| Kabzuag Vaj is not your usual shy and quiet woman who just arrived in the United States from a Thai refugee camp. Vaj came from a Thai refugee camp all right; but that was decades ago. She is well-known in Madison and neighboring areas as an extraordinary Hmong woman who is not afraid to speak out on behalf of other Hmong women, youth, and families, particularly those whose lives she has touched through a program that she initiated, armed only with a heart to empower others. "I came to this country when I was five with my family from Laos and from the Thailand refugee camps, and I've lived in Madison all my life ... pretty much," Vaj told this writer in a recent interview at Bayview Neighborhood Center. "But today, I'm going to tell you a little bit about Freedom Inc, its purpose, what we do, and why we do what we do." Freedom Inc did not start as a nonprofit; it developed out of a support group led by Vaj, whose main purpose was simply to discuss personal issues. "Freedom Inc started in 2003 as an initiative from a Southeast Asian support group of young women and a few men, whom I brought together as a support group talking about their lives," Vaj recalled. "The majority of them had dropped out of high school, so I was interested in the reasons why. In the quest of finding out why they dropped out and trying to get them back into school and move forward their lives, I remember helping them set long-term and short-term goals. Goals of these high-school dropouts included: "I want to get my GED"; or "I want to pay my traffic tickets off"; or "I want to clean my car." Vaj realized that after meeting for awhile, she started to see their lives change. "All of them attempted to go back to school; some went to MATC; and a lot of them got really good jobs and some got their degrees," she beamed as she spoke. "From that, we decided, 'OK, we saw that just by meeting and talking about issues and helping each other as women, we were able to change our lives, so let's create something that we believe in.' So that's how Freedom Inc. came into being." It was easy for Vaj to organize young women to follow her leadership. It seemed like a natural skill to her. "When I was in school, at 16 years old, a lot of Hmong girls who were running away from home would seek my help for shelter," she recalled. "So, I've always been an advocate for Hmong women and girls, and I think that has always stayed in me." Vaj started working for a nonprofit called Hmong American Women Association, with its office at Bayview Neighborhood Center. "I was given an opportunity to have a space, so that's when I invited these young women who I saw growing up and who have always looked up to me," she said. "I was given an opportunity to assess why I was the only one who went to school in my community. I've always known I'm not the norm, I'm just an exception. You know, like I really push my way to get to where I am because of barriers." Looking at these barriers and discussing how to hurdle them in order to help other women move ahead became Vaj's goal. It became the starting point for Freedom Inc. "I created a program called Asian Freedom Project," Vaj narrated. "I taught these young women about the cycle of poverty, showing them why a family, based on how they're living and what they're experiencing, their children will experience the same. I also taught them that we shouldn't be angry at our parents for not being able to read and write." The program never had funds. It was the succeeding program, "Go Hmong," which received some funding from the Fund For Women of the Madison Community Foundation. "They gave $10,000 to Bayview, then we started our 'Go Hmong' program," she said. "That's when I hired Padawb Vang. She's been here from the start, with the Southeast Asian girls' group." Ongoing programs of Freedom Inc primarily target women and children. "We believe in holistic services, meaning we won't turn anyone away," Vaj stressed. "But we primarily provide services to women and children. We have an elderly program that deals with isolation, domestic violence, and assault against Southeast Asian elders. We have a Hmong elder advocate; we also have a Cambodian elder advocate, and then we have our Women's program, called the Vin Ncaus which is the domestic violence program. The Vin Ncaus project right now is funded through the state, and it primarily provides support services to teen moms and teen wives, or anybody who is married during their teens. Right now, we have a lot of new refugees. So we have two groups that we meet with: one is Hmong American and the other is the refugee group. We noticed that there is a difference in their needs. But anyone who is ever a mom or a wife during their teen years has a chance to learn from each other about health issues and to share with each other about best practices." Vaj issued a call to everyone who can help support Freedom Inc's programs. "This type of work cannot continue to sustain on grants," she said. "We're reaching out to those who care about women's development; who cares about girls' development. We're looking for contributions. Our funders are wonderful; but we want our community to support us.Yes, we can write a huge federal grant, but we want other people in the community to know what we're doing, so that when we do write smaller grants it's not so hard for everyone and they won't say, 'We never heard of you'" Note: Please send your contributions to Freedom Inc at 601 Bayview, Madison, WI 53715. Our phone no. is 608-661-4089. Contact: Kabzuag Vaj or Mee Vang. Part 2 of this article will be an interview with Go Hmong Coordinator Pdawb Vang, and Vin Ncaus Coordinator Mee Vang. |
| Kabzuag Vaj and the women of Freedom Inc |
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| Heidi M. Pascual Publisher & Editor US-SBA 2006 Journalist of the Year for the State of Wisconsin |
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