Current nature, scope and impact of the problem The jobs that were once the main selling point of this area are not as accessible. The jobs that can be performed by non-English speaking people usually do not pay enough to support the large families are so important to the Somali culture. (education one). There is also prejudice to their culture. A 2001 focus group study found, following the 9/11 attacks, job discrimination increased dramatically. "A woman with [a hijab] will get a job last, when it's impossible to get help, because companies don't like to hire us" (7). In the Ceder-Riverside area where a vast majority of Minneapolis Somali's live, 17% of the population are unemployed with the Twin Cities region being 4% (12). The Minneapolis Foundation asked Minnesota Somali leader Hamse Warfa what he sees as the biggest challenge. Our greatest challenge is the staggering unemployment—the extreme poverty—that exists in Minnesota’s Somali community, which has the highest poverty rate of any ethnic group in our state. Fifty-seven percent of Somalis in Minnesota live below the poverty line, and that’s just unacceptable…." (6). …show more content…
The refugees went through orientation to American life in the camps before coming, but many of them still have to overcome huge obstacles (11). Having to not only speak but learn in a new language is challenging and the resources in the schools to help these students is slim because of budget cuts. The students are vulnerable to teasing due to their accents, foreign dress, and different cultural norms. Other students will mock the dress or call-out their Muslim classmates of being terrorists. This has long-term effects and damaging their confidence in themselves and their culture (7). The students are not able to seek support at home because both parents are usually working long hours to pay for
This affected their performance in schools. The government resettled refugees in Clarkston and failed to provide its people with enough resources to sustain them. Luma had to build a school for the refugees. Children in Luma’s soccer team had to ask her for assistance in their homework. This is the time Luma realized that the refugees were facing non-school factors, which challenged their school life. She started a school for refugees by the name Fugees Academy. In this new school the refugees would get peace of mind and at least feel at home since there is no discrimination. Luma teaches them how to work hard and passionately in everything they do. She also teaches them how to be respectful to others regardless of their race. The white people decided to transfer their kids to other schools in other cities since they considered education in Clarkston to be second-class and bad. Instead of cooking for a solution as a community they are escaping from them this makes it so hard to solve their problems. Other factors that makes refugees lives hard is the racism. The police harass dark skinned people for example; police stopped Chike Chime who was driving his car claiming that he was over speeding when he was not. Misuse of power to mistreat the less fortunate has made it difficult for people to unite and solve the problem they are facing
Most people want to feel like they fit in, but for refugees and immigrants, that feeling was even more important. “Young refugees and immigrants... were caught between the world of their parents and the new world of their friends and schoolmates” (105) and had to choose whether they would vie for the approval of their peers or their family. One young boy on the Fugees soccer team refused to cut his hair because his peers thought it was cool, and ended up being kicked off the team (111). Other young refugees in Clarkston gave in to the allure of gangs, and ended up in a cycle of violence and crime, just for a sense of belonging and safety. “Gangs… promised both belonging and status”(105) and provided a way to become American, despite all the trouble and anguish they put their members in. As adolescents between worlds, young immigrants experience a heightened sense of liminality, when a person “becomes neither here nor there” (221), and struggle with finding out who they are and where they
Living without loved ones and their precious belongings will make refugees face the point of turning “inside out”. All refugees have lost loved ones and their precious belongings. For many refugees they lose their parent’s or siblings. Some don’t have family there anymore so they lose their belongings that remind them of their home, family, and country.
Since poverty affects a wide array of people, poverty has evolved into a very complex issue. And even though the government has passed legislature to try to ameliorate the situation, many of these means-tested measures like food stamps, have only been able to help the surface of poverty and fails to rip out the long roots poverty has grown throughout history. Poverty’s deep effects are seen especially in minorities as they struggle much more to leave a current situation that has been created by historical process. Even though government assistance like food stamps do help alleviate some of poverty’s burden, these measures fail to recognize the reality that many of the impoverished minority have undervalued homes or no homes at all and even if they can rent, that rent can be high enough to take up more than fifty-percent of their paychecks. Overall, poverty in America is a vastly complicated issue rooted throughout history. And even though the government has attempted to pass legislature to help provide relief from poverty, America still has yet to provide measures that target the roots of poverty and until then, the government assistance it does provide will only be superficial and fail to provide long-term solutions to a complicated
Undisputedly poverty has been one of the major persistent social problems in the United States for hundreds of years. Poverty does not discriminate against Caucasians, African-Americans, Hispanics, Jews, homosexuals, heterosexuals, age, gender, or persons with disabilities. Poverty can strike any population, community, ethnic group, and family. According to the U.S Census Bureau, 43.6 million people were in poverty in 2009 which was an increase from 2008. (Insert citation for website). There are multiple causes of why a family or individual can fall into poverty, which includes but not limited to, disability, unemployment, age, and recessions, as for which we have seen through the 2008 recession and the Great Depression. Throughout this paper I will address poverty as a social problem and its causes. I will also focus on how children and family households headed by single mothers are effected by poverty, and how Temporary Assistance for Needy Families came about to help children and families in poverty.
“War torn nations left bullet-ridden ruins, native people forced to flee and find new homes in foreign places-this is the reality of the refugees.” First of all what is a refugee? Refugees are normal everyday people who are forced to flee their homes because they are afraid to stay in their home country. And when they do flee, they may be obliged to leave behind family members, friends, a home, a job, and other special possessions. One of these refugees is a war-torn child who suffered the harsh realities of the 1975 Vietnam war.
The Refugee Women's Alliance fosters a welcoming atmosphere for the students and parents who have only been in the United States for a short period of time. The students that I worked with are comfortable around the staff and the volunteers. I noticed that despite the language barriers, the students were not afraid to joke around with the staff. The students also have a platform to expressing their concerns, fears, and opinions. Positive relationships between the employees, the volunteers and the students prevent students from feeling alienated or ignored. The inclusive environment lets the students know that they are valued and that they do belong to the community. Integration process is a two-way street, where both the refugees/immigrants and the residents of the host country need to have mutual understanding and share a similar level of openness. The Refugee Women's Alliance also engages the receiving communities' members to build broader support for refugees and immigrants among mainstream American society. The organization utilizes
These issues also include poverty and limited or no access to education, training, mental health and health care resources. Refugees also face persecution and are unable to return to their home in their native country (Villalba, 2009). Mental health counselors need to understand the impact of trauma on their refugee clientele, as they may include physical torture and mental abuse in nature. According to Sue and Sue (2013) counselors will need to address the most salient concerns of refugees, which include safety and loss. The possibility of being, or having been, mentally abused and physically tortured has an impact on their ability to stay in the hosting country. Counselors will be dealing with post-traumatic stress from their client. Equally important is for the counselor to assist the refugee in understanding issues of confidentiality. For Muslim immigrants and refugees, counselors should consider national policies during the counseling process. For example, the two Sudanese sisters’ were able to resolve their religious practice of wearing the hijab and securing employment in a beneficial way. As an advocate for the sisters and other Muslim refugees, it would be helpful to provide them access to resources that educate them in antidiscrimination policies that can protect them against hate crimes and legal resources that can help them seek asylum. In essence, culturally competent practices for counselors working with immigrants and refugees begin with understanding their worldviews, as well the national and international legal issues that confront their
It’s estimated that %50 of all refugees are under the age of 18. Inside Out and Back Again by Thanhha Lai is about Ha who is 12 and her family fleeing Vietnam and coming to the U.S. They faced many challenges coming to the United States but one of the most difficult was learning the new language, English. Many refugees, like Ha struggle with learning a new language when arriving to a new country until they find someone to teach them and help them through the troubled times of settling into their new country.
For millions of evacuees around the world, finding support from their communities can be a significant obstacle while trying to rebuild their new lives (Fantino & Colak). For the main character, Há, in Thanhha Lai’s novel, Inside Out and Back Again, not being accepted by her peers causes difficulty during her adjustment to American life. She is constantly bullied and excluded at school, which results in her having tantrums at home (Lai 209-211). However, as soon as Há begins to make friends and gain support from her neighbor, Mrs. Washington, she starts to feel like she is “Back Again” and supported by community members (Lai 253). The struggle of being accepted by peers is experienced by Há’s family and real refugees alike, until they can find
Post-Traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) develops after a traumatic or life-threatening event such as war, assault, or disaster. In most cases refugees are exposed to and carry these experiences of hostility, violence, racism, discrimination, and isolation with them to their new environment (Kulwicki,A., & Ballout,S., 2008). The resettlement period for refugees is found to be extremely critical because it inflames existing symptoms of PTSD in addition to increasing them.
Somalia is a developing country on the eastern coast of Africa. Somalian culture shapes their society and how they deal with issues and daily life. Culture is a how a group of people live in their everyday lives. It is their values, belief systems and behaviors that are passed down from past generations. As in other cultures, Somalian culture plays a role in the upbringing of children. Even before birth, certain values and norms help Somalians make important decisions about their soon to be infants. Infancy is the early stages of new born and young babies.
According to Rong and Preissle (2009) most immigrant students experienced more social and economic disadvantages than students born in the U.S. Hernandez & Napierala (2012) explain that in 2010, children in immigrant families experienced a higher poverty rate (30%) than children born in the U.S. (19%). Another characteristic of immigrant children is that they are more likely to live in inner-city areas and have parents who were not able to complete high school (Rong & Preissle, 2009). Immigrant children have a
Since coming back to Iran from Austria, Marjane’s refugee experience continues to influence her through depression. Ehntholt & Yule explain how “Refugee children and adolescents who have experienced war also report high levels of depression and anxiety” (1198). Depression is typically the feeling of inadequacy and guilt often followed by lack of energy. This is shown in children and adolescents refugees as they are in their home country, they are forced to leave because of war. At times the children and adolescents may go to another country alone with no family waiting for them or seeing their family killed or be hit by atrocities of torture. Without supervision refugee kids and adolescents can lead them to depression than to the point of self-harm or worse case suicide. Ironically Marjane’s refugee experience also puts her into depression than to self-harm as she says, “I
Poverty is an undeniable problem in America. In 2014, 14.8 percent of the United States was in poverty (“Hunger and Poverty Fact Sheet”). There are more people in the United States than it seems that do not have their basic necessities. In an