Intro of presenters
- Karima is a senior international student majoring in Social Work at James Madison University. She was born to Iraqi refugee parents, who were later relocated to Norway as refugees. She grew up most of her life in Norway and England.
- Majeda is an Iraqi refugee currently living in Harrisonburg. She arrived to the US two months ago. She is the only one of her family alive. Her husband, currently in Syria, is still waiting for acceptance on his refugee application.
Recently there has been an increase of Iraqi refugees in Harrisonburg, majority as a result of the US-Iraqi war. This increase of Iraqi refugees affects Harrisonburg’s community directly and indirectly on so many different levels.
Refugees require a shelter, a stable job, health care and education once they arrive. The Refugee Resettlement Center in Harrisonburg provides initial help to refugees once they arrive. Center staff arrange for transportation between the airport and refugee resettlement locations. Majeda initially lived at a church location, before resettlement center helped her find a place to stay.
The resettlement office also helps the refugees with applications for Medicaid and food stamps. They also offer some translation services.
The government pays a one-time grant of 450 dollars that will aid the refugee the first month they stay in the US. The refugee is expected to find a job as soon as possible in order to pay for their own expenses.
This is not always easy for all refugees. In Majeda’s situation, it is very difficult for her to get a job. There are several factors involved; many are general factors that apply to others as well:
- Language barriers
- Transportation barriers
- Health barriers
- Education/skill barriers
- Availability of jobs
In Majeda’s situation it is very difficult for her to find a job as she cannot speak English at all, and faces health and transportation barriers. Majeda, with the help of some community volunteers, has been actively seeking jobs, but has not succeeded yet. Out of work and with bills to pay, her situation seems stressful and very difficult. However, she remains hopeful. She recently enrolled at Dayton Learning Center in order to learn English. She believes knowing the language would not only help her find a suitable job, but also become more independent in daily tasks, and also be able to communicate with the American community. Majeda, like many other refugees, look forward to contribute to the American society through jobs, cultural experience, education and socialization.
Majeda is greatful for every help that she has received from Harrisonburg’s community. She stated during the workshop that she considers herself an American now, and would love to get to know the American culture, customs and people.
In addition to the many positive aspects of being a refugee in Harrisonburg, the workshop discussions brought forth three main areas of needs that refugees face in Harrisonburg. These are:
- The need for jobs
- The need for transportation
- The need for more specific programs that aid refugees’ specific needs, such as translation, financial, social, educational, and recreational needs.
The participants present at the workshop all agreed on the above needs. Many showed interest in collaborating together as a community as well through governmental and non-profit agencies in order to create solutions/programs for the above needs.
Several group participants showed interest in volunteering transport services to the refugees. This interest is valuable information and could be the start of refugee transportation program in the near future.
Clearly the group session was not long enough to address all the issues faced by the refugees as well by the community (as a result of increased number of refugees in Harrisonburg). This could be a potential topic for another Open Space Workshop in the future, where specific needs and increased details about the refugees could be exchanged.
It appears that the increasing number of refugees in Harrisonburg calls for a social change in order to meet their needs. Harrisonburg’s community needs to act in ways that meet these needs, and provide opportunities for refugees to use their skills. Many of the refugees are physicians, engineers, teachers and so forth. Because of the mentioned barriers, many of these skills go to waste. These are some important skills that could greatly benefit Harrisonburg’s community, and it is up to the community to create opportunities for refugees to use their skills and develop.
It is an amazing strength to have a refugee resettlement center in Harrisonburg. This is center that could be fully utilized for developing suitable programs for refugees in Harrisonburg. The resettlement center is the backbone of the refugee community, and it is up to Harrisonburg’s community to allow and aid the center to grow and develop to meet more specific refugee needs.
