 Hi, I'm Leslie McVane, welcome to CTM Member Highlight. Today my guest is Bazia. Hi. Hi. From Project Bazia. That's correct. And do you want to let our audience know a little bit more about what Project Bazia does? And then we'll talk about some of the things you are doing. Already, Project Bazia is all about education and how the civic started for the South Sudanese community and then became globally of the all people who live in the United States through the system of this school, especially in the high school. We try to teach them how to understand American system. That's very important. Like back in Africa, we call, if you go to the party, do not sit down and watch. But a lot of time, the migrant came in a different background in this country because they speak two words of English. It doesn't mean that they understand. So if people who born in America still don't understand what the system looks like. So Project Bazia is all about education and how to be who you are and how to be succeed in the United States and be succeed in the global. That's what we're doing right now in high school here. Since I started between four year to five year, me and Arnie Smith working together. She's retired and teach in New Hampshire. And she moved here. And since she moved here, she made me through different education. I went to school to approve my English better, to do a lot. And today she's working together. But the goal of the project was it's all about education and how the student to be who they are. We are not coming to develop. A good self esteem. Self esteem. And to get putting them life in America in a better way. Because education is a key. And one of the things I keep telling people, not to tell people I have this education. When you have it in your daily life, the way you talk, the way you look at things, then you became educated. I wish when I go to apply for the job, I have to present the quality of education. But the quality of education correctly is supposed to be in the daily life. Well, I think that's wonderful. And you're doing this great work here. But you have not forgotten your African connections. And you've recently taken a trip back to Africa. Yeah, I did. Because almost a man believed until today. I know the politician who made us divided. But I believe we're all from Africa. That's the real story. And the world is changing. So my roots came from Africa. I'm originally from South Sudanese. If you go to my tribe Pacific, because Africa and I have this mentality, they say they have to ask you. If you say you're from South Sudan, they're still going behind. What's your tribe? I'm originally from Lua. I grew up in Wao. That's my home state. Because in South Sudan became a country in 2011 when they vote. We have 10 states originally. I'm not talking about what they're doing right now. But as they used to of South Sudan, became a nation, it was 10 states. I'm originally from Western Bacau. And I'm originally from South Sudan. I'm a Lua. But this trip took you somewhere that you're not so familiar with, to Malawi. Yeah, one of the reasons I went to Malawi, I met a good friend of mine. He's originally from Malawi in Maine. And it was through other friends who were talking about the Project Brazil. And he was one of the teachers, I believe, in South Sudan, education of South Sudan. Part of the project came through that. And they told him about there's a Project Brazil. So we met him on Miss Poland, imagine the way. And then we started talking. And I've never been in Malawi, to be honest. But I was attracted by Malawi behind. And I can say it's a younger country, or maybe the poor country in Africa. It's very small. But it's small. And I just, my heart grew up to that. And I tell him, I'm willing to go to a country. He was not even a believer. And I said, for my expectation of look at what I said, if I can't mean it, I don't say it. That's me. And you're working there and other places in Africa with young women to, what is the point of this or the purpose? Yeah, the trip was to start from Boston to UK, to South Africa. From South Africa is part of the project to connect with other girls, with other people because we write books. And especially there's a last book we did called Hippo. And we walked through that book. I've seen the book. And Ernest Mead, it's about, if the child doesn't born in America and you want to teach him English and you want to talk about it, it's no. We just feel like it's not making a sense. Why not we start with something when the child born, what he know? Right, that they're familiar with. We're familiar. And then later on he can know about it. It's not in other country. So that's one of the reasons we did that book. And this other book we did about it, talk about monkey, we use animal in that book. It's teaching a child how to be honest and how to be responsible. It's talk about friendship, how to understand who's your really true friend. We use on that book to teach kids and how to do the job correctly because you have to earn it. Sometimes people, they think just a job, be there from A to seven or whatever, it's not. What do you deliver between that hour? That was other book and a lot of people in the continent love it like Malawi in South Africa. Well, they're charming books. I wish we had copies to share with the audience. Yeah, I wish, yeah, yeah. Maybe all the time. Yes, and so one of the reasons you went was to distribute the book. The books. And Pacific was about Malawi. And we went to the village. We've been there for five days and we met close to 2,000 students. And we're expecting from this day we're there, we'll look what is going on, what is affecting them. And we're thinking to support them by October and we'll try to create a breakfast. Because really the kids in the village are behind because it's not really any good food for them. And I just feel like if they can't feed them, how they're gonna understand is cool. That's a major problem. Yeah, the other thing were working me and Arne Smith to approve the English level through the teacher and the grammar. And because a lot of them book right by people from Malawi. But we just said English is international language. So if you want to approve, you can be in the level of Malawi but it's still gonna connect yourself to America, to British to make your language be approved in the level of Malawi. If you go to other countries, you'll be able to speak better out to understand different accent. And you're working a lot with young girls. Is there a reason why you focused on that? Yeah, it's like I'm gonna use the chance to explain something very important for the man over the world. My mom was a woman, but we almost men have this wrong idea of the way I treat my mom different, the way I treat my woman different. But it's very close. In economic, our belief is strong. And one of the things, because if you look at the man, he almost like to talk about past, but the lady, they almost want to talk about future. So when I see what is happening in Africa, in my common sense, that's why I go back to what I just say earlier, education not to go tough before you're educated, but use that education in your daily life and where you operate the way you think and the way you see things what is going wrong. So I choose to have the young girl in the continent. So I have right now 23 in a different continent, Africa. Kenya, South Africa, South Sudan, North Sudan. It used to be one country, but now became two country. I have in Egypt, I have in Zimbabwe, I have in Cameroon. So I'm looking for 131. And I hope by 2020, we need to do something and keep down. And respecting maybe you can have Michelle Obama or maybe Oprah or maybe Serena William. Because those African lady who succeed in the level of globally in America or in other continent world. So I will help if one of them be there in that day. That's why the time to make the mission, or the mission statement of what we need to establish through the economic is all about education and how to change from academic to mechanic to hand job because hand job have money. And we're gonna be really very straight and I'll be happy to be part of it. All the girls in Africa. And I'll say to them very clear, I'm not a politician. I don't talk about religion, but I care about the young girls in Africa. And I wish I do my best. From now until 2020, we'll see whatever God gonna take us to it. And then back in this country, in this city, you've just moved your offices to the new immigration center. We wanna tell us a little bit about the center and why you decided to move there. Yeah, the center was in a good location close to the high school and we're there when they opened the ground. And the center that was there, Kingston, it came there. And one of the thing, it was kind of collaboration between African and American who raised in this state. And they came up with that idea to have a place, the old migrant Pacific in Contana, they can go to get help in English. And feel welcome. Feel welcome. Know that this was their place. There's a place for need. Right. So there's a real reason I accept to be there. And I wish through this, we're gonna do a lot. And since I'm here on TV, and I make sure everybody to come to the office anytime where I believe we're running six day in a week, only sign that we close our believes just in case. If you need any help, you can stop by there, you can ask any question, especially we're gonna focus on English and economic and especially in the business. Because really we need to change this community in a better way. Right. And this way you have collaboration with the other areas in the world where immigrants have come from. So that, you know, it's, there's more of a... That's correct. Yeah, we're gonna do something even through the WhatsApp. We're gonna connect other kids in other country to make sure. I did that a couple years ago when I was in Philadelphia. You know, like we have kids in high school, they have breakfast, they have dinner, and they see the complaint. So we tried to teach them something that was very interesting. We picked like 10 kids and we take them to Haiti. When they went to Haiti, the life there is different. So they never push it what they have in America. That's what's something amazing. So through this center we hope we're not gonna focus on in the level of, I mean, it's gonna be global just to motivate the kids how there are blessings in America and how we can change this blessing to other people in the continent. Right. And if people wanna get in touch with you. It's 207-615-8884. Okay, that's great. And that's, as you say, the office is open 16 days a week. Yeah, 16 days a week, yeah. And they can come at any time. Anytime, because the purpose of the office is like I said in the beginning, we're gonna be focused more to make. Even in high school right now, we're doing something in the new, when the school gonna be open, we're gonna focus how to engage the parents to understand the school system. Because we find out there's a bearing of the language. And then the other challenge for the modern African community in Portland, the babysitter, we're hoping to push how to get the babysitter law within new center, maybe we can get a lot of ladies to come there to understand how the system of the high school work. Because everything now is more through the internet or email, so we need to engage them on that level. I think it sounds wonderful and it sounds like you're just going good. I'll try the best I can do. I was just in the radio show a couple weeks ago. I keep talking about it the way I'm talking, but I know we're gonna get somewhere somehow. Well, thank you so much for all you do. Thank you again.