Bonde la Shenandoah limekuwa njia panda ya kitamaduni kwa maelfu ya miaka. Hali ya hewa ya viumbe hai imesaidia makundi mengi ya watu kutoka kwa wawindaji-wakusanyaji katika enzi ya Kale hadi makabila ya Wenyeji wa Amerika ambao waliishi katika eneo hilo hadi mapema miaka ya 1700. Wahamiaji wa kwanza wa Kizungu kwenye Bonde la Shenandoah walikuwa Wamennonite Wajerumani na washiriki wa Kanisa la Ndugu, ambao mashamba yao ya familia yalidumisha uchumi wa eneo hilo hadi mwanzoni mwa miaka ya 1900. Kulingana na utafiti wa hivi majuzi, Wenyeji wa Amerika walihama polepole na/au kuwaoa Wazungu wapya baada ya muda. Wamennonite na washiriki wa Church of the Brethren wamekuwa na jukumu kubwa katika kuwapa makazi watu waliozaliwa kigeni katika Bonde hilo. Misisitizo ya kimadhehebu juu ya amani, haki ya kijamii, na misheni ilichochea Bonde kwa kutibu wimbi la wahamiaji kwa huruma na heshima. Kwa kielelezo, mwanajamii, Naomi West, wa Kanisa la Bridgewater la Ndugu, alikuwa mshiriki muhimu katika kuwapa makazi wakimbizi wa kwanza, familia ya Kiindonesia ya Uholanzi, huko Harrisonburg mwaka wa 1957 kama sehemu ya jitihada za baada ya Vita vya Pili vya Ulimwengu.
Kuongezeka kwa uhamiaji katika eneo la Harrisonburg na Rockingham County ina historia fupi lakini bila shaka tajiri. Leo hii idadi ya wazaliwa wa kigeni katika eneo hilo ni asilimia 16.7, ikilinganishwa na asilimia 10 katika jimbo la Virginia, na asilimia 13.7 kote nchini. Walakini, idadi ya waliozaliwa wageni haikuwa kubwa hivi kila wakati. Uelewa wa mabadiliko haya ya idadi ya watu unahitaji elimu fupi juu ya historia ya eneo hilo.
Katika miaka ya 1950 na 1960, idadi ya watu waliozaliwa wageni huko Harrisonburg ilielea kwa karibu asilimia moja. Mnamo 1965, Sheria ya Uhamiaji na Uraia ilifuta upendeleo wa uhamiaji kulingana na asili ya kitaifa na kufanya visa kupatikana kwa watu kutoka kote ulimwenguni. Walatino wa kwanza kufika Bonde hilo walikuwa wafanyikazi wahamiaji wa Mexico ambao walianza kuja kwa msimu kuchukua tufaha katika miaka ya 1970.
Mabadiliko ya sera ya shirikisho katika miaka ya 1980 pia yalichangia ukuaji wa jamii ya wahamiaji katika eneo hilo, haswa kupitia Sheria ya Marekebisho na Udhibiti ya Uhamiaji mnamo 1986, ambayo ilitoa msamaha kwa wahamiaji walioingia nchini bila visa kabla ya 1982. Inakadiriwa. Watu milioni 3 walipata hadhi ya kisheria kupitia mpango wa shirikisho wa msamaha, na takriban 180 katika eneo la Harrisonburg walipata hadhi kwa usaidizi wa mawasiliano ya Kihispania katika Sakramenti takatifu ya Kanisa Katoliki. Wengi wa watu hawa waliamua kubaki Harrisonburg na kuwatia moyo marafiki zao na wanafamilia wajiunge nao. Hali yao mpya ya kudumu iliwafanya wengi wa wahamiaji hawa wa Amerika ya Kusini (hasa Wamexico) kuchukua nafasi kamili katika ufugaji wa kuku wa kienyeji, badala ya kufanya kazi kwa msimu kama wachumaji tufaha kama wengi wao walivyokuwa wakifanya hapo awali.
Zaidi ya hayo, migogoro katika nchi za Amerika ya Kati kama vile Nicaragua, Honduras, na El Salvador katika miaka ya 1980 ilisababisha kumiminika kwa wahamiaji kutoka nchi hizo hadi Marekani. Katika muongo huu, idadi ya wazaliwa wa kigeni katika eneo la Harrisonburg ilipanda kwa pointi moja, hadi asilimia mbili. Usomaji wa Skyline, a local literacy nonprofit, was founded in 1987, and has been an integral part of educating the foreign-born population. Although the organization’s original focus was combating illiteracy among the local population, it ultimately broadened its scope to provide English as a second language and citizenship preparation classes. The combination of all of these national and local factors, as well as the development of a refugee resettlement office under the auspices of the Virginia Council of Churches and Huduma ya Ulimwengu ya Kanisa katika 1987, primed Bonde kwa ajili ya ongezeko la uhamiaji katika eneo hilo.
Indeed, the 1990s saw immigration rates begin to climb in Harrisonburg. This decade was a definite period of transition for the community. As in previous decades, federal policies had measurable effects at the local level. The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), was signed in 1992 and took effect in 1994. The negative economic impact NAFTA had on small Mexican farmers contributed to the influx of Mexican immigrants to the United States. The burgeoning communities of resettled refugees (primarily Kurds and Eastern Europeans during this time) and immigrants drawn here by the poultry industry led to the increase of community growth among different ethnicities. During this decade, more organizations were established to address the needs of the changing community, such as the Blue Ridge AHEC Huduma za Mkalimani wa Afya ya Jamii na Promotores de Salud. Kufikia mwishoni mwa miaka ya 1990, Shule za Umma za Jiji la Harrisonburg ilitoa usaidizi wa tafsiri na ukalimani kwa lugha nyingi, ikiwa ni pamoja na Kihispania, Kiarabu, Kikurdi, na baadhi ya Kirusi. Zamu ya milenia ilifungua sura mpya katika mabadiliko ya idadi ya watu ya eneo la Harrisonburg na Rockingham County.
Katika miaka ya mapema hadi katikati ya miaka ya 2000 mashirika mengi mapya yaliunda kuhudumia mahitaji ya mseto ya jamii. Kituo cha Rasilimali cha Wahamiaji cha NewBridges started in 2000 out of a collaboration of Mennonite churches to address the spiritual, social, and economic needs of immigrants. The development and success NewBridges has had is an example of the way the religious roots in the Valley have supported an increasingly multicultural community. In 2009, the dual language program was developed in the Harrisonburg City school system, and Hatua ya Kwanza ilipata ufadhili unaohitajika kusaidia mfanyakazi wa kudumu anayezungumza lugha mbili.
Moving into the 2010s, the foreign-born population continued to grow. Local agencies continued to develop and community organizers rallied to support the newfound diversity in Harrisonburg. Organizations such as Imani kwa Matendo na Virginia Organising ilihimiza ushiriki wa raia kufanya Harrisonburg a Jiji la kukaribisha--that status was achieved in 2016. Programs such as Kuunganisha Jumuiya na Telamoni kutoa rasilimali kwa wahamiaji, wakimbizi, na familia zao. NewBridges pia imekua zaidi ya miaka kadhaa iliyopita. Ushirikiano kati ya Huduma za Kisheria za Blue Ridge, Shule ya Sheria ya Washington na Lee, First Step, na NewBridges ziliundwa mwaka wa 2016, ambayo hutoa ushauri wa kisheria wa pro bono kwa wahamiaji ambao ni wahasiriwa wa unyanyasaji wa nyumbani. NewBridges pia ilihamia katika nafasi yake mpya ya ofisi kwenye Barabara ya Maji ya Magharibi mnamo 2015, ambayo ilifungua nafasi zaidi ya kufanya kazi na wateja.
Kufikia 2017, Harrisonburg ni jiji la makabila mengi, lenye lugha nyingi. Asilimia 16.7 ya jiji hilo lilizaliwa nje ya Marekani. Asilimia 35 ya wanafunzi katika Shule za Umma za Jiji la Harrisonburg ni Wanafunzi wa Lugha ya Kiingereza (ELLs), kati yao kuna nchi 51 na lugha 57 zinazowakilishwa. Utawala mpya wa rais umeleta changamoto kwa wahamiaji na wakimbizi wengi, lakini uungwaji mkono na fahari kubwa katika jumuiya hii inatoa matumaini kwa siku zijazo.
Information for this blog post came primarily from Dr. Laura Zarrugh's presentation at the NewBridges Collaborative Community Summit that was held in February. Specific organizational information was provided by Collaborative Community Summit attendees, many of whom are practitioners at local entities that work with the foreign-born population.
Information on the pre-historic and Native American presence in the Shenandoah Valley was taken from Dr. Carole Nash’s presentation on February 18, 2016, entitled “The Archeology of the Shenandoah Valley Native Americans: Deep Time and Place.” For related reading, please see Willliam Gardner’s 1986 book “Lost Arrowheads and Broken Pottery: Traces of Indians in the Shenandoah Valley.”
Kwa usomaji wa ziada juu ya uwepo wa Kilatino/a, tafadhali soma makala ya Dk. Laura Zarrugh yenye kichwa. The Latinization of the Central Shenandoah Valley na Kutoka kwa Wafanyakazi hadi Wamiliki: Wajasiriamali wa Kilatino huko Harrisonburg, Virginia.
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Kuhusu mwandishi: Lindsay Wright ni mhitimu wa 2016 wa Chuo Kikuu cha James Madison, ambapo alihitimu mara mbili katika Mafunzo ya Mawasiliano na Kihispania. Amemaliza mafunzo ya miezi tisa huko NewBridges mnamo 2017, ambapo anatolewa yaliyomo kwenye blogi na kufanya kazi na wateja. Katika wakati wake wa mapumziko, Lindsay anafurahia kusoma, kupika, na kutumia muda nje.