Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource "Voices That Must Be Heard" Articles Description An account of the resource The Independent Press Association (IPA) translates articles from the ethnic press (when necessary) and distributes them via web and fax newsletter to mainstream and ethnic press, government offices, nonprofits, and interested individuals. Voices That Must be Heard was designed by the Independent Press Association staff in New York City in response to the horrifying events of September 11. After Sept. 11th, Voices focused on the South Asian, Arab and Middle Eastern communities in New York. Since February 2002, the project has expanded, selecting articles from the broad range of ethnic and community newspapers throughout the city. Here, the Archive has preserved the Voices collection from its inception until November 2002. VTMBH Article VTMBH Article: Edition 14 VTMBH Article: Article Order 3 VTMBH Article: Title WTC survivor struggles to regain life lived before September 11th VTMBH Article: Author Jordan Moss VTMBH Article: Publication Norwood News VTMBH Article: Original Language VTMBH Article: Translator English VTMBH Article: Section briefs VTMBH Article: Blurb VTMBH Article: Keywords VTMBH Article: Body After a late evening of working a banquet at Windows on the World, where he had been a waiter for several years, Norwood resident Mohammed Shamim was headed back to work early the next morning to serve at another event. He got as far as the elevator banks in Tower 1 of the World Trade Centerand then came the loud crash that sent everyone in the lobby racing out of the building. Shamim, a native of Bangladesh who arrived in the Bronx in 1978, was one of the lucky ones. Seventy-three Windows on the World workers died that morning, including two very close friends, and Shamim would have been among them had he arrived only minutes earlier. Still, Shamim doesn't feel so lucky these days. Six months after the horrific attack, he is still out of a job, and his hopes of saving for a house and buying new furniture for the apartment on Hull Avenue he shares with his wife, Laila, and two children, Ibtehaj and Tahsin, are all gone. "I thought I was going to buy a house," said Shamim, who often earned $1,500 a week as a waiter. "I was happy." Shamim has been collecting unemployment. Restaurant jobs are difficult, if not impossible, to find. Even those of his neighbors who worked in restaurants that weren't obliterated by the attack are working only part time, maybe two or three days a week. Things are made even more difficult by his glaucoma, which requires that he work in a low-light environment. Shamim is grateful to his union, Local 100 of the Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees (HERE), for setting up a fund that extends his family's health insurance through at least June. But he is sharply critical of the way the large charitable funds, set up in the wake of September 11th, are being administered. There is help now only for the relatives of those who perished, not for the families of those who survived but are struggling without work. "I should die so my family would be taken care of," Shamim says. "I'm alive, so they can't do anything. That's what I feel like right now." Meanwhile, Shamim tries to get his family back on track financially, taking computer classes one day a week in Manhattanhe would go more often if there were more classesand trying to find English classes for his wife, so that she can perhaps find a job herself. "If I have to change my career I'm going to do it, but I need training right now," said Shamim, who once worked at Merrill Lynch on mainframe computers. Before September 11th, Shamim had great hopes for his family. Now he lives day to day. "It's very hard to survive," Shamim said. "The work we do is very hard to find in New York right now. I'm very unsure about the future." VTMBH Article: Line Breaks 1 VTMBH Article: Date 2002-04-10 VTMBH Article: Thumb VTMBH Article: Article File v14b3.doc VTMBH Article: Hit Count 98 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource WTC survivor struggles to regain life lived before September 11th 911DA Item Elements describing a September 11 Digital Archive item. Status The process status of this item. approved Consent Whether September 11 Digital Archive has permission to possess this item. unknown Posting Whether the contributor gave permission to post this item. yes Copyright Whether the contributor holds copyright to this item. yes Source The source of this item. born-digital Media Type The media type of this item. article Created by Author Whether the author created this item. yes Described by Author Whether the description of this item was submitted by the author. no Date Entered The date this item was entered into the archive. 2002-04-10