New Farms for New Americans farmers are vending at five local farmers markets each week. We’ll also be selling at the new South Burlington Farmers Market. Visiting the New Farms for New Americans stand at farmers market to say hello or purchase vegetables and prepared food is a great way to support the New Farms project. We love to see friendly faces.
Tuesdays: Old North End Farmers Market, 3:00-6:30
Wednesdays: Burlington South End Farmers Market 3:30-6:30 and New North End Farmers Market, 3:00-6:30
Thursdays: Winooski Farmers Market, 3:30-6:30
Saturdays: Williston Farmers Market, 10:00-1:00
One Sunday a Month: South Burlington Farmers Market at Healthy Living, August 23 and September 20 9:00-1:00
Pitchfork Farm and Arethusa Collective Farm hosted some visits from new American farmers in July. The Intervale farmers showed the refugees some of how they run their farms and businesses. We had commiserating conversations about the tomato and potato blight. Thanks to the Intervale farmers for your warm hospitality and great example!
The New Farms for New Americans project has some new faces, and many are from Asia! The Association of Africans Living in Vermont has opened its services to all refugees. Therefore, this year 15 Bhutanese households are trying their hand at farming and food businesses in the United States, as part of the New Farms for New Americans Project.
Most Bhutanese in Vermont were formally refugees in Nepal. The Bhutanese were resettled in Vermont, as well as many other location in the U.S., less than a year ago. All of the New Farmers have extensive agricultural experience and we are excited to see what they are able to do here. Wish them well with their new business enterprises!
New Farms for New Americans is back with 50 refugee farmers. These farmers are from Somalia, Congo, Burundi and Bhutan. They grow organic vegetables on individual plots and sell at five local farmers markets. Local businesses are also planning on buying from the project, inculding Magnolia Bistro, the Ice House Restaurant, American Flatbread, Healthy Living and City Market.
New Farms for New Americans farmers are looking forward to bringing fresh, organic food home to their families and earning money. It looks to be a great year!
Announcement: The Association of Africans Living in Vermont, in partnership with the Champlain Valley Micro-business Development Program and Opportunities Credit Union, will be hosting an African Small Business Development Fair on Saturday, December 13th at the Winooski Community Center from 12:30 – 4 p.m. The purpose of the fair is to expose members of the African immigrant and refugee communities to the concept of starting a small business. The fair will include vendors from different small business assistance programs, a presentation on how to develop a small business concept, and a panel of existing refugee and immigrant small business owners in Vermont. Attendees will also be able to sign up for free tax assistance through Casey Family Services.
We’re pleased to highlight Ahmed Museh’s successful employment as a welder at Fab-Tech, Inc in Colchester! The welding workforce development project continues. If you are intested in joining the project as a participant, feel free to contact project manager Naweza Muderhwa at 985-3106. The project is partnership between the Advanced Welding Institute, the Vermont Refugee Resettlement Program, and the AALV.
This Saturday from 10 a.m. to 12 noon, the Association of Africans Living in Vermont, in partnership with the Vermont Workers’ Center, will deliver its second Employment Rights Workshop to the African community. The workshop, which will be held at the Winooski Community Center (32 Malletts Bay Avenue), will explore the unemployment benefits system and workers’ compensation laws. We encourage attendees to bring their personal testimonies to the workshop to discuss with the experts.
And listen up for Kate Kanelstein from the Vermont Workers’ Center on Radio Africa this Wednesday at 10 a.m. She’ll give us a preview of the workshop and explain what’s going on at the Workers’ Center.
As always, if you need a ride to the workshop, call the AALV at 802 985 3106. Translated workers’ rights handouts can be found here: somali, swahili, french, english.
This is a very important update: Radio Africa will now be broadcasting from 10 a.m. until 12 noon every Wednesday on 88.7FM, WWPV. This is a change from our previous broadcast time on Sunday afternoons. AALV made the change to accommodate the schedules of DJs and guests, alike. We’d like to thank our friends at St. Michael’s College and WWPV for allowing AALV to continue this important public service and modify its programming schedule to better meet our needs.
The same great music and interviews will still be broadcast. Tune in to the warm sounds of the Continent every Wednesday from 10 a.m. to 12 noon!
We want to highlight an event taking place at the First Congregational Church on Sunday, October 12th from 5 – 7 p.m. AALV, the Church, and Church World Service (CWS) will be hosting an event featuring CWS East Africa staff, Sarah Bureti and Mary Obiero. CWS East Africa is responsible for much of the refugee resettlement processing out of Africa. This is your chance to come out and speak first hand with those at the center of refugee service in Africa. Here’s the event flier.
Big thanks are in order to the Kimberly-Clark Corporation and the United Way of Chittenden County for connecting the AALV-JUMP (Joint Urban Ministries Project) Collaborative with more than a $1,000 worth of diapers for our community. AALV staff members Naweza, Kalton, and Bol are clearly very excited about the donation! The AALV-JUMP collaborative connects low-income members of the African refugee and immigrant community with emergency utility shut-off assistance, extra diapers, extra food, and vouchers for clothing and laundry. While this type of assistance sounds like relatively little, it in fact can mean the difference between self-sufficiency and homelessness.
Thank you, Kimberly-Clark, for your donation, and thank you, United Way, for your wonderful networking assistance!
