PLEASE NOTE: Community Language and Culture Bank officially changed its name to Center for Intercultural Organizing in August, 2005 to better reflect our mission, work and values.

The Oregonian (Portland, OR) 
November 21, 2003 

OUT OF WAR, IN FOR PEACE 
Angie Chuang

Kayse Jama has been active in the Portland area's immigrant and refugee communities for five years. Jama, a Somali refugee who fled Mogadishu in 1991 during that country's civil war, says he wants his personal experiences to help others to know and address the costs of war. 

Jama has been an African youth coordinator at Lutheran Community Services, a refugee resettlement agency, since 1999. He is an advocate for refugee children in schools and helped establish the Somali Women's Association, which has evolved into the new African Women's Coalition. 

In fall 2002, he took a six-month sabbatical from Lutheran Community Services to form the Community Language and Culture Bank. 

The group organizes regular forums on world issues. The most recent was on U.S. occupation of Afghanistan, and the next one, on Dec. 3, will address migrant labor. The group also provides interpreting services. 

Jama started the Community Language and Culture Bank in his basement shortly after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and, with the help of a $8,000 grant from the Portland-based McKenzie River Gathering Foundation, now has a downtown office and eight volunteer staff members. 

Jama recently discussed his new project, as well as his efforts in the immigrant and refugee communities. Answers have been edited for brevity. 

Q: Several organizations in Portland address the needs of immigrants, refugees and people of color. What's different about the Community Language and Culture Bank? 

A: There are many nonprofit social service agencies, including the one I work for -- Lutheran Community Services -- that are doing very good work for these groups. The Community Language and Culture Bank is not a social service agency. We are a grass-roots advocacy organization that believes passionately that people need to talk to and understand each other. People fear what they don't know. 

We're developing a program called Families Without Borders which will set up exchanges so refugee/immigrant and mainstream families can learn from each other. So many services for refugees are set up so that it's the mainstream providing for these poor, helpless families. We're advocating for an equal partnership. 

Q: What inspired you to found the organization? 

A: After Sept. 11, I was driving a group of Somali women in a van. They didn't think I was listening, but I heard them sharing with each other: One of them had trash thrown at her while waiting at a bus stop, and another said someone yelled profanities at her. I had not imagined the extent of what they, or any other women in traditional Muslim dress, were facing. 

I thought that something must be done. I became active in the peace movement and decided to start the Community Language and Culture Bank. 

Q: How does the Community Language and Culture Bank mesh with your personal anti-war beliefs? 

A: Our main goal is fostering intercultural communication, which we believe is key in preventing future wars. We also believe in peaceful conflict resolution. We believe it's important to hear from the refugees of war here in Portland, to have them share what war is like. It is not what you see on CNN with embedded journalists. 

I have decided to use my experience with war and as a refugee to prevent that from happening to others. There is a lot of pain. I did not want to leave my country to face racism and discrimination here. I want to be a part of a solution to that, on a global level. 
Tell me about your work with African youth at Lutheran Community Services. 

I started working at Lutheran Community Services again in April, focusing on working with African youth. We're collaborating with the Capstone Program at Portland State University (a community-based learning experience required of all undergraduates) to provide tutoring for Somali youth. 

My big push now with African, especially Somali, youth is to get them to engage in education. They've had a lot of difficulty adjusting to American schools. They feel left out of the system. The only way out for them is to work hard and seek higher education. I can't emphasize that enough. 

Q: How does the African Women's Coalition at Lutheran Community Services fit into that? 

A: I feel that providing services for women is important because if you serve the women, you serve the children. 

That said, I've worked to hand over control of the women's programs to African women. I feel it's important that as an African man, I don't speak for them or have a permanent leadership role in their organization. We now have Evelyne Elio-Hart from Ivory Coast coordinating the program, and another staff person, Elise Ekombele from Congo. They've brought so much in terms of their perspective and experience. 

Angie Chuang: 503-221-8219; angiechuang@news.oregonian.com