by beautiful liar » 1/22/2007, 1:41 pm
I worked very closely with some refugees this summer...it was an eye-opening experience. There was a 19-year-old who spent his entire life in a refugee camp; he was shell-shocked. It was amazing to see him slowly blossom - at first, he shut down at the slightest mistake he made, and by the end of the summer, if I corrected him, he'd say 'thank you, teacher' and smile. Actually smile. It was awe-inspiring.
It is so hard to adjust to life in a new country; learning new language, job skills, life skills. I had a muslim woman in one of my classes who would not talk directly to a man; it was difficult for her, when once a week, her class was taught by a male. It's difficult for us to understand and be sensitive to their practices, and just as alien for them to understand ours, sometimes.
I also think about how, when refugees and immigrants come to Canada, it is stressed that they should call 911 when they need help. So often, they don't understand what constitutes an emergancy for 911 because it's not explained well enough, or in a way that's comprehendable. I know of one woman who called 911 because she didn't know the bus schedule, and she didn't understand when she was fined for inappropriate use of emergancy services. I've been told this is a common occurance.
It's a difficult situation all-round. Hard to break the language and culture barriers on both sides of the equation; hard to help refugees become established, when often they hope they'll be able to go home after the fighting, after the war, after the trouble is over; hard to intigrate children who have seen horrors in with other children. I don't know what should be done; all I know is that I have an infinite amount of respect for the people who manage to forge new lives for themselves away from everything that is familiar, often worrying about friends and family who were left behind.