Just like a mosiac has various shapes and colors that come together into something beautiful, having a diverse community adds to the depth and beauty of a community. In this Episode, Danny Beus, the Executive Director of the Cache Refugee and Immigration Center is here to talk to us about how to be inculsive during the holidays and how we can respect other cultures.
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Jen: Welcome to the Parents Place podcast with Hilary and Jen.
Nicole: Welcome to the Parents Place podcast. We've got Nicole and Jen and we're here with our friend Danny Beus, who is the executive director of CRIC. Danny, we're so excited that you're here with us today.
Danny: I'm excited to be here. Thank you.
Nicole: Hey, can you tell us a little bit about yourself and your education that kind of thing?
Danny: Yeah, so. I am the executive director of the Cache, Refugee and Immigrant Connection, so we're a local nonprofit that serves the refugee and immigrant community. We serve them with things like case management and help them get drivers licenses. We help with connect them with English classes and other resources that they need, and recently we've been approved as a refugee resettlement agency. So, we resettle refugees from around the world here in Cache Valley. I've been at CRIC now for about 3 years and I'm a graduate of Utah State University in political science. And yeah, I just kind of fell into the social work world and love every minute of it.
Nicole: That's awesome. I always tell my husband if I wasn't in this field, it would be political science.
Danny: Yeah, it's pretty fun, but what can you do with a Political science degree
Nicole: Well, that is true haha. That's so exciting. Thank you for telling us about you. Yeah. So what is your favorite part about working in this field? You
mentioned that you were in political science and kind of shifted.
Danny: Yeah. And so, it kind of actually aligns pretty well. So, it in political science and having an interest in politics and policy. And just kind of what's happening in the world. And I guess I grew up in a in a community that was very diverse and so my mom is an immigrant from South America, and I was raised around people from all over Latin America and then also refugees from around the world. And so, it would always peaked my interest. Global events and global affairs and what's happening and why are things happening around the world. And so, working with refugees and immigrants kind of aligned with my interests and. So that's part of the reason why I decided to work at CRIC and but also you asked about the coolest part of my job and I guess it's the people. It's getting to know people from all around the world, like I don't even know how many countries are representative, are represented in our in the clients we serve. And so, it's really cool to see them and see them progress, see them integrate into our community. And become self-sufficient that that is by far the coolest part of my job is being able to interact with people from all over the world.
Nicole: That's amazing. So, you weren't raised here in Cache Valley, yeah.
Danny: No. Yeah. So yeah, yeah. I am from Sacramento, CA. And so, my mom is from South America. Like I mentioned, and I grew up in a neighborhood that was 90% Mexican. And so, I grew up speaking Spanish. I spoke Spanish before I spoke English. I went to bilingual schools and then in middle school is when. So, I guess it wasn't super diverse because it was 90% Mexican, right? And then when I got to middle school and our schools combined with other schools, that's where I started meeting people from Southeast Asia, Afghanistan, Russia, Ukraine from again, all over the world and started having friends from those places and eating their food and meeting their parents and so that's where the diversity really was like middle school high school is where I learned to interact with people from all over the world.
Nicole: Right. I know. I'm from Canada, Ontario, Canada, and I came here. I'm like, it's so white it's, you know, like growing up there we have a lot of Vietnamese, Filipino you know, a lot of Korean influences. And you know, walking down the street. There's Curry smells and like so many different you can tell like it's just so diverse walking down the street you can just tell from the smells.
Danny: Yeah, yeah, definitely.
Nicole: From their food. So yeah.
Danny: And in that aspect, you know Cache Valley is becoming more diverse and I don't think people realize how many refugees and immigrants actually live in Cache Valley. And they're such a positive they have such a positive impact on their community and our economy just on everything. And so, it's becoming less, yeah, more diverse for sure.
Jen: Yeah, I've moved here from Arizona. It's been 25 years ago, and it has gotten a lot more diverse in those 25 years. Because there was a lot less than there is now. And so great, yeah.
Danny: It's diversity is such a good thing, you know, like to embrace other cultures and to learn about the positive things that other cultures have and to kind of bring that into our own culture is such a good thing.
Jen: Yeah. I grew up with just this, this love of learning about other cultures. And always feeling like us white people don't have very many cultures. They are not very culture, but they're, you know, you have your own family culture and things like that. But it's just so fun to hear all of the different traditions and celebrations and all of that kind of stuff that other cultures do have and. So, I am glad that we are getting more diversified, it's great.
Danny: Yes, for sure.
Nicole: So, with that being said, with the holidays coming up ,how can we embrace like, how can we learn more about other cultures and their celebrations and kind of embrace that and is it OK to incorporate that into our holiday celebrations?
Danny: Yeah, that's a great question. And so that's part of working with the population that we serve. Yeah, I get to meet people from all over the world. Also, I get to taste food from all over the world. And when it comes to when it comes to every culture, like food is front and center. When it comes to holidays and celebrations and there's always food attached to it, and so I think that's a huge part of being able to embrace somebody else's culture is learning about their food, tasting their food. And so we have a big Latino population here in Cache Valley and something as simple as, like tamales for Christmas is such a big thing in Mexican culture especially. And so, finding somebody who sells them on this for Christmas and having them on Christmas Eve or on Christmas morning, that's something my family has always done. Even though my mom is from South America, not from Mexico. But it's something that we embraced because we were. Surrounded by the Mexican culture. And so, it's a regular thing for us and our family and it's something that I have brought to my own family is that love for tamales, that love for food. So, I think that's a great way to learn is finding out OK, what's a traditional dish that Mexicans eat for Christmas and where can I find that? And support a local Mexican restaurant too, and celebrate in those kind of ways. And look for other traditions. So, I served in LDS mission in Spain and something that they around the holidays, especially for New Year's Eve, at midnight they stick 12 grapes in their mouth.
Nicole: I have heard this! It’s for luck, right?
Danny: Yeah, and so, yeah, for life. And so now it's something that we do as my family because it's kind of fun, you know, like my kids love just.
Nicole: Yeah do you put 12 in the at the same time?
Danny: Yeah. Yeah. So, it can get kind of sketchy, right?
Nicole: I don't know. If I can fit 12.
Jen: And that's probably part of the fun.
Nicole: It’s like Chubby Bunny.
Danny: Yeah, that is part of the fun of it. And so, I think just looking for ways or if you know somebody from another culture, ask them how they celebrate. They love sharing what they do and how they celebrate. And so just reaching out and asking somebody that you know is from another culture that it would be cool.
Jen: Yeah, I think my niece married, he is first generation here. But his parents. You think they're just from England? So how different can it be? But he brings all of these little English things for Christmas and for Thanksgiving he bring, he makes some food that is traditional for them. But he always has. I can't remember what they're called with the little puppets that you pop with someone else and then. crackers. And so we love doing that. And he always makes us wear the little crowns and so.
Nicole: You have too or you're not celebrating.
Jen: Even though something is like you think, England's very much like the United States, but just those little things are so fun to have brought in.
Nicole: Yeah, that's been my experience too. Just even being from Canada like we're neighbors with you. But we have more in common with like England. Than we do the United States and we do the crackers too. And Yorkshire pudding and stuff like that and just, you know, like and I think it's really important the language that we use when asking people about this. Like people will ask me my favorite dish from Canada, which is obviously cooking, it's 100% poutine. I have a picture of me looking at poutine and that is my profile picture on most things because I love my poutine. Anyway and then there are some people you show a picture of it and they're like, that looks gross. No, it's the most delicious thing in the world. Don't ask me about it then say it looks gross, right?
Jen: I think I told you it looks gross
Nicole: I think you did, but then they told you about it. And I think, you said it sounds good.
Jen: It does sound good. It doesn't look good. But because it's just like, yeah. Bunch of gravy on top of French fries.
Nicole: With cheese curds.
Jen: But it does sound delicious.
Nicole: It is good, but is there a way that we could ask people in our community, maybe, maybe they're not like super close with these people is that they want to learn about cultures and how they celebrate. Is there like certain languages that we need to be aware of how do we. Ask them so that we're doing it in a sensitive way, so we're not.
Danny: Yeah, that's a great question. And I think that just asking is goes a long way. They're not shy. They don't want to hide what their culture does. They want to share it. And so, they sometimes don't feel like they can and so just being approachable goes a long way, and so just caring and asking is OK. And yes, refugees go through and refugees and immigrants go through a lot of trauma. There's survivors there are people who have seen a lot that we don't understand, especially in the United States. We don't know war like other people know, war. And so maybe be sensitive to things like that, but just smiling and asking goes a long way for a lot of the people we serve.
Nicole: Danny, I remember when you were talking to us in professional development and you shared such a great story about a family here that decorated for the Fourth of July.
Danny: Yeah, yeah, this is a very cool story.
Nicole: Can you share this story?
Danny: And you have to know Hiram Utah to get this. But so every year there's a parade that goes down Main St. in Hyrum, UT and we have a family from Syria that lives on the parade route and we kind of visited them and gave them a heads up that you know there's going to be a parade, there's going to be people in your front yard because that's what you do at the Hyrum parade. So don't worry about it. And we kind of warn everybody about the 4th of July because loud fireworks can kind of, yeah, you totally can trigger somebody. So, we give them a heads up and I go with my family to the 4th of July parade every year and I went to check on this family just to see how they were doing. And it was so fun to see them. They had decorated their home with American flags all over. I mean, there were a dozen flags. And their kids were outside waving American flags, catching candy, just like any other kid. And it was so cool to see how proud they were to be able to participate in the parade and yeah, it was really impactful for me. Sometimes you're like, hey, are we doing the right thing? Are we, are we helping enough? Are we? Yeah, there's pros and cons to everything. And there's good days and bad days. And that was definitely a good day to see how people accepted them as well. You know, they their kids were playing with other kids from Cache Valley. And it was cool. It was really cool experience.
Nicole: I love that story. I think about that all the time ever since I heard it from you. So, what's a good way that we can be welcoming and approachable.
Danny: Yeah. So, smiling goes a long way. Some of the people that we serve don't speak English and so just saying hi and smiling when you see them at grocery stores or at the bank, whatever it might be. It just being a friendly face is a great beginning. Then learning more about our organization and what we do. You can Google Cache refugees and it'll send you to our website and we have some information there about refugees and then going above and beyond and kind of learning more about why maybe people from Afghanistan are now here and finding credible sources because there's a lot of misinformation out there. And so finding real good sources will teach people a lot, yeah.
Jen: That's important. I remember reading a Palestinian man. And so, I mean, didn't know, went to go shake his hand. And he's like, no, I don't shake women's hands. And I'm so sorry. Can you teach me more? And he was just so happy to teach me more about his where he came from, his culture. He ran over got his laptop, pulled it up, pulled up pictures of Palestine and all of these things. It was just so neat. It was just that simple. I'm sorry I made a mistake. But can you teach me? And I loved going over that house because every time he taught me something new and so it's just simple of just asking.
Danny: Yeah, asking goes a long way. Like I mentioned earlier, they want to tell us about their countries of origin and a lot of these or most of these people were forcibly displaced. They didn't want to come to the United States, they didn't sign up for it. And. And so, they miss their countries and they want to talk about them and they want to tell us you know how beautiful Afghanistan is or how incredible Venezuela is, and so they are really proud of their, their cultures and their countries, and they want to share that with us.
Nicole: I think. I think a lot of Americans want people to just assimilate. And I grew up in, in Ontario. We would say, well, we want a mosaic, not a melting pot. You know, we want to learn about these different cultures and embrace them for what they are. And not just assimilate to American or Canadian culture, because really, what is that like we don't have anything like Jen was saying. We yeah, we've got some things but you know a lot of our most beautiful traditions come from other countries, and yeah, I think. It's just super important to learn and let people live and celebrate how they want to celebrate?
Danny: Yeah. Yeah, so we promote integration right and people integrating into our community. Being part of the. Community, but not assimilation like we don't want them to lose who they are. Yeah, we want to encourage who they are and embrace that and also embrace now. That they're new Americans, so we use the phrase new Americans a lot because they really are that they're new members of our American Society and whether it's refugee or immigrant. So yeah, we promote integration over assimilation because I agree, like we don't want them to lose. We want to have the benefits of their cultures in our culture as well.
Jen: I'm just thinking just I don't I don't understand the love of learning about cultures and so. And I think Christmas the holidays are a perfect time to learn about other people's traditions and how they celebrate this time of year. Is it with Christmas? Is it with Hanukkah? Is it with you know, whatever they choose to celebrate and that's great and it's wonderful to learn about one of my favorite things. I am Christian. And so, I love the nativity. And so, I collect nativities. So, whenever I know someone's going to another country, I'm like, can you buy me a nativity? Because I love all the little different things from all around the world, just in that simple nativity. And how they interpret that and so I just don't understand the love of learning about it. Like I don't understand why it's so difficult for people to understand that differences are good
Danny: Yeah, yeah, yeah, I agree. Right.
Nicole: It really does enhance. With that said, you mentioned a lot of Afghan refugees are coming. So what are some big populations that we're getting into Cache Valley?
Danny: Yeah. So, with the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan, we started serving people from Afghanistan and then the Russian invasion of Ukraine happened. And we're also serving Ukrainians because of that as well. And then, since becoming a resettlement agency, we've really kind of diversified the places that we're seeing refugees from, so we're seeing a lot from Latin America actually, so like Venezuela and Colombia and Salvador and Guatemala. We're seeing a lot of them being processed and coming to the United States. And then we continue seeing immigrants from all over the world too, from Peru and Africa. Some of the refugees we've resettled are from South Africa and Eritrea and Ethiopia areas, Somalia, we have a pretty well represented Somali population here in Cache Valley. And so, we really are seeing people from, you name it.
Nicole: I remember I this was a few years ago. I was in the Walmart parking lot and I parked really far away because I'm terrible at parking and. I was going out to my car and I saw this family trying to put, I think, a crib mattress into their little tiny car and I had a Tahoe at the time. And I was like. Oh, they're not going to get that in there. And I went over to them, and they were trying to tell me, hey, I don't speak English and I'm trying to think, OK. What's like what? What? Are they saying? And do I know this language and it? Was actually French, which I do know. Yeah. So, I was able to communicate with them and they were from the Ivory Coast and I was able to say hey, let's put it in my cart and you guys just show me where you live and I'll drive it to you. And they're so nice and so trusting of this random person, like, hey, give me, give me your crib mattress that you just bought and I'll take it to your house. And it was. It was so great that I could communicate with them and help them and it's just like it's simple things that you can just you can do.
Danny: Yeah. And you'd be surprised how many of those stories I get to hear all the time. So another dad. So, my daughter plays soccer and a girl on her soccer teams Dad approached me out one of the games and said hey, I met an Afghan guy at Walmart the other day and he needed help with reloading his cell phone. His card. And was having a hard time communicating with the Walmart employee. And so he just literally grabbed him and said, can you help me? And he was able to help him through that and so we live in one of those most welcoming places and we're grateful that we have such an open minded and welcoming community because I hear stories about this all the time. I'll get pictures texted to me. Hey, I helped some Afghans get chairs to their to their house and get a picture from a friend who you know it's cool to see that the community is really coming together to be able to support these people.
Jen: With the holidays. So, I'm just thinking because I don't know. Like the Afghan people, what do they celebrate during this time?
Danny: Yeah. So, they don't really celebrate Christmas, although they are starting to embrace our traditions as well. And so I think it's important to be sensitive during these times because not everybody celebrates Christmas. And so it's important to think about others when we, you know, Christmas is such a big deal to us and rightfully so. But just to be aware that not everybody practices the same as we do so I think that's really important.
Nicole: Yeah. And are there ways that we can be sensitive to that?
Danny: Yeah, awareness. Just being aware that it it's not for everybody that, that. Even though. People who have come from other cultures and other religions are definitely, I think it's part of that integration. You know, they're learning about it and maybe they don't celebrate exactly how we do, but they're starting to celebrate as families. And so, I think that awareness factor is just really important.
Nicole: Yeah, I've got a family that I know and I was over there just before Thanksgiving and they are not from this country and they, they said. I'm so excited we're going to try celebrating Thanksgiving this year. And I'm like, wow, what does that look like to you guys, we're going to get dressed up, we're going to cook a Turkey or a chicken and we're going to like, we're going to do it, we're going to do. An American Thanksgiving and. They were so excited. To just you know, dress up at their own home and have. Their little family together because they got the time off and. You know, they were so excited to tell me that they wanted to try doing that so yeah, it was fun to see that.
Danny: Yeah, they really are trying to just be part of us. And I think it's amazing.
Nicole: I get to go see them tomorrow, so yeah, have some follow up and like in Canada, our Thanksgiving is completely like we celebrate the harvest and it's the second Monday in October. And every year we usually do friends giving. Because they don't have family here. So we usually do that and it's been fun to see, like, my friends embrace it so much like they will text me and be like happy Thanksgiving. They remember when it's my Thanksgiving and friends have moved away and they're like we're doing Canadian Thanksgiving still they'll, they'll gather their friends, cause they love it. Like it's just fun. Like, who wouldn't want to add an extra Turkey dinner to their repertoire, right?
Danny: Yeah, yeah. Well, and I feel and I might be wrong, but I feel like people from other countries are a little more social than maybe we are here in, you know, the United States or Cache valley. And so, they really like gathering. They will find any reason to, to gather together and celebrate. Something and so it. Yeah, it's really it's cool to see them embracing and being willing to not just say no to whatever we do or how we celebrate in the United States, but to embrace it and use their beliefs and tie it all together.
Nicole: Yeah, yeah, I love that.
Jen: We do. We are very individualized and community focused or more our individual family focused so.
Nicole: I think. I get hung up on am I appropriating another culture by, like, celebrating with maybe tamales or, you know, something like that? I feel like a poser sometimes. Is that OK, though, like, that's not appropriation and, you know, helping not celebrate like other cultures.
Danny: Yeah, yeah, I agree. I think that's totally fine.
Nicole: That's fine, yeah. OK. All right, I know I get hung up on it, like I don't, really know what I'm doing, but I'm going to try. So OK.
Jen: Is there any last like great advice that you can give us to helping those that are coming from other countries or helping them feel comfortable and learning about their cultures, is there any last great advice you have for us?
Danny: Yeah, we can all be advocates for these people too. And when I met with you all at the Family Place I talked about, there's political reasons why the status for Afghans might be kind of up in the air. And so, I think they just need advocates people to fight for them, people to learn about who they really are. Because like you mentioned earlier, there's a lot of misinformation out there. And so truly learning about the people. Why they're here and how we can help them and. And so being advocates for these people will go a long way in making them feel welcome and comfortable here. And that doesn't mean that. You know, we have to do everything for them, but just being a voice to support them and support what they're doing here is really important. And in a world where there's so much like divisiveness and hate out there, being able to learn about these people and embrace them and make them feel welcome is really important.
Nicole: Yeah, I know. Like our kids are so good at doing that.
Danny: Yeah, kids are the greatest.
Nicole: They're so good at that. And I think we have a couple families from Somalia, in our school and my kids are so good, like to talk to them about. Oh, what's that that you wear on your head? And like, my kids will come home and be like, that's what this is. And this is what and my friend so and so. And like, it's so amazing. And I just. I kids are so good we just need to follow their lead.
Danny: Kids just want to play with other kids and they're not afraid to kind of ask those questions and to reach out to people that don't look like that. And so you're right. They're a great example of, of how we can treat other people.
Jen: Yeah. Amazing. And I'm so grateful that you came and shared with us today on how we can be more respectful and getting to know other people's traditions and cultures and whatnot. And I think this is a perfect time. To you know, reach out to someone that may be different from you from a different country and learn about what they do for the holidays or what they don't do for the holidays. When do they celebrate and teaching your kids as well. Those different things, I think it's a great opportunity. We'd love to challenge you to do that to reach out to someone that may be from a different culture and to learn about them. We hope that you've loved listening to this episode and we want to remind you to be kind and patient with yourselves, and we will see you next week.
Thank you for listening to the Parents Place podcast. If you would like to reach us, you can at parents@thefamilyplaceutah.org or you can reach Jen on Facebook. Jen Daly - the Family Place. Please check out our show notes for any additional information. Our website is thefamilyplaceutah.org if you're interested in any of our upcoming virtual. Classes. We'd love to see you there.
Subject Resources:
CRIC website: https://cacherefugees.org/
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