TEN IMMIGRANT LEADERS AWARDED INAUGURAL TAMEJAVI FELLOWSHIPS

AN EXCERPT BY: PAN-VALLEY INSTITUTE STAFF: 

Quaker Group’s Program to Help Central Valley Immigrant Leaders Develop
Cultural, Art Projects

FRESNO, CA (September 19, 2011) - After five successful Tamejavi Festivals
on September 24, 2011 the Pan Valley Institute of the American Friends
Service Committee will launch the Tamejavi Cultural Organizing Fellowship
Program (TCOFP).

This ground-breaking program will help ten immigrant leaders to develop
community and heritage-based cultural and art projects that will support
actions for social change. The Tamejavi Cultural Organizing Program also
will provide opportunities for building relationships and support systems
across cultural lines.

From September 2011 to March 2013, Tamejavi fellows will participate in a
series of popular education and cultural organizing gatherings, mentorships
and trainings. Fellows also will be required to design a cultural and arts
project to demonstrate what they’ve learned. This Fellowship program is
possible thanks to the generous contribution of the James Irvine
Foundation.

“I believe that the arts have the ability to inspire, motivate and teach
others. The Tamejavi Fellowship will help me gain skills to make positive
changes in the community. It will provide me the opportunity to motivate
and encourage people in my community to be more active in promoting their
culture and addressing issues that affect them” Sokha Serey, Tamejavi
Fellow

After a four-month process ten leaders from different Central Valley
immigrant communities have been selected as the inaugural fellows. They all
promote and/or practice collective arts production and cultural engagement.
The ten selected fellows are residents of Fresno, Madera, Merced and Tulare
Counties. They are a multi-generational group representing Indigenous
Mexican (Otomi, Mixtco, Zapoteco and Purhepecha), Asian and Southeast Asian
(Hmong, Khmer, Punjabi ) and Iranian communities.

The ten selected fellows are: Ruben Lucero, Silvia Rojas, Juan Santiago,
Sokha Serey, Dolly Soloman, Tahereh Teherian, Michelle Xiong, Salvador
Ramos, Pov Xyooj, and Bee Yang.
Detailed information and interviews with the fellows is available upon
request. Contact: Myrna Martinez Nateras mnateras@afsc.org

For more information on the Tamejavi festival for which the fellowship is
named, visit www.tamejavi.org

Established in 1998 as a project of AFSC, Pan-Valley Institute’s mission
is to create a place where immigrants and refugees can gather to learn from
each other and rebuild their world. AFSC is a Quaker organization that
includes people of various faiths who are committed to social justice,
peace, and humanitarian service. Its work is based on the belief in the
worth of every person and faith in the power of love to overcome violence
and injustice.