WVIZ/PBS ideastream’s ‘Be Well’ series recently featured a story on Agam Rai, an urban farmer under Asian Services In Action, Inc.’s Healthy Asian Pacific Islander Fresh Farm program (HAPI Fresh).
Sitting on the boarder of Summit and Medina county, HAPI Fresh Farm program is a four-acre, USDA organic certified farm committed to producing high quality vegetables at an affordable price. Local programs, like ASIA, Inc.’s urban farming was created as a form of therapy to overcome many forms of depression Bhutanese refugees face when resettling in the U.S.
The Be Well series shared data from the Federal Center for Disease Control and Prevention which notes that Bhutanese refugees committee suicide at double the rate than the U.S. national average.
Through ASIA, Inc’s HAPI Fresh Farm program, the agency is able to connect Bhutanese refugees with agricultural job training through farming and management education while addressing the high rate of suicide and mental health issues.
Agam Rai, shared in his interview that working at the HAPI Fresh Farm program has made a big difference in improving the depression he experienced when he first arrived in the United States.
“It was very tough for me at first..it was very tough to admit the experiences.. now, I love USA”, said Rai.
Agam Rai, second to left, with other HAPI Fresh Farm program farmers.
To learn more about Ohio’s Bhutanese community be sure to watch WVIZ/PBS ideastream’s Be Well series here.
The document also features the following staff:
Susan Wong, Assistant Director of Self-Sufficiency Department
Nar Pradhan (interpreter in documentary), Program Coordinator
Draupadi Pradhan, former Community Health Worker at ICHC