From April through September, the Highland Gong Society & Eka Coop will be hosting Gongs & Coffee in Slocan Park on most Sundays from 10am to 12pm (Check Eka Events for dates & location!)

Come out and meet the Montagnard, a diverse Indigenous community of Jarai, Bahnar, Ede and Bunong families who have arrived in East Vancouver as UN refugees from their ancestral lands in the Annamite rainforests of Southeast Asia – today, southeast Laos, northeast Cambodia & the Central Highlands of Vietnam.

Experience the Montagnard's sacred gong music, dances and traditional regalia, recognized by UNESCO as an integral piece of humanity’s intangible cultural heritage.

Coffee, tea and snacks will be available by donation.

We proudly serve Doi Chaang Coffee – 50% grower-owned, their Beyond Fair Trade business model aligns with our values of sustainability and cultural continuity for Indigenous peoples:

Our story of Doi Chaang Coffee is set in a small village located within the Northern Thailand region of the Golden Triangle. It all began when the hill tribe families of the Doi Chang Village united together to create their own coffee company; after 20 years of cultivating and processing coffee, the farmers grew frustrated selling their high quality beans for minimal prices to coffee dealers who would blend them with other inferior coffee beans. Through their own initiative, our families decided it was time to directly offer the unique taste of their own premium, single-estate, organic Arabica coffee.

The villagers soon established themselves as independent, successful coffee producers, building their own processing plants, drying facilities, and storage warehouses. The coffee is cultivated in small family gardens with everyone committed to maintaining sustainable agriculture and having minimal impact on the natural habitat. All aspects of production are carefully monitored to ensure consistent and optimal taste in every cup of Doi Chaang Coffee.

 Committed to offering Doi Chaang Coffee as an exclusive single-estate, certified-organic Arabica, the growers approached a small Canadian group of coffee enthusiasts to bring Doi Chaang Coffee into the international market.

In recognition of the equal value of their contributions, the growers and the Canadian group established an equal partnership for the international distribution of Doi Chaang Coffee. The growers continue to focus on cultivation, processing and domestic sales, while the Canadian group provides financing, marketing, roasting and distribution for the international market.

Today, the Doi Chang Village and the surrounding area is home to 8,000 people within eight hundred families, all living and primarily working together to cultivate and produce a premium organic, single-estate Arabica coffee.

Montagnard visit the Sunshine Coast

Co-founder Haley Howe organized a trip with the Montagnard to visit her village on the Sunshine Coast.For two activity packed days over the Labour Day Weekend, a group of Montagnard were able to experience the first vacation of their lives.

The trip offered a wonderful opportunity for the Montagnard to experience small town B.C.  All of the Montagnard talked about how much they missed living in a rural environment.  They commented on the fresh air, silence, lack of skytrain and traffic noise, and the sound of the birds and crickets at night.  The Sunshine Coast brought back fond memories of village life and created an opportunity to meet a small town community and experience more of the diversity of Canada.

Haley’s family welcomed the Montagnard with open arms.  They were shocked to hear about the struggles the Montagnard have endured not only in their home country but also in resettlement to Canada.  Haley comments, “spending time with the Montagnard in my hometown reminded me of how much I take for granted.  I am so lucky to have my wonderful family so near and be able to visit them when I want to and to have such a beautiful piece of land to call home.”

Riding the BC Ferries

Preparing traditional meals

Meeting the family

Swimming in the lake
 

Learning about hunting and construction

Asian/Western Breakfast

2012 Dega Days Celebration on Saturday, September 22
New Central Highlands, Randolph County near Asheboro, NC

Cross post  from Gonzo on the Right

It is with heavy hearts that Eka shares the tragic news of Yao Nay's death on Sunday morning (August 19th, 2012) near his home village in an area of the Central Highlands of Vietnam. The official report is that he succumbed to injuries sustained in a motorcycle accident near his wife's village, (Ia Phang village, Chu Se District, in Gia Lai province),an area closed to foreigners by the Vietnamese government. Details are limited as communications in and out of this area are severely restricted by the government. A full investigation by Department of Foreign Affairs is now underway.

Yao Nay (July 24, 1982 - August 19, 2012) with his MP & former federal immigration critic Don Davies last Christmas. Don has worked tirelessly over the years with Eka to help Yao and the other Montagnard men reunite with their wives and children.

Yao Nay was Jarai, one of the Montagnard (aka Degar) peoples indigenous to the highlands of what is now considered Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam. In 2005, he joined thousands of his fellow Montagnard who have risked everything – leaving their families, communities and ancestral lands behind – to flee decades of violent religious and ethnic persecution by the Vietnamese government. Yao escaped through the heavy jungle over the border to Cambodia and sought asylum in the UNHCR refugee camp in Phnom Penh. After a year in the camp, he was resettled to Vancouver by Canada as a government sponsored refugee.

Yao arrived in Canada on a cold December day in 2006 – quite a shock to someone raised in the tropical jungles of Southeast Asia!

Along with the other Montagnard men sent to Vancouver, Yao struggled with the difficulties of being resettled into Vancouver's Vietnamese community and provided with only Vietnamese interpretation (a language unrelated to theirs, which they do not understand.) He also struggled with being separated from his wife for so long. A soul can handle a year or two, but if he or any of the men had known just how long it would take to reunite with their families, not one of them would have gotten on that plane in Cambodia. Sadly, earlier this year, as Yao turned 30, his 6-year effort to sponsor his wife to Canada hit a brick wall when Citizenship & Immigration Canada officially denied his One Year Window sponsorship application.

Yao had applied to sponsor his wife under the One Year Window program when he first arrived as a refugee, but being mistaken for Vietnamese seriously impeded his ability to communicate with border services or understand the complexity of the sponsorship process. Citizenship & Immigration Canada denied his application on the grounds that he did not tell immigration officials he was married when he was questioned at the airport. Yao had in fact tried in his language, Jarai, but the officials who oversaw the process only spoke Vietnamese and did not record his statement. To complicate matters, his wife was called to the Canadian Consulate in Ho Chi Minh last fall for an interview, where she was questioned in Vietnamese (ignoring her extremely limited ability to communicate in Vietnamese) and couldn't give a satisfactory answer as to why they had not gone on a honeymoon and didn't have any wedding photos (practices that are entirely culturally irrelevant to these indigenous forest peoples.) Eka helped Yao launch an appeal before the Immigration & Refugee Board; however, by the time he left, it was becoming clear that they would not be able to overturn the decision on humanitarian & compassionate grounds. 

Nevertheless, Yao worked very hard to learn English and accomplished the incredible feat of becoming a Canadian citizen just a few short months ago (the only way for him to return to Vietnam to see his wife again.) "It was a proud day when he brought me the letter which invited him to his oath ceremony," said Kara Ardan, an Eka Director who worked closely with Yao for years, "I remember shaking his hand – he was so thrilled! He knew it also meant he could travel to Vietnam to see his wife again." Yao immediately applied for a Canadian passport and used this new ID to get a visa to travel back to his village. While excited to see his wife, he was also very worried about how the Vietnamese police would treat him (as all the Montagnard men are who manage to do this). He gave a copy of his identification and emergency contact numbers to us here at Eka in case 'anything happened'. Predictably, the harassment began as soon as he arrived at the airport and the Vietnamese officials saw the birthplace on his passport. He called home several times throughout his stay to relay that he was being bullied, interrogated, harrassed and followed by the Vietnamese police.

[Unfortunately, this situation is all too common in Vietnam. Several Montagnard men have managed to go back, and each time have face lengthy interrogations on arrival at the airport and repeatedly throughout their visits about their activities and relationships here in Canada. Family members have been forced to sign statements accepting personal liability for any political uprisings that occur during their visit and we have obtained documentation of repeated police interrogations and physical harassment of family members of refugees resettled to Canada. Many of the men have never returned to their village again, as their visit brought significant hardship and continued police harassment upon their wives, children and extended families. In fact, one of Eka's founding Directors – herself Canadian-born – was denied her right to contact the Canadian embassy, while detained illegally by the Vietnamese police for 3 days after attempting to visit a Montagnard village in the Central Highlands.]

During his years in Canada, Yao had been working hard at many low wage, part-time jobs to save up enough money to give his wife a larger wedding, with a fancy dress and a big dinner for their families. Like many other young Montagnard, Yao got married during a time of heightened violence and severe oppression. Large village gatherings were banned and the Vietnamese police would observe and severely restrict attendance at community celebrations like weddings. Yao was so happy to be able to surprise his wife with this big party when he arrived back in Vietnam. And they did have a lovely time, Yao said it was everything he had hoped for and that he was getting sad, as he was due to come back to Vancouver on Sept 3rd, when his visa expired. I think he knew it would be a long battle to convince CIC that in fact they really were married and that they wouldn't able to be together permanently for a very long time. The uncertainty of the appeal of CIC's decision weighed heavily on him, even though several excellent lawyers had agreed to assist him pro bono with his complicated case.

To compound the tragedy of Yao's story, he had been alone for a very long time and during this period became close friends with a young Montagnard girl he'd met in the refugee camp who had bravely escaped through the jungle as a teenager. When the camp was closed, she too was resettled to Vancouver and, although not outwardly a couple, they sought comfort with each other through the long, difficult years – a serious consequence of the extraordinary length of time CIC takes to process family reunifications. Yao leaves behind two very young children born here in Vancouver. At just 21, this young single mother is now alone again and utterly devastated that her children (3 years and 6 months old) will never know their father.

While the Vancouver Montagnard community is deeply mourning the loss of their close friend, their ability to carry on together with grace, faith, hope and humility in the face of the many hardships they continue to face is an inspiration to all Canadians – especially those of us who they've so readily welcomed into their lives.

Through all of the tears shed here at Eka and in the Vancouver Montagnard community, we are all taking some comfort in knowing that Yao was able to spend his last month on the land he loved, surrounded by his parents, village community and the wife he'd yearned so long to see again.  

Ashley Arden
Chair & Co-Founder
Eka Cooperative

Fluent in many dialects of several Montagnard languages, Kun Siu is the Church of Montagnard Society's community translator and volunteers coutnless hours with Eka to support his community here in Vancouver.

Kun left his land and his parents to escape religious persecution by the Vietnamese government through the jungle over the border to a UNHCR refugee camp in Cambodia, before being resettled to Vancouver in 2007. He will be unable to return to his village to see his family again, until he is able to obtain his Canadian citizenship. Vancouver East MP Libby Davies' Once in a Lifetime Bill would allow refugees like Kun a one time chance to sponsor a relative to Canada who wouldn't otherwise be eligible under the family class, like a parent, cousin or close friend. Without this legislation, many refugees like Kun who've been resettled alone are unlikely to ever see their family members again.

Kun's message on World Humanitarian Day:

Brak is also Jarai. His father was resettled to Canada as a convention refugee; however, the sponsorshop process took many years, and by the time Brak was able to come to Canada with his mother and siblings, he had already married and started a family of his own. His humanitarian and compassionate grounds sponsorship application for his wife and daughter, who is now 6, was recently denied. A nearly identical application for another young Montagnard refugee man who had been sponsored by his father and appealed to sponsor his young wife and child was approved. Neither of them claimed their wife or child when they arrived at the airport because they were questioned by ethnic Vietnamese border guards in Vietnamese, a language neither of them understands well and by a uniformed officer of their oppressor's ethnicity. In Vietnam, speaking about their wives and children to state police would put their families at high risk of harassment, interrogation and physical abuse. This small mistake left them unable to sponsor their wives and children under the standard one-year window sponsorship process. The refugee board's utter lack of consistency has turned the reunifcation of Brak's friend's family into a bittersweet moment for the community. Eka is working to appeal the decision, but it is unclear if Brak - who as a refugee is unable to return to Vietnam - will be able to see his wife and daughter again.

Brak's song for World Humanitarian Day:

Brak's message:

The Vancouver Montagnard community's Highland Gong Society joined a host of other Southeast Asian cultural arts groups in the 2nd Annual Southeast Asian Cultural Arts Festival (SEACAF). Adrian Dix, Leader of BC NDP, came out to support the Montagnard and to close the day's festivities, the Filipino dance and music group Kathara Dance Theatre Collective Canada led a jaw dropping South East Asian jam session with the Montagnard's Highland Gong Society & Gamelan players Made Kartanawan and his son Hari from Bali.

And a huge thank you to the Monsoon Society for putting on a great day and everyone who came out to participate! 

See you all next year at SEACAF 2013!

Read the full story here on the CBA blog.

Last year, Eka Co-Founders Ashley & Kara participated in this incredible trip led by our great friend, Canadians for Reconciliation's Bill Chu. It was a amazing adventure up BC's coast and we learned a great deal about BC's early Chinese communites – especially their connections with First Nations communities! It openned our eyes to role fascinating role of Chinese pioneers in BC's early days. In sum: Great people, profound conversations, stunning scenery & amazing history. We highly recommend it! 

If you've been following the Interim Federal Health cuts saga, you may know that Minister Kenney's office has charged that citizens concerned about the impacts of the cuts have been spreading 'misinformation' about their reforms.

In our last piece, we posted their newspeak response to our concerns.

Today we responded (below) with three clear questions:

We'll see if we get a response.

***

Dear S. Charbonneau

Unfortunately, your response has not adequately addressed our specific concerns.

First, we take serious issue with your office framing the public concern over Minister Kenney's cuts to the Interim Federal Health Program as the spreading of 'misinformation' – unless, of course, you were referring to your Ministry's own reversal of its position on which classes of refugees will be affected - and to what extent - by the cuts.  

Why hasn't Minister Kenney publicly acknowledged and explained the changes that were made to the Ministry's IFH webpage?  

Why hasn't Minister Kenney publicly acknowledged and explained the changes in his public position on the classes of refugees to be impacted by the cuts?

Why hasn't Minister Kenney publicly addressed how and when the change in his public position since the cuts came into effect will be implemented to reinstate coverage for Government Assisted Refugees (GARs)?

Attached is a copy of a notice from your Ministry received by government-assisted refugees prior to the cuts coming into effect clearly stating that "benefits will be reduced for all current and future beneficiaries." Your response to us does not acknowledge any change; however, states clearly that  "only rejected refugee claimants and, once the provision comes into force, refugee claimants from designated countries of origin (which are generally safe countries) will receive limited coverage." We have first hand experience with the cuts affecting government-assisted refugees - which is at odds with your statement that only rejected and safe-country refugees would be impacted and the notices received by GARs. Please explain.

In working with our government-assisted refugee clients in Vancouver, we have documented several cases of coverage  under IFH being denied - coverage that Minister Kenney now says wasn't terminated for GARs. When we called your office to inquire why coverage was being denied to GARs given Kenney's public statements to the contrary, we were told that 'there was nothing you could do' to rectify the situation and that the 6 year old GAR girl who'd been in the country just 2 weeks should just 'put it on Visa' - the $410 bill for urgent dental care, that is.

We invite you to read more about how Minister Kenney's IFH cuts have impacted refugees on our website: www.eka.coop

In calling around to local health clinics, we've also documented that health providers are still (as of this week) under orders not to accept coverage under IFH for GARs (since the cuts came into effect on June 30th) and have yet to receive any information from CIC about reinstating coverage for government-assisted refugees.

We expect a timely response to these urgent questions.

Thank you,

Ashley

Ashley Arden
Chair & Co-Founder
Eka Cooperative

Minister Kenney's Office at CIC has finally come 'round to responding to Eka's concerns about the impacts the cuts to the Interim Federal Health program continue to have on our government-assisted refugee clients here in Vancouver (see their full response below.) 

As of this morning, the local health clinics we checked with had not heard anything from CIC about the Interim Federal Health coverage being reinstated for government-assisted or other classes of refugees. They've had to deny health coverage to refugees since the cuts came into effect at the beginning of July – including to young H'Mlack, whose story we shared a couple weeks ago. 

Rather than fess up that they made a mistake and instill a sense of confidence in among the Canadian public that they are doing everything within theri power to rectify this situation, Minister Kenney's office has had the gall to attribute the mass concern from the health and human rights sectors to 'misinformation' that's been spread about their cuts the the IFH program. 

Minister Kenney changed his speaking points after mass public outcry (despite showering himself with accolades) and his office quietly changed the information on their website on the Friday before the long weekend (although they still refuse to acknowlege the change.)

When will Minister Kenney implement the changes he's made on paper and reinstate the coverage he claims refugees have? Join us in asking him: minister@cic.gc.ca

IFH coverage termination letter received by a Government-Assisted (aka Government-Sponsored) refugee in Vancouver:

[Apparently Minister Kenney's office considers pointing out their own statement that 'benefits will be reduced for all current and future beneficiaries' is spreading of misinformation...]

From: "CIC - Ministerial Enquiries Division/CIC - Service de renseignements ministériels" <Ministerial.Enquiries.Division@cic.gc.ca>
Date: 24 July, 2012 8:53:55 AM PDT
To: "'kara@eka.coop'" <kara@eka.coop>
Subject: Citizenship and Immigration Canada - re: GAR's denied IFH services in Vancouver

Dear Ms. Ardan:

[Notes in bold are mine]
 
I am replying to your e-mail of July 3, 2012, addressed to the constituency office of the Honourable Jason Kenney, Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism, concerning the reform of the Interim Federal Health Program (IFHP).  I apologize for the delay in responding.
 
Unfortunately, some misinformation [hmm... Misinform tr.v. mis·in·formed, mis·in·form·ing, mis·in·form. (1) To provide with incorrect information] has been spread about the reform.  Refugees (those persons found to be in need of refugee protection under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA), including in-Canada refugee claimants and resettled refugees) will be eligible for IFHP Health Care coverage, which provides similar coverage of physician and hospital services as is currently covered under the IFHP. [Our government-assisted refugee clients received coverage termination letters -ABOVE- and continue to be denied coverage under the IFHP] Most refugee claimants and refugees will be able to seek assessment or follow-up by a physician for a specific disease, symptom, complaint or injury.
 
They will also be covered for prenatal care, labour and delivery, and postpartum care, and they will be able to seek care for the prevention, diagnosis, or treatment of a disease posing a risk to public health or a condition of public safety concern.  These IFHP beneficiaries will also be covered for services and products provided in response to a medical emergency, such as an injury or illness that poses an immediate threat to a person's life, limb or a function.  IFHP beneficiaries will not be covered for services provided solely for elective purposes, cosmetic purposes, services related to fertility or sterilization, long-term care and home care.  Those services are considered neither essential nor urgent.
 
We acknowledge that a number of refugees might have endured human rights violations and have, therefore, decided to continue to provide most refugee claimants and refugees with IFHP coverage comparable to provincial and territorial health insurance. They need not delay visits to a physician for any health condition they may have, including for emotional illnesses. They can also access psychotherapy with a licensed physician or a registered nurse. [And yet CIC has yet to tell health professionals that they can start helping refugees again]
 
Only rejected refugee claimants and, once the provision comes into force, refugee claimants from designated countries of origin (which are generally safe countries) will receive limited coverage, namely to prevent or treat a disease posing a risk to public health or to treat a condition of public safety concern. [And yet government-assisted refugees are still being denied coverage under IFH. I'm starting to feel like Kenney's concocted an alternate reality we've yet to be invited to.]
 
Thank you for your interest in this reform and for taking the time to express your concerns. [None of which seemed important enough to actually address, I guess.] For more information on the IFHP reform, please see: www.cic.gc.ca/ifhp.
 
 
S. Charbonneau
Ministerial Enquiries Division