The woodchucks are a nuisance. Tau Tau, a young refugee from Myanmar (formerly known as Burma) is learning that he may have to rethink his crop selection next year — planting varieties less appealing to the varmints.
"In Burma, we do not have these animals," he says.
But like immigrants before him, Tau Tau loves his new home. The woodchucks are nothing compared with what he has already endured — being forced from his home to refugee camps in Thailand, where he waited two years for a chance at a new life in the United States.
Tau Tau, 24, arrived in Rochester three years ago. He was able to learn English at a school in the Thai refugee camp that was his home and now works as an interpreter at Westside Health Services on Lake Avenue. At night and on weekends, he and several family members work a small plot at Geyssens Nursery and Landscaping Inc. in Greece.
The Geyssens this spring decided to let Tau Tau and a few dozen other refugees from Burma farm 1.7 acres on their Mt. Read Boulevard property. The farm was the product of many kind people. Time, cash, material and seeds came from PAETEC Corp. United Way Day of Caring volunteers, the greenhouse at the city's Jefferson High School, the town of Penfield, Harris Seeds, Foodlink and several neighborhood volunteers.
Tau Tau, who lives in Hilton, has a car and is able to tend to his vegetables more easily than some of the others. Most of the refugees from Myanmar live in northwest Rochester and must make their way to Geyssens by bus or bicycle. Some of them have been discouraged by the heavy rains — and the heavy growth of weeds that followed — and by the woodchucks. But there is a substantial harvest coming — tomatoes, corn, eggplant, onions, leeks, hot peppers, and whatever cabbage and lettuce can be salvaged.
"It's been a learning experience," says Randy Geyssens, the owner, and that includes finding the right mix of crops, dealing with the language barriers, trying to find the right niche that would allow the newcomers to meet some of their own food needs while generating some income. Perhaps, Geyssens says, they could set aside some of the land for rare herbs and boutique vegetables that would sell at farmers markets.
For now, the farm reflects our community's willingness to reach out and welcome the generation of immigrants who have come here for all the reasons people have always come to America.
"In Burma," Tau Tau says, "everything is jungle. You cannot see. Here, you can see everything." Only a refugee would look at our flat and barely treed landscape that way. But it is a metaphor for his expectations — to move far beyond his humble beginnings.
"When my caseworker took me to Wegmans," he says, "I had never seen such a store. And I didn't know anything about American food." Nor did he like it. Now he gets Wegmans, and McDonald's, and loves both.
Tau Tau hopes to study at Monroe Community College. "I want to be a reporter and a photographer," he says.
If he tends to his dreams as he has tended his garden, his harvest will be bountiful.
"In Burma, we do not have these animals," he says.
But like immigrants before him, Tau Tau loves his new home. The woodchucks are nothing compared with what he has already endured — being forced from his home to refugee camps in Thailand, where he waited two years for a chance at a new life in the United States.
Tau Tau, 24, arrived in Rochester three years ago. He was able to learn English at a school in the Thai refugee camp that was his home and now works as an interpreter at Westside Health Services on Lake Avenue. At night and on weekends, he and several family members work a small plot at Geyssens Nursery and Landscaping Inc. in Greece.
The Geyssens this spring decided to let Tau Tau and a few dozen other refugees from Burma farm 1.7 acres on their Mt. Read Boulevard property. The farm was the product of many kind people. Time, cash, material and seeds came from PAETEC Corp. United Way Day of Caring volunteers, the greenhouse at the city's Jefferson High School, the town of Penfield, Harris Seeds, Foodlink and several neighborhood volunteers.
Tau Tau, who lives in Hilton, has a car and is able to tend to his vegetables more easily than some of the others. Most of the refugees from Myanmar live in northwest Rochester and must make their way to Geyssens by bus or bicycle. Some of them have been discouraged by the heavy rains — and the heavy growth of weeds that followed — and by the woodchucks. But there is a substantial harvest coming — tomatoes, corn, eggplant, onions, leeks, hot peppers, and whatever cabbage and lettuce can be salvaged.
"It's been a learning experience," says Randy Geyssens, the owner, and that includes finding the right mix of crops, dealing with the language barriers, trying to find the right niche that would allow the newcomers to meet some of their own food needs while generating some income. Perhaps, Geyssens says, they could set aside some of the land for rare herbs and boutique vegetables that would sell at farmers markets.
For now, the farm reflects our community's willingness to reach out and welcome the generation of immigrants who have come here for all the reasons people have always come to America.
"In Burma," Tau Tau says, "everything is jungle. You cannot see. Here, you can see everything." Only a refugee would look at our flat and barely treed landscape that way. But it is a metaphor for his expectations — to move far beyond his humble beginnings.
"When my caseworker took me to Wegmans," he says, "I had never seen such a store. And I didn't know anything about American food." Nor did he like it. Now he gets Wegmans, and McDonald's, and loves both.
Tau Tau hopes to study at Monroe Community College. "I want to be a reporter and a photographer," he says.
If he tends to his dreams as he has tended his garden, his harvest will be bountiful.
Source :
http://www.democratandchronicle.com/article/20090909/NEWS0201/909090336/1002/rss01
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