Today was our first meeting with Kwan from the Indiana Association of Chinese Americans (IACA). It was nice to have an informal first meeting where we were able to enjoy some good Chinese takeout food and learn more about Kwan and the IACA in a lecture heavy format. Kwan was nice enough to bring in Lo Mein and dumplings filled with sausage. The Lo Mein consisted of noodles, garlic, onion, carrots, other little vegetables, and some kind of sauce. The sausage in the dumplings were a little greasy, but they had wonderful flavor and I am grateful that Kwan was nice enough to treat us on our first meeting.
Kwan himself was born in China and brought up in the city of Hong Kong. One of the things that I found interesting is that he ate rice every day growing up because he lived in southern China. He explained that southern China grows rice with their climate and northern China grows wheat, so people of northern China eat a lot of noodles and those that live in southern China eat rice nearly every day. Kwan also told us that his favorite Chinese New Year tradition is when elderly folk give out envelopes to the youth that contain money. He got his degree in New York where he spent six years at Harvard. Today, he lives in Carmel, Indiana where he has been for thirty-three years now. He stated that 11% of the population in Carmel is Asian.
According to Kwan, the earliest Chinese settlement in the state of Indiana developed when people came to the United States in search of work. Hundreds to thousands joined the railroad construction that was trying to build a railway system that stretched from the east coast to the west coast. Thirty-eight years ago, the IACA was formed by students who were coming to Indiana for a college education. The students, along with other local families, met for lunch so that they could share their new experiences with one another and give support to those who needed it. Today, the IACA has four objectives on their website that reflect their mission:
- To foster constructive citizenship on the part of Chinese Americans in the State of Indiana and the nation
- To cultivate the understanding and the appreciation of both American and Chinese cultural heritages
- To enrich Indiana society with Chinese American contributions
- To improve the overall well-being of Chinese Americans in Indiana
Kwan made it an emphasis to explain that the IACA is very open to other cultures. They are a very outgoing organization that enjoys collaborating and doing events with other organizations. Every May, the IACA gathers at the Indiana Statehouse to support Asian Heritage Month. During the COVID-19 pandemic, illegal immigrants and undocumented people were not able to receive government benefits. Therefore, the IACA raised money to support people who needed to replace their lost income. The event was called Project Matchstick, because they wanted to be a glimmer of light for people that were in total darkness. When it was all said and done, the organization gave out about $13,000 to those in need. To me, this really made me think of our Confucian readings from the Daodejing and the Chinese culture, and the importance of being righteous and walking the right path to help others.