Washington D.C. – On Sunday, June 28th, 2020, SALDEF SikhLEAD interns worked with Heartland Alliance to host an event at a Heartland Alliance Center for Unaccompanied Minors in the Chicago metro area. The SikhLEAD interns organized a movie and dinner for the children and staff. “We saw this event as an opportunity to help bring the children and staff together in a small group setting safely while sharing a delicious Indian meal,” said SikhLEAD Intern Harkanwal Kaur who worked on the project.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the children have mostly been in quarantine over the past few months. 2020 SikhLEAD Intern Esha Kaur who worked on this project said, “setting up the event at Heartland Alliance was a new experience and had it’s challenges because we wanted to make sure everything was perfect. However, it was rewarding being able to do something fun for the kids and it was definitely worth it.”
Since Heartland Alliance houses many Sikh unaccompanied children, the SikhLEAD interns chose the movie “Guru Nanak- the founder of Sikhism Life & Legacy” for this event. “It was really important for us to be able to give the Sikh kids and teens who have been through so much a way to reconnect with their Sikhi through the Guru Nanak movie,” said SikhLEAD Intern Keerat Singh. “ I think the Guru Nanak movie was a good choice because it gave the kids a connection to sakhis they were familiar with.”
Maria Kenney, the Community Engagement Director at Heartland Alliance said “the movie was well received by both the Sikh and non-Sikh audience because it explained Guru Nanak’s message well.” She went on to say, “the Sikh children were especially happy to see how Sikhs in America were represented across all different professions throughout the country. The children were curious to learn more about where Sikhs in America live.”
This event was done in conjunction with SALDEF’s work with detention centers and centers for unaccompanied minors. For over a year, SALDEF has been providing religious resources, cultural training and support to centers and those being detained. “SALDEF is committed to ensuring the safety of those being detained, while we would prefer immigration reform with the current system we must ensure all men, women, and children are being treated with respect and dignity, and are given the opportunity to be fairly represented in immigration court,” said Kiran Kaur Executive Director.
At the end of the event, Mr. Kuldip Singh Makker, a volunteer with the Interfaith Community for Detained Immigrants (ICDI Chicago), called into Heartland Alliance to help answer questions and share his own perspectives about the movie. Mr. Makker has been providing critical support to the Sikh children in visiting them and ensuring their well-being.