Immigrants — including refugees — are humans, too. This statement should be a given, but current immigration rhetoric has suggested otherwise.
The actions of Transplanting Traditions Community Farm and Triangle Land Conservancy should remind those who invariably view immigration in a negative light that immigrants can serve meaningful roles in society.
Transplanting Traditions operates as a nonprofit in Orange County and teaches sustainable farming techniques to Burmese refugees with land provided by Triangle Land Conservancy. While offering refugees a space to celebrate the culture of Burma, the organization also affords them the opportunity to integrate into life in North Carolina.
Though different crops are grown here, the beauty of Transplanting Traditions is that it allows refugees to use the broad skills they transferred from their home culture and refine them for use in the U.S.
Furthermore, crops grown in the program are sold in local markets, and $70,000 has in turn gone to refugee families, according to the program website.
Solutions like this ought to be at the forefront of conversations about all kinds of immigration.
The plight of immigrants and refugees, who typically seek shelter in a foreign country to escape persecution, is a very real phenomenon that the U.S. must face.
It is in everyone’s interest to find ways to engage with distinct immigrants’ issues.
