Assembling Cultures in Buffalo

The Westside Bazaar allows immigrants and refugees to establish business and sell products that reflect their culture.

            With the help of Councilman David Rivera and the Grant-Ferry Stakeholders, the Westside Bazaar was created. Sean Mulligan, one of Rivera’s legislative aids, spoke about how the Westside bazaar came about.

            “The idea came from Grant-Ferry Stakeholders. They recognized refugee’s settings on the Westside and saw that they can be supports if they were working.”

            “The Westside Bazaar started and now when refugees came to Buffalo, they can show a part of their countries customs in America,” said Mulligan.

            The Westside Bazaar building process took time but it’s been up and running for years. To find out more about the history of the bazaar, visit: http://www.westsidebazaar.com/history.

The Westside Bazaar is filled with many different cultural shops that are run by immigrants and refugees. Robin Collier is a business owner and a sewing teacher at One World Threads. Her adversity and teachings help describe what the Westside Bazaar is all about.

            “I teach sewing to refugees and I noticed that there were a lot of refugees coming out of my classes who didn’t have sewing jobs and they loved sewing, so I decided to start this business and we just opened at the Westside bazaar three days ago,” said Collier.

            Collier assists refugees in learning business skills to someday open their own business. “I train them on how to run a store. A lot of them don’t speak any English at all so it can be hard if there isn’t a translator around.”

            “With the refugees that do speak some English, I try to push them as much as possible to take sales,” said Collier.

            The Bazaar is a place where small-business owners are able to have a space to sell their products, which is inexpensive, and they can also have a decent income.

            Owner of A&A’s Cookies, New Serixay spoke about how she deals with sending money home to her family. “I have to send money back to my country, sometimes it’s for family. It’s not hard to send money because I don’t have to send that often.”

            Collier’s business allows refugees to make money in due time.

“The whole goal is to provide a living wage for refugees, so right now they get paid through contracts. They get paid per piece they sell. Eventually, it will be an hourly wage but it’s going to be well-above minimum wage.”

Collier also said “Starting a business is hard. We have to find funding. We’re going to be doing a fundraising-campaign and we’re going get the name and products out there. We’re going to get a better website so we can start selling online.”

The establishment of the Westside Bazaar is not only beneficial to refugees but also the costumers.

Omar Rodriquez, a student at SUNY Buffalo State, enjoys coming to the Westside Bazaar for food.

“My friend introduced me to Ethiopian cuisine, so I decided to check this place out. I like trying foods outside my culture.”

            Alex Dixon, who is also a student at Buffalo State, also comes to the bazaar for its variety of cuisines.

 “As a buff state student, I do not get to really enjoy the natural cuisine from my culture, which is Caribbean food.”

“I heard about the Westside bazaar and she said they have Ethiopian food there so I figured they would have something close to Caribbean,” said Dixon.

The establishment of the Westside Bazaar is beneficial to consumers who enjoy a variety of cultures.

 “You can enjoy all cultures the same, even though they’re different,” said Dixon.

This is Collier’s business where she sells scarves, bags, and pillows.

This is rice, lamb, and a side-salad from Abyssinian Ethiopian cuisine.

This is chicken Thai Pad from Family Thai.

Fusing cultures at Buffalo State

The International Student Organization is an on-campus club that brings together people from different parts of the world.

ISO allows students on the Buffalo State to come together through the use of language, music, food, and culture.

ISO hosted a Latin American and Caribbean event that brought together students from all over.

Bruna Reis is a 21 year old junior at Buffalo State and she is in charge of public relations for ISO. Reis came from Brazil and she enjoys being a part of ISO.

“It’s an amazing experience to learn about other cultures and it kind of opens your mind and your perspective on people and it broadens your horizon and it’s really such an amazing experience.”

            Bringing people together is a part of ISO plan to teach people at Buffalo State about the different types of people that attend the school.

“Every semester we have events for the Middle-Eastern and now, we had to do the Latin American and Caribbean one so it’s a way to reach out to every part of the world,” said Reis.

“We do have a large number of Latin-American and Caribbean students on campus, so we kind of had to do it to make them feel welcomed.”

During the Latin American and Caribbean program, there was a dance performers and Puerto Rican food from the Niagara Café. There was yellow rice and peas, pastelillo, and chicken.

“It’s really nice to order from an actual restaurant that can make the type of food that pertained to the program,” said Reis.

            Takisha Morancy, biology major, was exposed to the different cultures at Buffalo State during this program. Her family is of a Haitian decent, so this was somewhat of a new cultural experience for her.

“Even though I’m biology major, I like to consider myself as somebody who likes different things. My friend is on e-board of ISO, so it gave me a chance to come and experience the cultural diversity the program has to offer,” said Morancy.

The program also allowed Morancy to meet new people. “I met two new people that were Hispanic. There were Brazilians there, also Trinidadians there. There were a lot of different people there.”

ISO allows students to embrace their culture and to share it with the people around them.

Being a part of the international family, you kind of miss your culture and country so being a part of such an organization helps you feel welcomed,” said Reis.

“I want to make others feel welcomed when they come here so they can have a good time while they are here in America.”

To find out more about ISO, visit https://www.bengalconnect.com/organization/ISO/

 This is the Ulma Alma Dance Organization performance.

A taste of Laos

The Westside Bazaar’s filled with multiple shops, especially for food. There are a variety of foods to choose from. Some come from Thailand, Japan, Ethiopia, Burma, Peru and Laos. A&A Cookies is run by Boulivone Serixay and New Serixay.

New Serixay is from Laos and she has been in Buffalo for about 15 years. Serixay came to Buffalo to pursue an education but ended up getting sidetracked by work. 
            “I’m not in school right now but I do work. Maybe I might go back to school,” said Serixay. She hopes to pursue an education in the near future.

At A & A’s Cookies, Serixay serves a variety of foods. 
         “I sell samosa, sesame cookies, sesame balls,” said Serixay.

“I make different types of Laos’s food like chicken, sticky rice, and bubble tea. I also make food for customers who would like to order platters for a party."

Lots of people from all over buffalo come to the West Side Bazaar to enjoy foods from a variety of cultures.

SUNY Buffalo State student, Takisha Morancy experienced her very first samosa from A&A’s cookies. A samosa is a fried pastry filled with either meats or vegetables.

“It was a different taste because it had potatoes in it. I usually eat patties with meat but there was no meat,” said Morancy.

Morancy also said, “It was good but it was definitely different getting used to the taste in my palate but overall I liked it and I would eat it again.”

It was Morancy’s first time at the West Side Bazaar and she described her experience. 
“The West Side Bazaar is interesting because you can see how many cultures can coexist together in one store. It was unique because it challenged me to open my eyes up to someone else’s culture and you have to take a leap of faith when you try different foods.” 

            Like Morancy, Serixay also likes to try different foods from other cultures. 
“I like something different but I love to eat. I love American food and Japanese food. I love sushi but any Japanese food is good,” said Serixay.

            Serixay also enjoys making her culture's food in Buffalo. 
“I want costumers to try new things and I like that I am bringing a part of my country and our culture to Buffalo.”

            The West Side Bazaar is filled with lots of cultural experiences that should be experienced by everyone. “Even though we are all from different cultures, we can all coexist in one body,” said Morancy.

To find out more about the different foods at the West Side Bazaar, visit http://www.westsidebazaar.com/bazaar_kitchen.z

                 This is a pineapple bubble tea from A&A Cookies.

This is a potato samosa from A&A Cookies.

Westside Bazaar: Buffalo’s melting pot

The Westside Bazaar is a place where people in Buffalo can experience culture all in one place through food, clothing - and jewelry.

            Westside Bazaar’s business owners have progressed throughout the years in order to establish a brand. Now, it’s their time to shine.

Gysma Kueny is from South Sudan and she has been in Buffalo for 12 years. The name of her business is Gysma’s African Style.

Kueny sells jewelry, bags, shea butter, black soap, African fabric, scarves, home decor, and clothing.  “I started my own business because I decided to be independent and I wanted to start something for myself, “said Kueny.

Owning a business can be stressful but it brings joy to Kueny. “It makes me feel happy and I want to let other people who don’t know about South Sudan learn about our culture.”

“I’m here to show American people about our culture. We make things from newspapers. A lot of people throw away newspapers but in Africa me make necklaces out of it,” Kueny added.

Although Kueny’s products are based on the Sudanese culture, American’s also enjoy her products. “The majority of my costumers are American but I get a lot of people from my community in South Sudanese,” said Kueny.

Maung Moe, owner of Thin Yanant is from Burma. She has been in Buffalo for 5 years and she sells Burmese and Karen clothes and jewelry.

“I left my country in 2007 because of the politics and the Suja. My country looks like a movie now,” Moe said.

“My father and my brother were interviewed by a lot of Americans but now my family is in a refugee camp,” Moe added.

Moe displays the clothing made by refugees in her store. “In the refugee camps, people make clothing by hand. A lot of refugees that are Burmese and Karen make clothes without machines,” Moe said.

“The refugees usually make one sample, and then if I want more I have to make it myself or I can order it,” Moe added.

Costumers tend to buy her products during the holiday season. “I make small bags and people usually buy them and give to people for Christmas presents,” Moe said.

Unlike Kueny, Moe sells most of her products to Burmese and Korean people.

“I sell to a lot of Korean people and Burmese people.

“American people like the jewelry but sometimes American’s like the clothes. The Korean people usually buy clothes during the Korean New Year,” Moe said.

Buffalo is surrounded by culture from people all across the world. “I like to share my culture with American people,” said Moe.  

Journey’s End: Assisting refugees across Buffalo

Coming to a new country can be a drastic change for person but with help they can adjust.

Journey’s End Refugee Service is a Christian founded agency located in Buffalo. Their goals are to settle family units and adults, help refugees learn English, provide them with skills to obtain a job, and assist with their health.

            Mary C. Cummings is the Board Chair of Journey’s End and a professor in the Elementary Education and Reading Department at SUNY Buffalo State.

             Cummings has been a part of the Journey’s End family for quite some time.

 “I got started working with Journey’s End by working with Bell Network through Buffalo State in 2007. That was designed to focus on second language support on the west side,” said Cummings.

            One of the goals for Journey’s End is to get refugees adjusted to American customs through the use of case workers. Cummings said “We have a large network of case workers assigned to each refugee family that comes in and they walk them through for a period of three months with everything they can possibly need.”

            Cummings also discussed the specific types of aids that are provided. “There are health services, educational services, especially for language acquisition. There are legal services and there is usually someone assigned to support them while they are getting resettled in the community.”

            People from all over the world find themselves at Journey’s End, Cummings said particularly, “wherever there is strife and conflict and a person can be identified as a refugee.”

Journey’s End also works closely with the United Nations High Commissioners for Refugees. Cummings said “They designate refugee populations and people that are considered refugees. Then, that starts a process through Church World Service and Episcopal Epic Medical ministries with us to get folks into this country.”

Although journey’s end was founded by a Christian organization, it doesn’t put pressure on Non-Christians refugees to convert. “Non-believers are not affected by this because we do not focus on that one component,” Cummings said. It was founded by a Christian organization but everyone’s needs are met, regardless of their religious affiliation.”

            Not only does Journey’s End assist refugees with getting accustomed to American culture but they also help reunite families. The agency reunited a mother and son who had not seen each other for three years.

            “The people who work on that are to be highly commended,” Cummings said. “They work diligently to try and reunite these families. They expressed to me that when the reuniting happens it’s just a very exciting and joyous time for them.”

            The reunification process can take a while.

“There are several cases pending where our legal department helps track down separated children from their parents and then work to reunite them. It is a long process. Months, and months, and months can be involved, if not years to get that reunification established,” Cummings said.