Roedah Mansour

GEOG 331/HONORS 231

January 30, 2015
Exercise 2: History and Mission of NGO ReWA
ReWA stands for the Refugee Womans Alliance, which is where I am currently
performing my service learning volunteering at. It is a not-for-profit organization in
the Puget Sound that works towards inclusion in strong, diverse communities,
independence and leadership. The organization focuses on serving the underserved.
It caters primarily to refugees, asylees and other state-protected persons, as well as
low-income immigrant/migrant populaces. ReWA plays a huge role in assisting these
populations gain stable footing in America as newcomers to the country, oftentimes
coming into the country with near to nothing but what they were carrying on their
backs. ReWA is an agency that aims to help members of these populations start
their lives in America with a modicum of self-sufficiency to be able to affordat the
very leastbare necessities; to afford survival, shelter, and avoid starvation. The
workers at ReWA do so by providing immigrant and refugee women and their
families with services appropriate to them. This includes ESL classes, job skills
trainings, and case work to find jobs, necessities and other resources, as well as
tutoring programs and daycare centers for childrengiving care. At ReWA, a need
for care is blatantly recognized by its workers, and the creation of the organization
in and of itself shows the action of taking care of its target populations. In the
organizations actual mission statement, it is stated that ReWA advocates for social
justice, public policy changes, and equal access to services while respecting cultural
values and the right to self-determination.

The majority of the funding for ReWA comes from the government, which
determines many of the programs that run under the organization. This means that
indirectly, the government has a huge role in the workings of the Refugee Womans
Alliance. According to the Seatac location Family Support Program Director, Hien
Kieu, ReWA is a leader in the role it plays in our society. ReWA is directly connected
with the DSHS, which provides regulation in what services may be offered to the
clients at ReWA and a stable connection to the State which shows that the
government, a bigger structural institution, may care to appeal to the needs of its
refugee/immigrant populace. As little as the funding may be for the small area that
ReWA serves, in comparison to the rest of the country. At least the government is
doing something to help, even if its just a littleits still a start, Hien noted. ReWA
began as the SouthEast Asian Womans Alliance in 1985 and has since expanded to
serve a multi-ethnic community of refugees.
Its important to note the ReWA is one of many organizations that offer such
help to immigrants and refugeesVOLAGS (resettlement agencies) sponsor
refugees to the States, and refer these persons to places like ReWA for further social
services and employment services so that the immigrants and refugees can repay
the VOLAGS for their plane tickets and initial living expenses as lent to them.
However, it is also important to further note that ReWA is the most comprehensive
program in the States that plays such a role in building a stable foundation for the
lives of these underserved populations for the new Americans. The goal of
inclusion exhibits a very relational discourse in viewing poverty/those who come
with nothing, who struggle to get by, who are forgotten or pushed aside. These
immigrants and refugees come with horrendous stories, memories we cant
imagine, and they feel comfortable enough to come to ReWA for help, to return

when they need more help in finding jobs, supplies, whatever it is that they may
need. In addition to Hien, I spoke with many of the case workers at the SeaTac
location, and they are all so compassionate, devoted, and determined to help their
clients and see to their success. There are surveys in place to receive feedback from
the populations they serve, but more often than not, they have face-to-face
connections by which clientele are able to come back to better solve their issues
and address their needs. Furthermore, many of the caseworkers do not let go of
older clients right away upon job attainment or ESL class completion, they check in
after an amount of time to simply be sure that their clients are well off enough to
make ends meet to secure a stable life for their children to rise above the
circumstances they were brought up in. Furthermore, the case workers refer their
clients to other organizations to better help them move beyond just obtaining an
entry-level, low-wage job.
I brought up the idea of the reproduction of poverty and devaluation of lowwage labor and care labor: I asked Hien if, in any way, ReWA contributes to it by
predominantly seeing to the entry-level, low-wage job obtainment of its clients,
which often entails care work, and not always seeing to its clients success beyond
that. It allows for the reproduction of cheap care labor, by which immigrants and
refugees take what jobs they can in order to make a means for survival and support.
She told me that this has been recognized, time and time again, especially amongst
case workers who have to learn to realize that in these cases, there are two tiers to
client success: the first step, which is taken at ReWA, to find a job to survive with a
level of self-sufficiency so that they may be able to plan further, beyond basic
needs, to get out of the cycle of poverty or at least to provide for their children to
leave it; and the second step, which is taken at the organizations that ReWA often

refers its clients totechnical and community colleges, free job trainings and
workshops, to rise above poverty levels. Hien made a very important point:
although ReWA does not expressly see to the success of its clients at the second
achievement level, it does see to the success at the first level, which enables clients
to move forward. The first step needs to be taken and does matter.