The Charlotte Jewish News - December 2011 - Page 11
Cultural Orientation Smoothes the Way for Refugees
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By Karen Brodsky
Out of the darkness eame
light, so the Chanukah story
tells us. One of the leitmo
tifs of the holiday, light,
reminds Carolina Refugee
Resettlement Ageney’s
(CRRA) easeworkers, who
were refugees themselves,
of how mueh they learned
overseas before eoming to
Charlotte — and how mueh
they had yet to learn.
Not all the refugees
CRRA resettles are eom-
pletely in the dark when
arrive in the U.S. While their eul-
tural orientation (CO) overseas
may not serateh the surfaee of
what life will be like onee they
arrive in the U.S., they do reeeive
instruetion designed to help
refugees develop realistie expeeta-
tions about life here.
Not all refugees are literate —
even in their own languages —
and they may not have the eapaei-
ty or previous knowledge of a
elassroom situation, or they may
have no eoneeption of modem liv
ing. The sueeess of CO depends
also on the number of hours train
ers have for training and the needs
of the group being trained.
“It is eritieal for refugees to be
provided CO overseas and even
more important that it be eontin-
ued in the U.S.,” said Ellen Dubin,
CRRA exeeutive direetor.
Overseas CO is funded by the
U.S. Department of State’s
Bureau of Population, Refugees,
and Migration. The Cultural
Orientation Resouree Center web
site provides an overview of the
CO program that is earried out
overseas. An edited version is
printed here.
Overseas CO is provided in
more than 40 eountries. These are
usually eountries of first asylum—
that is, eountries that refugees flee
to for proteetion and assistanee—
although in speeial eases refugees
are proeessed in their home eoun
tries.
All refugees over the age of 15
who have been approved for reset
tlement to the United States are
eligible to reeeive CO. Due to
ehildeare obligations, logistieal
eonsiderations, or elass size,
sometimes only one family mem
ber ean attend CO. Some of the
overseas programs also periodi-
eally eonduet speeial elasses for
refugee ehildren and youth.
Based on State Department
guidelines, overseas CO addresses
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driving without a lieense), eultural
praetiees that may eonfliet with
U.S. eustoms, and laws relating to
domestie violenee.
* Cultural Adjustment: Deals
with eulture shoek, eommunity
mental health resourees, and
ehanging family roles; eovered
only when time permits.
* Travel: Familiarizes refugees
with eaeh step of the transit
proeess, from pre-departure to
arrival in the resettlement eommu
nity; addresses in-flight safety,
eustoms and immigration proee-
dures, and seeurity issues.
The refugees eome out of the
darkness and into the light when
they arrive safely—and maybe
bewildered—in the U.S. but need
a lot of eare and edueation. This is
the job of eaeh CRRA easeworker.
CRRA relies on eontinuing sup
port from the eommunity—gifts
of eash and furniture and house-
wares donations. Visit the CRRA
website for more information, or
eall 704-535-8803.«
Bhutanese refugees in Nepal work together to
learn about life in the United States. Photo
courtesy: International Organization for
Migration (lOM), Damak, Nepal
11 essential topies related to pro-
eessing, travel, and resettlement:
* Pre-Departure Proeessing:
Familiarizes refugees with the
steps they need to eomplete before
leaving for the United States.
* Role of the Resettlement
Ageney: Helps refugees under
stand the roles of a ease manager
and other resettlement ageney
staff so that they ean develop real
istie expeetations about the help
they will reeeive from the resettle
ment ageney.
* Housing: Familiarizes
refugees with housing types and
eosts, ways to find low-eost hous
ing, and housing leases and laws.
* Employment: Covers topies
sueh as the importanee of early
self-suffieieney, the job seareh,
job interviews, types of U.S. jobs,
salary deduetions, employment
benefits, and legal doeuments
needed for employment.
* Transportation: Familiarizes
refugees with the different types
of transportation they may find in
their eommunities; highlights laws
and information eoneeming own
ing and driving a ear.
* Edueation: Familiarizes
refugees with edueational oppor
tunities for adults and ehildren in
the United States; the need for
adults to work while studying is
emphasized.
* Health: Provides the basie
faets of U.S. health eare, eontrast-
ing it with health eare in the eoun
tries of origin; the importanee of
health insuranee is diseussed.
* Money Management:
Introduees the eoneept and prae-
tiee of a monthly budget; ineludes
information of the U.S. banking
system and ways to save money.
* Rights and Responsibilities:
Covers U.S. laws that are most
important for refugees; of speeial
interest are family reunifieation
and adjustment of status regula
tions, eommon legal problems
eneountered by refugees (sueh as
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