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Khushi
Everyone has heard of the expression “cushty” eg. “The weather’s been really cushty recently" where cushty means good. This slang word is drawn from the Romany word “Khushti”.
Romany is a mixture of European and Indian influences. No surprise then that the word “cushty” is probably related to the Indian word “Khushi” which means happiness.
Khushi is the name of a group set up in Chapeltown by the Asian Women’s Support Service, Dosti. Its purpose is to offer support to Asian women – this includes the obvious groups drawn from the Asian subcontinent of India, Pakistan and Bangladesh but also any women drawn in some way by birth or heritage from other parts of Asia.
Language support is available to women who speak one of the four main languages of the Indian subcontinent.
The focus of the group is direct or indirect mental health support so though not all of the women have a mental health diagnosis, the support offered is designed to prevent mental ill-health.
The group offers one to one support to the women as well as health advice, yoga, ESOL (English as a second language) training and now employment support – which is where I fit in.
I have started offering employment drop-ins at Khushi where I offer one to one support to women who are seeking employment, vocational education or training.
The response so far has been very enthusiastic and I am actively looking for the best ways to link the women I have met so far with opportunities.
I am in the process of offering employment drop-ins on a rotating basis at Dosti's other venues around Leeds. This is to increase access to employment advice for BME communities.
I am also interested in opening these drop-ins to men from BME communities who require mental health support.
Please contact me if your organisation would be interested in discussing joint work here. I am envisaging offering one drop-in for employment per month.
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Khushi
