Schaumburg's South Asian community growing more active

For nearly three years, the village of Schaumburg and the Schaumburg Business Association have coordinated a grant-driven program to better integrate the area's significant South Asian population into local civic activities.

Now that the official program is reaching its end, the time has come for its members to assess the lessons learned and how they might be transplanted to other places.

The potential for a wider learning experience was one of the key factors in the Chicago Community Trust awarding the original $50,000 grant to Schaumburg in 2007.

While some of the trust's immigration grant programs around the Chicago area look at ethnic groups taking their first steps in American culture, a 2005 census survey showed that already 10 percent of Schaumburg's population was of Indian, Pakistani or Bangladeshi descent.

However, this sizable group was severely underrepresented in local government and civic organizations. The purpose of the grant was to look at why and come up with solutions to change that.

Kashyap Trivedi, chair of the South Asian Integration Committee, said one of the main lessons could be of use in integrating any minority community anywhere.

"The most important thing we learned is just ask the question," Trivedi said. "An African-American or Hispanic community may be just waiting for its opinion to be sought."

That said, increasing South Asian activism in the community was not easy, Trivedi said. Though there's no real language barrier to overcome, most South Asian immigrants arrive with a strong focus on personal growth and the growth of their children, rather than involvement in outside activities.

The South Asian community is a very entrepreneurial one and hasn't traditionally been as focused on government and politics, Trivedi said. That's changed somewhat since the program began, but he'd like to see more change in the next few years.

Already, South Asians for the first time are on the village's environmental committee, board of health, Prairie Center for the Arts Foundation board and Schaumburg Business Association board of directors.

Other fruits of the program's efforts will be clearly visible to the public next month.

The Schaumburg Business Association will host Dr. Mujahid Ghazi from the Asian Broadcasting Network at its Good Morning Schaumburg breakfast April 13, to speak about the cultural differences between traditional American business and South Asian cultures.

And on April 24, musician Anoushka Shankar will become the first South Asian performer to headline a show at the Prairie Center for the Art.

Trivedi said the Anoushka Shankar concert is a strong example of how South Asian influence in the community has grown.

Though some grant money was used to help bring this internationally known performer to Schaumburg, the additional money needed was raised by sponsorships from South Asian-owned businesses, Trivedi said.

Though the Chicago Community Trust has been aware of the group's progress the last three years, it won't make its final assessment of the program until all reports are filed this summer, Vice President of Programs Ngoan Le said.