In the current anti-immigrant climate there is considerable pressure for immigrants to cast off their traditional culture and become ‘Americanized.’ In Springfield, Massachusetts, a group of women from the Somali refugee community is working to build livelihoods on the strength of their culture. CPE is a partner organization in this multi-faceted project. In 2007, we provided a series of  workshops on  capacity and skill building for cooperative economic development. We received a small grant from the Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts that has enabled us to hire staff economist Nina Eichacker to continue to provide training and support in 2008.
The Somali women have formed Walaalo! Somali Sisters Collective – walaalo means sister in Somali.  The women are developing two income generating projects. The first is craft production including traditional baby carriers and jewelry. The other is an agricultural project to grow produce for consumption, sale and value-added products such as Somali curry sauce or snacks.

Other events have included the Somali Community Festival in October, featuring Somali food, dancing, music, and crafts and the forum in December on The Crisis in Somalia.