Civic Engagement in Action : Congolese Refugees in Idaho Amy Schaeffer and Jeremy Blades COUN 507: Career Development and Vocational Counseling, Spring 2010 Instructor Name: Dr. Aida Hutz Community Partner Name: Agency for New Americans Community Partner’s Mission Statement : Agency for New Americans (ANA) is all about providing the education and skills necessary for refugees to become self-sufficient. We are a private, nonprofit provider of employment, case management, and training services for people who have fled their homeland and are unable to return due to fear of persecution based on race, religion, nationality, or membership in a particular social group or political opinion. We believe in human rights, education, and cultural diversity. Americans are the daughters and sons of immigrants-we welcome those who, through no fault of their own, must start their lives anew with the protection of freedom and dignity. ANA provides the opportunity and know-how to rebuild their lives by means of direct job placement following extensive English tutoring, acculturation, and job-seeking skills. Service Project Purpose: To help recent refugees work towards obtaining employment. Learning goals: To be reflective and adaptive to family needs, be reflective of cross-cultural and multi-cultural dynamics, engage in direct respectful and non-defensive communication with multiple entities. Reflection: Some of the main insights gained were: 1. Not everyone starts a journey from the same place. 2. Identifying individual needs, world views and norms is crucial. 3. Empowerment and encouragement are different than enabling and doing something for someone. 4. The society-given labels and titles do not accurately depict the power of human resiliency. 5. Not all refugees have experienced trauma and trauma is measured on a variant scale. SOCIAL JUSTICE LETTER: To Whom It May Concern: In helping a refugee fill out an application for a job within your company my colleagues and I were surprised to find out that there was no “Country” drop-down box to choose from. This caused enormous problems, as “State” was a required field for both “Previous Address” and “Previous Employment.” Because those fields were required, if not selected, the site would throw up an error message, and the individual could not proceed with the application until s/he filled in the required field. This causes not only a great deal of confusion, but also the potential for applicants to lie on their job application, through no fault of their own, because they are in need of a job (especially in light of the current economy). Refugees are forced out of their native country and crammed into refugee camps with little shelter, food, and protection. When they finally are able to go to another country, such as the United States, they have no possessions, no money, and often times do not speak English. It is imperative that when a refugee is ready to begin employment that they are able to accurately and honestly answer the questions on the employment application. In order for your company to maintain that they do not discriminate based on race, etc., we are asking that you please update your online job application to allow for people who have moved here from other countries. Thank you in advance for doing the right thing.