 Addressing the prevalence of domestic violence inthe South Asian community, the PSA shares the story of ayoung South Asian family. The family appears in “maritalbliss” on the outside, yet, behind close doors, their conflictescalates and violence occurs. Through dialogue andpositive behavior, the PSA encourages violence preventionand healthy relationships.After a feedback session for the PSA, an anonymoussurvivor asserted, “I wish my in-laws and ex-husbandcould have seen this PSA. It openly deals with poor family dynamics and how to change.”In addition to the PSA’s new availability online, and its current run on channel Ntv, the PSA was shownat Naz’s Artesia Theater through summer 2009. It also played on local Los Angeles South Asian televisionprograms earlier in the year. AWAZ estimates that over 50,000 people have already viewed the PSA.The PSA, from the start, remained a community-wide effort. While survivors and staff came up withmessaging, a local production group (the Narra Group) wrote, directed, and edited the PSA, and a localmusician, Manisha Shahane, provided the music.
PSA Actors Depict Family Addressing Violence
Page3
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