All posts filed under: Development

Good Communities Come From Data Disaggregation

Published by Bryan Thao Worra

Even though we’ve come a long way, as Southeast Asian American refugee communities getting ready for our 45th year in the US, there are still many hurdles for us. Recently, the Chinese have been actively mobilizing to undermine the strides we’ve made by making national efforts to eliminate the collection of statistics and data so necessary to understand which policies have been effective in narrowing the educational achievement gap, and which have not. It should be obvious just saying it aloud: Good communities come from good data. In an era when everyone is concerned about the abuse of our social safety nets and education systems, as well as fake news, we should all be committed to gathering the most accurate information about our success and challenges. We should be more than willing to invest in the collection of data that ensures we’re seeing the real picture of how some communities succeed and others do not. Lao Minnesotans are among the many who have a direct stake in this issue. The phrase most commonly associated with …

Canadian Universal Health vs The Great American Gamble

Published by Donna Luangmany

The day my twins were born, my son developed an infection in his leg. It was an excruciating ailment, one that came on without warning and left him unable to walk or even move. It was also a big mystery; doctors weren’t exactly sure what it was, or how to treat it. My husband spent the next eight days shuttling him back and forth to the hospital. While I tended to our newborns at home, they logged hours on the pediatric floor. Each day brought a different round of testing for our young son. His little body was put through it all: x-rays, ultrasounds, MRIs, and bloodwork. That was a draining week for all of us. Most days, we struggled just to keep him comfortable. The hospital had every test result back within 12 hours each day. But waiting isn’t easy – especially for a hormonal mother who can’t stay off Google. I spent sleepless nights worrying about sprains, Lyme disease, even cancer. WebMD became my best friend and worst nightmare. My insane penchant to …