Asha Laaya ‘Farm of Hope’ added 14 acres to its farm. Now it needs staff to expand its reach  

In two years, Asha Laaya, “Farm of Hope,” has expanded from a one-acre plot in Kirkville to a 15-acre community for Deaf New Americans to cultivate culturally diverse traditions.  

The farm, operated by Deaf New American Advocacy Inc., grows more than a dozen crops and provides a space for Deaf migrants to congregate for meals and build a multicultural community. 

The next step in the farm’s expansion is to hire two new full-time workers in the next year who can facilitate communication between farmers and staff to support the rapid growth sustained by the project. To get there, Deaf New American Advocacy recently secured federal government loans and funding from local organizations that would go toward at least one Nepalese translator, a new fridge, and the construction of a new greenhouse. 

Monu Chhetri, the advocacy organization’s CEO, reflected on a year’s worth of expansion on the brink of Asha Laaya’s second anniversary. The farm currently supports 26 farmers, more than doubling capacity since 2022. It also supports a new Nepali traditional outdoor kitchen that serves as a community hub.

“It’s just amazing all the people that support us, each volunteer that came, each farmer that was here, each staff person that was there,” Chhetri said. “All of them invested so much hard work because they believed in this and they were committed.”

About a third of the acreage is used to grow crops and host communal meals with dishes that harken back to the farmers’ home countries. For instance, some farmers have sown plants that are staples of Nepali culture, such as Tukruka and Bethu.

“We may not all speak the same language, but we share experiences and a background that really helps us to understand,” Chhetri said. 

Deaf New Americans find community at Asha Laaya ‘Farm of Hope’

Beyond the multicultural crops found at Asha Laaya, the sense of community built through nights of shared suppers and toiling on the field is essential to the farm’s success, Chhetri said. In some instances, the farmers’ shared dreams have driven the farm’s expansion. 

Last year farmers said they wanted to build a “chulo,” the Nepali word for a wood-burning stove typically made out of mud. The goal was to build the chulo and a new outdoor kitchen, as it reminded farmers of the times when they came together at refugee camps. 

Workers from Deaf New American Advocacy and volunteers from SUNY’s College of Environmental Science and Forestry and Syracuse University eventually built the chulo, employing a construction technique called rammed earth that entails compacting natural raw materials.

Now the chulo serves as a farm center for celebratory dinners. Chhetri said she hopes it becomes a second home for farmers and guests. 

“We also want to use that to teach our children about where we came from,” Chhetri said.

The farm’s expansion, Chhetri said, will go beyond the 15 acres in Kirkville. Her long-term plan is to address food insecurity in areas where New Americans and refugees have limited access to fresh fruits and vegetables. 

Asha Laaya already took a step toward that goal earlier this year by setting up a market in the city’s North Side, selling affordable, fresh produce. The market stood on Lodi Street for eight weeks and was the fruit of a collaboration with Hopeprint, a local nonprofit serving economically disadvantaged communities in Syracuse. 

“We want as many people as possible to have access to delicious, fresh food,” Chhetri said. “

The market was a resounding success, Chhetri said, which has prompted her to seek a partnership with the nearby White branch of the Onondaga County Library System to continue to provide fresh produce to North Side residents. 

Chhetri said she also wants to see Asha Laaya become an inspiration for other farms. Deaf New American Advocacy currently has two existing programs at orphanages in Nepal and Congo that focus on teaching farming practices to refugees. 

“We value farming. The skills that we’ve gathered here, we want to use to help other farms set up like this, so other people can do what we do and have what we have,” Chhetri said. “None of us have degrees, we don’t have master’s degrees or bachelor’s degrees, but what we have is experience and skill that we want to share with as many people as we can.”