Working Across Cultures

Two young women, dressed in ankle-length skirts and long headscarves, are hammering away on a large block of wood.

Upon looking at the t-shirt-and-shorts-clad youth working at the site, one may wonder if the women's attire acts as a hindrance to their work. A few minutes of careful observation, however, will reveal that these two young Somali women are among the most hardworking members of their Tree Trust Youth Conservation Corps (YCC) crew.

Both Fardosa Haji, 21, and Fardowsa Ali, 18, are spending their summers building a fire pit at Hyland Lake Park Reserve with a group of six other members. They are just two of the approximately 1,300 youth that Tree Trust will serve through its YCC program this year. The program provides summer jobs and employment training to youth between the ages of 14 and 21 residing in the Twin Cities seven-county metro area.

Both Haji and Ali grew up in Kenya. Haji arrived in the U.S. in September 2005, and her summer job with Tree Trust is her first work experience. Ali, on the other hand, has had a previous job at Eden Prairie Mall selling kids' merchandise at a kiosk. They took up their jobs with Tree Trust because they needed the money and also felt that it would be a good experience.

Despite the sweltering heat, both Haji and Ali remain optimistic about their work. They treat the hard manual labor that is required of them everyday as a means of exercise. "This job helps me to keep fit," comments Ali. Haji concurs by saying that her current job is "a lot healthier than other jobs." Haji also finds her job to be a good learning experience as she did not know how to do a lot of the construction work that she has been exposed to over the past few weeks.

They have nothing but praise to shower on the other crew members. They get along well with their mates, whom Ali describes as "fun" and "cool." Ali says that they have a great work attitude as a group because "everyone respects each other."

They are the only two women in the crew of eight. At this worksite, however, gender and ethnicity do not matter. A heavy block of brick is passed along the row from one crew member to another. Finally, it reaches Haji, who assembles it into the ground. The foundation for the fire pit is now complete.

Learn more about the Youth Conservation Corps.