Intro to Bridging The Gap (Start Here!)

In the modern age, our world is more connected than ever. I think that we are all aware of that, at least on some base level. This connectivity allows for the sharing of media, food, and culture as a whole. However, one aspect that tends to be overlooked is the movement of people. People are moving from their homelands to other areas previously unknown and unfathomable to them.

These people are what is known as a diaspora, a group of people that live in an area that is not their original homeland. This does not mean where their ethnic group originates from--but their homeland, where they were originally born. For example, the homeland of Asian-Americans is America. Being part of a diaspora can be stressful, living in an alien area, far removed from the tenets of your previous life. This can particularly affect kids, due to their youth and lack of experience with a world outside their bubble of a life.

I was born in the US, in Dallas, Texas. I lived there until I was 9, when I moved to Bangalore. Moving was an issue. I was obviously attached to where I had lived all my life, where all of my friends were. India was something that I could only fathom as a summer vacations spot, staying at my grandparents' house. I couldn't consider actually living there. So moving was a challenge. No friends, no familiarity whatsoever. I was isolated in school, made fun of for my accent and it took a while for me to adapt. This experience is pretty universal for diasporic kids. You move to a new place and are forced to adapt to the new status quo, without easing you through the process. We here at Bridging the Gap are going to help with that. We are here to provide a community to these kids, give them resources and information that will help them thrive in their new environment. So... yeah!

Btw, if you want to post your own blog posts on our platform, send us an email with the post! We'll look over it and see if we can publish it!