Iowa Youth Writing Project Flyer
Have a story to share?
You want to learn how to write your story showing your own personality?
What about creating your story digitally and have FUN?
Interested?
Register now! by emailing contact@muawi.org
Enrollment is limited to 10 participants
When?
February 4, 11, 18, and 25, 2012 @ 12pm – 3pm
Where?
Monsoon’s office
515 28th Street Suite 101, Des Moines, Iowa
AN Iowa Youth Writing Project
&
Monsoon United Asian Women of Iowa COLLABORATION
As we look back from 2003 (when Monsoon was established as a program under the Iowa Coalition Against Sexual Assault) to the last few days in 2011, Monsoon as an organization has grown in fully serving the Asian Pacific Islander communities in Iowa. From one table at IowaCASA / one staff / no budget to a “real office” in Des Moines, office in Iowa City, and paid full-time staff epitomized the growth. In 2007, Monsoon separated from IowaCASA and became a non-profit organization and received its first two grants from the Iowa Attorney General’s Crime Victims Assistance Division (CVAD) and from the Iowa Public Health Sexual Violence Prevention (SVP). One staff was hired as the executive director and was officially opened on December 15, 2007 to provide services to survivors/victims of domestic violence and sexual assault. During the first six months of fiscal year 2008, Monsoon performed a community assessment, organized community events and created its youth violence prevention program. Monsoon also hired 3 summer youth interns to create its dating violence brochure. Monsoon also moved from one table to a small room at Geez Louise. Direct services in 2008 were very minimal but this changed at the end of 2008 because of Monsoon’s violence prevention program. Request for direct services increased in 2009. Monsoon received ARRA funding from CVAD and hired one full-time staff for direct services. Monsoon also applied for two federal funding from the Department of Justice Office on Violence Against Women – Culturally & Linguistically Specific Services Program (CLSSP) and Sexual Assault Specific Program Cultural Specific Program (SASP – CSP) and was successful in receiving the funding. The two grants allowed Monsoon to move to its current office space, hire two additional full-time for the Des Moines office, increase the number of on-call multilingual advocates, open the Iowa City office, hire one full-time staff in Iowa City, hire 10 Youth Peer-to-Peer Advocacy and Outreach. Increased staff allowed us to handle the increased demand for our services. In 2010, the number of direct services increased because victims/survivors from the Asian Pacific Islander communities in Iowa know that services are available and that they are not alone. Direct services were also provided to women from the African refugee communities. In 2011, Monsoon was in its final stage of gathering stories for its Oral History Project, continued its advocates and community organizing trainings, improved its youth violence prevention program, and continued providing services to victims/survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, dating violence, and stalking.
All of Monsoon’s work is not possible without its committed staff, youth advocates, volunteers, board members, and supporters. We thank you for all your support and we are hoping for continued good work, positive, and peaceful 2012.
December 26 to 31, 2011
1. Excuses, excuses. Sometimes life gets the best of me. Timeless phases littered on the floor before my enemy. Who’s to blame? Failed attempts to find a remedy to this pain. Who’s fault is it? As our oxygen supply slowly eats away bit by bit. Lungs are blackened by the filth that I’m breathing. Polluted thoughts infect the innocent, but when the innocent speak out it’s considered high treason against a government that dubs conservators as heathens. The weather changes while the time bomb is ticking away through the seasons. Fading away like a dying flame. Our hands cocked and ready to point our fingers, placing the blame. Excuses, excuses. When will we take responsibility for our own actions? As the lights and camera focus on us, we become twisted, shifting our reactions. Tell little white lies to serve as a distraction. Phony personages. False identities like a character on a stage. How can you bow to the crowd when you can’t even show your face. Enough is enough. Take charge and deal with your action’s burdens. Extinguish the fuse. No more excuses.
2. Umm… Period. Parenthesis. Usually I’m pretty articulate with the way I speak. But at the mere sight of you my knees go weak. It’s like nothing goes right. I walk with two left feet. You’re awfully cunning with your sleight of speech. Your devious tongue can whisper the secrets of my heart. Sugar, you’re too much for me. If I had diabetes, my levels would be off the chart. (haha) Wait. What am I doing? After all the times my heart has been metaphorically removed I told myself I wouldn’t give in to amour no more. But you’re awfully cute. The way your hair glistens when the light hits it just right. The way your dimples frame your snow white smile; it lights up the night. The way your eyes remind me of the Pacific Ocean ; I can’t swim so I get lost in them. You know what? Fuck all my precedents of what love should be. I want to wake up to the symphony of your voice. Let me download the mp3. They say love is blind, but you were my Braille. Ooh girl, I swear we’ve got chemistry. Your stare melted my heart like a zero on the pH scale. You are everything and nothing less. We can be like oreos and milk, Bonnie and Clyde . I’m Batman and you’re Robin my heart. Hold up, what’s this feeling in my stomach. I might need to fart. Nevermind. Must’ve been a swarm of butterflies; Or maybe fireworks when it’s not July. You were the queen who conquered my king. Our sweet nothings flourished into a game of chess. You kept me in check. You won with ease, but I had never wanted to lose so much in my life. Close parenthesis.
3. As the snow hesitantly hovers closer to the ground you and I, enveloped in a cocoon of woolen blankets, can silently gaze into the face of the city; a city breathing with new life as the spectrum of lights dance against the night. Your gloved hand in mine as we sip hot chocolate cautiously. Clouds of breath circulate the air as we examine passing moments. There’s no need to go anywhere. Time appears to be nothing but an outdated relic of a more complicated day.
4. Every morning, as my “The Office” ringtone sounds on my alarm, I wearily stumble out of my bed and tear another day off of my tableside calendar.
“Just a few more days Kiet”, I routinely recite to myself as I lightly touch my forehead against the wall. Chills run down my bare back as I awkwardly step into the morning and away from the warm comfort of my bed.
“I’ll miss you”, I jokingly whisper to my pillow. With one last groan, I throw on a dress shirt I found on the ground. Whether clean or filthy, it was undistinguishable. There’s really no point in trying anymore. Winter Break was basically here. And that meant that Iowa would no longer sustain me. I had already booked my ticket for the 21st (the final day of school before we were let off) and even the fact that our vacation days were slashed didn’t deter me from my happiness. But this joy was oddly bittersweet. By spending quality time with my family on the West Coast I’ll be missing out on several festivities that my friends are throwing throughout the holidays. This year, alone, I’ve made so many more friends. In such a short time, I’ve established close relationships with various people whom I never would have guessed would be so important in my life. A few years ago and even last year, I would’ve left Iowa without a second glance back. Things have changed. I usually despise any form of change; the status quo being a trustworthy ally, but change was for the better. This year has really hit home and I’ve never been more attached to my life than I am now.
Don’t get me wrong. I’m still overly excited to reunite with my favorite people in the entire world, walk through the chilled streets of downtown San Francisco, waver between wakefulness and slumber at every stop on the Caltrain, and exchange gifts on the 25th. I hardly ever get to see them and when I do, it’s like we were never apart. So in the end, I’ll enjoy my break either way. I just wish I was able to be at two places at once.
The standard of beauty is all about being skinny, having perfect skin, long legs, weighing a certain weight, and having the right proportions…the list goes on. I read a blog that an Asian woman wrote that described her struggles with being a tall and curvy woman in a family where Asian beauty standards are highly appreciated. She expressed her long time struggle with eating disorders and how she dealt with feeling “different.” I can relate with this girl because I do not fall into the Asian beauty standard. I have curves and for an Asian girl, I am considered a giant standing at an average height of 5’6”. Every time I attend a family gathering, I hear comments like “Wow, you are so tall! How tall are you know?” or “I wish I had your “assets.” Yes, these comments are flattering but when I hear these comments so frequently, I begin to wonder if they are really complimenting me or if they are subtly criticizing me. I like that I am “tall” and have curves but it took me a long time to appreciate my body. Like the Asian women who blogged about her struggles with eating disorders, I too, struggled with eating disorders. There was a time in my life where I weighed only 104 lbs. and that was because I had just started my recovery process from a major surgery that I had underwent. As frail and weak as I felt, I loved how skinny I was. I felt like being 104 lbs. was how I was supposed to be and how I wanted to stay. Unfortunately, I began to gain back the weight that I lost from my surgery. I was at a healthy weight but I knew that I was not 104 lbs anymore. Knowing that I was not the “ideal” weight anymore really shattered my self confidence because I viewed myself as “fat.” For many years, I would go on extreme diets and work out as much as I could just so that I could fall back to being “light as a feather” again. I’ve grown to like my assets but at times, I still struggle with my body image. I will not lie and say that I do not go on diets anymore but when I diet now, I diet in a healthy way.
The pressure that women feel, especially Asian women, to be skinny and have all the right assets has led to many Asian women to take extreme measures to fit into the beauty standard. For example, in Korea, the beauty standard is to be very fair skinned, skinny, have double eyelids, long legs, and perfect complexion. Can anyone else see the problem with this beauty standard? This beauty standard is westernized. Basically, if the women in Korea are not super model status, they are nothing. Girls in Korea are so desperate to fit into this outrageous beauty standard and are willing to undergo plastic surgery to achieve the “desired look.” It breaks my heart that the girls in Korea feel subjected to change every part of them to be what society wants them to be. Women are built differently but they are all built beautifully. I may not fit into a size 2, be the skinniest girl in the world, or have the best complexion but I know that I am healthy, fit, and beautiful. I can only hope that the standard of beauty will change for the better.
NOT ASIAN: Are you really?
Recently I read an article that talks about how Asians are discriminated in the college admissions process. The first time I read this I instantly felt anger because I believe that it is totally wrong and it very much insults me being an Asian American student. This article only mentions that students who are half Asian and half American. The Asian half of these students are mostly from East Asia which includes countries such as China, Taiwan, and Korea. Well what about the rest of the Asian Americans that are fully Asian or what about other different sub categories of Asian? For example, Southeast Asians like Laotians, Cambodian, or Vietnamese. In our society when someone is referred to as “Asian” they are either Chinese or Japanese. No, this is not right and people need to understand that just like “White” Americans us Asians have sub categories as well. This article I feel just doesn’t talk about a half Asian half American student not getting into or trying to get into an Ivy League school, it talks more about that student choosing what heritage they would rather be associated with to better advance themselves. All of the students in this article chose to pick the White box on their applications not just because of their family telling them to, but to have a higher chance of getting into these collages. Quote from Amalia Halikias she didn’t “want to be grouped into that stereotype,” she also said, “I didn’t want to be written off as one of the 1.4 billion Asians that were applying.” Asians are put in this stereotypical category that we are all robots and do exactly what our parents tell us to do or that all Asian mothers are “Tiger Mothers”. I for sure know that my mother is not a Tiger Mom. My mother doesn’t demand me to get straight A’s or have a 4.0 grade point average. She is supportive of me whatever I chose to do or not do. She wants me to make my own choices and learn from them. Same goes for my father as well. All of my hard work and effort I put into a class or activity I do all comes from myself. I also know that I’m am not a “boring academic robot.” I will say that I am one out of those three adjectives which is academic. Society clumps Asians into one big, vast group and don’t looking at the different groups that make up that whole 6% of Asian students getting accepted or so. I just want non Asians to understand that it bothers us Asian students when we can’t get ahead in our society when we work just as hard as any race category out there. I’m so tired of white students saying that Asians can get into college and get scholarships so easily. Well according to this article we don’t even have a chance to get into any Ivy League school unless we are insane, crazy, studying robots that meet stupid standardized test that don’t even reflect upon our academic success we have in high school. Asian students have to work just as hard as those students who get into good colleges. They are also saying that because we are Asian that we can’t get into college because there is too many of us. Are you kidding me? Compared to the White population of the United States the Asian population is way, way small. That percentage of Asian American students getting accepted into highly academic university is low. My point is that this article feeds into the media hype of categorizing Asians into stereotypical groups that are true to an extent but not true for all Asians.
to read the article: go to http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2070417/More-Asian-Americans-NOT-ticking-Asian-college-applications-bid-easier-admission-rate.html#ixzz1hHdY1IMq”
Monsoon United Asian Women of Iowa is a nonprofit community based organization working towards eliminating every form of violence, such as domestic violence and sexual assault. Community based organization is not just simply about your location or the status of Monsoon. A community based organization means being about the community; such as community-identified, community-motivated, community focused, community specific, and community rooted.
Monsoon is also a grass root organization, which means it is not working from the top down, but more horizontal in nature. Meaning those in power do not control or make the decision. Being a grass root organization is linked to being a community based organization. Grass roots are described as helping those specific people in the specific communities. For instance, Monsoon is working with women in the Asian community ranging from Southeast Asia and Middle East.
Working for a community based and grass root organization has changed my perspective. Monsoon has taught me that those with power because of their social status and wealth should not make the decisions for our own community. The community should have a say in what is going on around them. Being a part of Monsoon taught me the importance of reaching out to the community and focusing on the specifics of what needs to be worked on.
I work for Monsoon a community based non-profit organization. Working for Monsoon is a very special experience. Working for any community based organization is a great opportunity. It is not an ordinary job that a teenager would get. Most teenagers get jobs at fast food stores or clothing stores. At Monsoon we don’t have to sell fast food or clothing. We service the community in other ways, such as events, clothing drives, workshops and more. These events are very fun and useful to the community. There are many more opportunities when you work for a Monsoon. For example I will be able to host my own basketball tournament because of monsoon. Any average fast food worker does not have the opportunity to do that. I also have the opportunity to educate kids around my own age about non-violence and immigration. Monsoon is almost like having another a class in high school because there is a lot of writing and training. The training is very useful and helpful for job skills. Overall working for a community based organization such as Monsoon is a great opportunity and humbling experience.
Yao Ming was the first superstar Asian basketball player in the N.B.A. He put Asian-American basketball players on the map for us. Yao Ming weighs in at three hundred and ten pounds. He also stands at an amazing seven foot six, making the tallest player ever to set foot in the N.B.A. The giant was born the heart of China, Shanghai on September twelfth 1980. In 2002 the Houston Rockets selected Yao Ming as the number one overall pick in the N.B.A. In his career Yao was selected to be an all star every year he played. He was also awarded all N.B.A. honors five times also making the all rookie team on 2002. Over all in career he averaged nineteen points per game, a little under two blocks a game, nine rebounds per game, and one and half assist per game. Yao was a threat N.B.A defenses because of his height and low post offense. He was also a floor leader on defense. By swatting shots and grabbing rebounds those other centers could even reach. Yao Ming was a huge asset to have on your team. He help lead the Houston rockets to their playoff series win in 2009 since 1997. Yao Ming was every Asian favorite basketball player. Thousands of Asians watched N.B.A. just to watch Yao Ming play. He gave us someone to look up to literally! He not only played in the U.S. , but also in China and the Olympics. He led China to win three gold medals for the FIBA Asian Championship. Each of those tournaments he was the M.V.P. Unfortunately Yao Ming’s career was ended early because of injuries. He suffered injuries in his ankle and foot. Despite Yao Ming’s early retirement he will always be admired. He was a bridge for Asian basketball fans. He set the standard for the first big Asian basketball player.
