Bronx group helps South Asian women fulfi ll dreams
BY HAFSA QURAISHI
When Rila Choudhury’s husband
died in 2017, she didn’t know how to go
on.
With no family nearby, Choudhury
was alone in New York City. A 43-yearold
immigrant from Bangladesh with
limited English-speaking skills, Choudhury
needed someone to help her move
forward.
Fortunately, she found the support
she needed at Sapna NYC, a non-profi t
organization located in Parkchester’s
South Asian immigrant community.
Over the past decade, Sapna has helped
thousands of low-income South Asian
women through English classes and
health programs, to increase their socio
economic capital and access to opportunities.
“Most of the time these women have
a lot of potential, but they don’t know
how to access the resources that will
make them successful – that’s where we
come in,” said executive director Diya
Basu-Sen.
The organization blossomed out of
a small mental health study of South
Asian women and grew to accommodate
the varied needs of the growing
South Asian community. Sapna says
most of the women who use their services
are Bangla and from Parkchester,
where nearly half of the Bronx’s Bangladeshi
population lives.
Limited English profi ciency and tra-
South Asian women at the Bronx paint on canvases while learning about menstruation in a program put on by Sapna NYC.
Photo courtesy of Hafsa Quraishi
ditionally gendered roles often make
the women at Sapna fi nancially and
emotionally dependent on their husbands
and children. The non-profi t reduces
this dependency by educating the
women in basic skills, such as CPR and
how to communicate in English.
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“Because I took Sapna’s classes,
I benefi ted and can have jobs,” said
Choudhury. The organization trained
her as a babysitter, and now she sometimes
cares for other women’s children.
Sapna teaches both beginner and intermediate
ESL classes, and also offers
a U.S. citizenship test preparation class.
Additionally, the group offers health
education. As part of a new research
study, new mothers learn to change
feeding habits to prevent risk of pediatric
obesity and dental caries in their
children.
Sapna looks like a regular brick
house in the Parkchester area. Shoes
line the entrance foyer and the landing
of the narrow stairway to the basement,
where classes and programs are
held. Chairs and desks are arranged in
the basement classroom, and signs list
class rules. In one corner is a computer
lab, and colorful paintings made by the
women decorate the walls.
Farida Akter, 37, is one of Sapna’s
clients. She immigrated to America
three years ago and comes to learn English
and take computer classes that the
women requested.
“Sapna has helped me in many ways,
but fi rst and foremost it taught me English,”
said Akter. “Now, I’m not dependent
on others – I can take the subway
and go to the doctor’s offi ce myself.”
Assistant director Saba Naseem’s
mother was also an immigrant and
faced many of the same struggles. She
notes that culturally, South Asian
women are accustomed to putting family
ahead of themselves.
“I think it’s important that Sapna
is a place the women are putting themselves
fi rst,” said Naseem.
Dr. Parvin Banu, a professor from
Calcutta National Medical College, visited
the basement classroom recently,
and explained the details of menstruation.
While she spoke, a dozen Bangladeshi
Farida Akter, 37, holds up two paintings she’s
worked on while participating in learning
programs at Sapna NYC. In addition to teaching
her computer literacy, Sapna helped Akter
learn English. Photo courtesy of Hafsa Quraishi
women, dressed in scarves and
traditional clothing, painted on canvases,
glancing up occasionally. The
program allowed them to paint while
learning something worthwhile.
“In Bengali, ‘sapna’ means dream,”
noted Banu. “Maybe these women are
dreaming something; I want to teach
them so they can chase their dreams.”
(Hafsa Quraishi, half Pakistani and
Indian, was born and raised in Jacksonville,
FL. She currently attends the
Craig Newmark Graduate School of
Journalism at CUNY. Hafsa wants to
be combine her love of audio and digital
journalism and work as a radio reporter.
She is focused on bringing to
light issues that impact Muslim Americans
and the South Asian diaspora community
in America.