On February 6th we met as a group to meet with the two leaders of the IACA Benny and Kwan. They are retired individuals who have lived in the Indianapolis area for a large part of their careers. The brought in dumplings for us to eat which was a unique experience for me as I rarely eat Chinese food. After getting to know them and telling them a little about us and our majors we began to talk about the IACA and what the organizations does. The IACA, which stands for Indiana Association of Chinese Americans is a not-for-profit organization that was established in 1973. The organization’s four main goals are:
- 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 the Indiana society with Chinese American contributions.
- To improve the overall well being of Chinese Americans in Indiana.
I really enjoyed getting to know Benny and Kwan, and hearing about how their involvement with the IACA has helped shape their lives. We talked about potential opportunities where we could help with the IACA moving forward. Some of my favorites we talked about were visiting local museums, help cleaning up parks/public areas, and learning the famous lion dance. I look forward to working with the IACA this semester and learning more about what they do to help the community.