For young Laotian girls, there are a multitude of barriers and conflicting values that impact them daily. Like any other adolescents, they are experiencing all of the turmoil, peer pressure, self-esteem, and general insecurities common to this stage of their development. Also, like many other children of immigrant and refugee families, they are the main communication link for their families and bear tremendous responsibilities that impact the traditional parent-child relationship. However, there are other conditions that are unique to Laotian-American girls in Richmond. They live in one of the most toxic areas in the country.
Laotian women have the highest death rate from breast cancer in Contra Costa County.
There is growing evidence of the direct correlation between age of exposure to toxics and the incidence of certain kinds of cancer in women. That is to say, the younger you are exposed the more likely you will get cancer. The Initiative addresses the needs of young girls who are transitioning into adulthood, struggling to understand who they are, living in an environment that includes being street wise about gangs, drugs, poverty, ill-equipped schools, teen pregnancies while being completely unaware of the broader toxic exposures that threaten them. It is this complexity of personal development in the context of adolescence, environmental toxic exposures and Asian feudal attitudes towards girls that provide both the rational and backdrop to the creation of a model program that can be replicated in other areas of the country with similar conditions and communities. Through a carefully developed series of games, projects, discussions, workshops, training, and field trips, culminating in participation in the UN Global Youth Forum, the girls had a chance to develop and administer surveys, photograph, map, and document toxic hazards within their neighborhoods, identify issues of environmental justice that affect their communities, and prepare a community presentation on their findings.