Refugee Women's Alliance

The Australian Catholics Migrant and Refugee Office (ACMRO) is an organisation that contributes to public discussion of crucial issues, using their religious beliefs as a basis for its contributions. The ACMRO was established by the Australian Catholics Bishops Conference on 1st July 1995. It is designed to advise and serve the Australian Catholics Bishops Conference at both a national and international level on migrant and refugee issues. To act as an official Church voice relating to migrants and refugees. To make appropriate representation to Government and other bodies on matters relating to migrants and refugees. According to the Church teaching on the issue, Pope Francis states “Violence, exploitation, discrimination, marginalisation, restrictive approaches to fundamental freedoms, whether of individuals or of groups: these are some of the chief elements of poverty which need to be overcome.” It is through this organisation that agencies can be run. They come under the ACMRO umbrella, such as the Brigidine Asylum Seekers Project (BASP), Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) and the Edmund Rice Centre (ERC).

I had the opportunity on Friday, February 10th, 2017 to visit with Samantha Sanchez, a professional from the Kansas Children’s Service League regarding their Oasis program. The Oasis program works to serve youth, ages 10-17, that are either at risk for running away or have already run away from home. Sanchez is a case manager through KCSL and works with families and youth to prevent run-aways and build strong families. Before working at KCSL, Samantha completed a degree in psychology and had every intention of working in the field of family and children psychology. While applying for jobs after graduation, her application landed on Amber’s, her current supervisor’s, desk. Although it was not her original intended career, Samantha assured me that KCSL’s Oasis program is her home.

(2014). Our Refugee Crisis, Nation, pp. 4-6. The authors purpose. Was to bring the readers up to speed on the problem of unaccompanied immigrant children coming across the border seeking asylum and how complex the issue is.

More than half the refugees around the globe are under the age of 18, even though children make up 31 percent of the world’s population. Refugees are people who has been forced to leave their country in order to escape war, persecution, or natural disasters. The stories that will be covered in this essay are called “The Teacher Who Changed My Life,” by Nicholas Gage and the second novel is “Letter to a Young Refugee from Another,” by Andrew Lam. These stories have many differences between each other but they both left their country to America. What if you had to flee your country?

This essay is about the universal refugee experience and the hardships that they have to go through on their journey. Ha from Inside Out and Back Again and other refugees from the article “Children of War” all struggle with the unsettling feeling of being inside out because they no longer own the things that mean the most to them. Ha and the other refugees all encounter similar curiosities of overcoming the finding of that back again peaceful consciousness in the “new world” that they are living in .

This article features many young boys from southern Sudan, their journey to Ethiopia, and then to the “Kakuma refugee camp in Kenya” (1), as stated in the article. This piece explains their journey and ultimately, or finally, to America, where they dealt with many challenges in adjusting to society. In addition, “Many of the Lost Boys resettled by the IRC also took part in IRC programs aimed at helping them cope with their traumatic past and easing their transition into such a different culture” (4). Many of them created a life for themselves in their new country and have fabricated their own legacy.

Goal: To improve the lives of refugees, asylees, parolees, and survivors of trafficking by helping them to acquire the cross-cultural information, skills, and social support network needed to gain stability in society and supporting them as they achieve educational and economic goals.

In the United States, the Latino community continues to grow at a steady pace and with this increase in population comes a greater complexity in family relations and a unique set of problems. Nowadays, Latino Families feature children who were born in the United States but have at least one foreign-born parent, and also foreign-born children who immigrated to this country. Whether they are first immigrants or second generation, Latino youth deals with different levels of acculturation and the stress that this process brings. Realizing that acculturation plays an important role in the Latino families, a number of studies have examined the negative effects that acculturation stress brings to adolescents and family relationships, including behavioral problems, perceived discrimination, ethnic identity, depression symptoms, and substance abuse.

For instance, competing commitments impede people’s hope for immunity change and accumulate insecurity fears, self-protective behaviors and negative assumptions towards others (Kegan & Laskow, 2009). Consequently, allowing the refugee and immigrant youth and parents to feel understood, heard and respected with dignity is important and it motivates them to achieve immunity change toward better acculturation and positive identity

New immigrants expect and usually face numerous challenges prior to and after arriving at their new home country. A recent comprehensive review of the health of immigrant youth in Canada revealed that immigrant youth experiences stress as they leave familiar settings behind and struggle to acculturate to their new country of residence (Salehi, 2010). Research has shown that immigrant youth have higher rates of mental health issues related to negative migration expeirences. In addition, immgirants are at an increased risk for secondary school dropout as they face greater obstacles compared to native youh in academic success (Anisef, Brown, Phythian, Sweet, & Walters, 2010). Thus, there is a need to aid immigrant youth in its transition and assimilation process to reduce the likelihood of negative

One story of a young migrant or refugee is the story of Ali, a Somali teen. She, when living in Somalia, lived with her six siblings and her parents passed away caused by illness. She then left Somalia and moved from Africa to Europe; it took her almost a year to get to Ukraine, but she wasn’t comfortable there sos she left. When she came to America, it was very difficult for Ali, especially when she was learning a new language, the culture was different, and had no parents to support her. But things started to turn around for her; she graduated high school and is now in college getting at any opportunity she can grab at. This opened my eyes to how far Ali has gone to have the best life she could possibly have in America.

Aside from medical related volunteering, I was heavily involved in promoting youth education and empowerment in communities of different cultural backgrounds. After volunteering at my local elementary and middle school, I dedicated my time to starting up a tutoring program (Asian Youth Tutoring Services), committed to assisting assist newly immigrated children. As a second generation immigrant myself, I understand the challenges that come with living in a new country. In addition to overcoming linguistic and cultural barriers, many immigrant children struggle to establish

The Youth Service Bureau (YSB) will be implementing a new program, Road to Aspire with the goals of promoting the mental health, a guide for immigrant youth groups, and youth legal immigration service referrals currently enrolled in YSB in Central Texas. Road to Aspire will help youth, between the ages of 14-18, with their transition from other Countries into the United States and the school system here in Central Texas. Road to Aspire has three primary objectives: increase citizenship rates, decrease risky behavior, and improve emotional and social development for teens. According to the National Research Council and Institute of Medicine (2009) the adolescent phase is a critical period for youth, the habits and behaviors they develop during this transition can affect them in their adult life. During this stage adolescents engage in risky behavior that can have harmful consequences that affect their health, opportunities, and quality of life (National Research Council and Institute of Medicine, 2009). Road to Aspire aims to provide immigrant youth with a positive outlet and a safe environment to grow and develop along with expressing their emotions in a healthy way while receiving guidance from mental health professionals.

Two years ago I was coordinating a weekly outing for refugees that just arrived to Norway. One original concern was the need to help mothers with young children get out more. I coordinated car pooling and going to local playgrounds, hikes, beaches, etc.

The experience of resettlement is complex, conflicted, and transformative. Resettlement to a new country is marked by a bifurcated experience characterized by disruption of traditional social and cultural practices, maintenance of and denial of heritage language and cultural practices, and the integration of new cultural attitudes, beliefs, and values. Language is at the center of many of these transformations as individuals and communities adopt and refuse the language and cultural practices of the adoptive society. Scholars who have looked at the adaptation of various refugee youth in contemporary U.S. society have found that those who develop biculturally and maintain heritage language and cultural practices are better able to adapt socially