The Final Reflection

Aly Higgins

Professor Leake

WRIT 1733

May 29, 2013

The Reflection: Representing People Through Writing and Service

The task of writing about people is daunting and difficult. Throughout my writing career, I have written about myself (many memoirs ranging from a picture story of my first bike ride to a detailed account of my leadership style), about the environment, and once, about a fictional male prostitute. However, I have never had to be sensitive or particular during these writing sessions. Since these topics failed to affect anyone other than my professor at the moment and myself, I had a unique creative liberty- unbounded by the pressures of representation or political correctness. This course demanded a higher standard of writing; I was forced to get out of my own way.

            First, while writing about refugees, I had to continually remind myself of the humanness of the refugee population. While describing the refugee population as a whole, it is easy to group all refugees into an ‘other’ category. Refugees may face unique issues and hardships, but they are still people. They are still human. Thus, when writing about refugees, I found myself stuck in an interesting contradiction. On one hand, I never wanted to write as though I had total expertise on the issues facing refugees, yet I also didn’t want to portray them as a separate population. Through this writing class, I discovered that writing about people is challenging. It requires continuous revision because any word, phrase or connotation could disrupt the balance between maintaining sensitivity about the issues at hand and establishing a clear human element in the writing.

Throughout the quarter, my main focus was portraying the refugees as human. I became fascinated about the idea of the humanization of refugees because I did not like that we called every reading a ‘refugee story’ instead of a story of humanness/love/pain/resilience. While I understand that stories about refugees include unique and challenging elements (including issues of identity, war, and resettlement), I feel that the way to write about any population is to constantly remind oneself and others that in essence, every population is part of the greater human population. During my academic career, I have read stories about the Native Americans of the Great Plains, the Jewish population of Amsterdam, and the Japanese culture of World War II. Each of these populations has a unique quality that should be observed, studied and analyzed. However, these stories and populations should not be dissected, labeled then stored. Continually categorizing stories of foreign people, ideas or cultures develops a ‘God-complex’ in Western writers (a complex by which writers begin to believe they have the power to determine whether the actions of others are wrong or right, civilized or uncivilized) and leads to a dehumanization of peoples who have traditionally not held power on the global stage. The opportunity to write about refugees was my first exposure to the intricacies of expressing the ideas and lives of a diverse population of humans. Overall, the course was a great introduction to this process and established many stepping-stones that will better my future ethnographic endeavors.

The service component of this course at the African Community Center was also challenging. I worked with the Job Club, training refugees to perform well in interviews and complete job applications properly. My volunteer work required immense patience because of the language and cultural divide. I found that the most difficult words to explain were the words I use in everyday conversation- words I truly take for granted such as ‘initials’. Last winter, I traveled to Indonesia for one month on a service trip. While I was there, I barely adapted to the cultural changes and did not learn any of the language. Thus, I cannot imagine only having three months to assimilate into a foreign culture, find a place to live, find a job, learn the language, support a family, and face the emotional demons of my abandoned homeland. That scenario is unfathomable to me. However, during my service, it was that scenario that kept me patient and engaged. It would have been easy to get angry or to give up because working with persons of a different culture and background is strenuous, but maintaining a wider perspective about the difficulties the refugees were facing kept me going. I am thankful for that perspective, and I am grateful for all the lessons about humility, gratitude, and hard work that the refugees taught me over these past few weeks.

In addition, I also observed trends which provide connections to readings in my Global Political Economics course for my International Studies major. During my volunteer time, I discovered that most of the refugees had been nurses, government workers, business owners, or non-profit owners in their home countries. I remember feeling transcended amongst a terrible juxtaposition. In one part, I recognized that helping the refugees apply to positions such as housekeeper or fast food cashier was an extremely rewarding investment of time, but in contrast, I felt deeply irked that these smart, successful people had to resort to a less-skilled life of paycheck-to-paycheck survival and 60 hour work weeks. While reflecting upon this forced reemployment process, I was reminded of Karl Marx’s The Communist Manifesto. In his work, Marx describes the divide between the bourgeoisies (the capitalists) and the proletariat (the working class), claiming that the capitalists exist only to exploit the labor of the proletariat. In some ways, a refugee’s struggle to survive in the United States is yet another example of how the greater capitalist system exploits the working, less powerful class. Because the refugee needs money to survive in a competitive capitalist system, they are forced to apply for less-skilled positions that they can adapt to quickly. Just as Marx warned, the American capitalist economy has “converted the physician, the lawyer, the priest, the poet, the man of science, into its paid wage laborers”. In essence, the story of the refugees being forcibly removed from their homeland is the story of skilled, passionate, soulful workers becoming deadened, wage-driven hour laborers. This observation truly makes one question: is life really better in the United States?

This class is directly applicable to my future goal of working in education reform. Ideally, I would work with public high schools in low-income areas to develop a core curriculum that requires internship or service hours, global political and economic literacy, and college planning opportunities so that the system of education can move away from intensive testing requirements and benchmarks toward an environment in which students’ passions are embraced and encouraged. I think my work at the African Community Center taught me valuable lessons of patience and perseverance that will be useful when working with policy reform and in the classroom environment. I greatly enjoyed my experience and hope to continue service and writing in the future.  

The Reflection

For the class project, I contributed to the Iraqi backgrounder and introduction sections. Overall, my contribution seemed to be painless and easily facilitated. My biggest struggle with the section, particularly the Iraqi backgrounder, was that I completed too much detailed research. For the backgrounder, I read a total of 4 chapters out of various novels because the history of the conflict intrigued me. However, once it came time to actually write my backgrounder section, most of the conflict history I researched was not applicable. I wish that I had had a better understanding of the purpose of the backgrounder before beginning research because I had believed that the history was the most important component, but in reality, I needed much more information that would describe the culture of Iraq to potential employers. Therefore, in some ways, reading the Congolese backgrounder confused the class assignment for me because it had such an emphasis on the conflict. I am glad I completed the research because it was fascinating concepts but much of it was not relevant during the compilation process. The compilation process between all groups proved to be more difficult than I had predicted because we were not given specific headings or topics to be addressed in the country backgrounder sections. As a result, the final compilation bothered me because the heading sections were not uniform and each group addressed a different part of their country’s culture. While it was good to have creative freedom, I thought it would have looked more professional if all the sections had addressed the same topics. In terms of my service experience, my patience was tested many times at the ACC. I worked at the Job Club, where I taught interview and application skills to the group of refugees. It was difficult because there were various skill levels of English, so I had to cater to all the levels while maintaining a consciousness to not treat them as children or less intelligent adults. The service was also emotionally draining because many of the refugees had previously held positions as business owners, nurses, or government directors in their home countries and then had to apply for housekeeping, fast food service, or dishwashing jobs, which was difficult to witness. Watching this process made me question whether or not coming to the United States was an improvement in life quality for these refugees. Thus, the service was very rewarding but also made me question many of my basic assumptions.

The Introduction

A refugee is someone who is displaced from his or her home country due to an internationally recognized conflict or violence. After being displaced from their home country, many refugees make their way to the United States in order to begin a new life.  These refugees are expected to learn a new language, understand a foreign culture, and find a job in less than three months. Refugees may vary widely in nationality, religious background, and ethnicity, but they share the desire to begin a new life in the United States. Refugees are an asset to their communities and workplaces as they bring a wide array of personal skills and cultural diversity.

Since 1980, roughly 46,000 refugees have been resettled in Colorado. Most of these refugees have been resettled to the Denver metropolitan area, but areas such as Colorado Springs and Larimar County are starting to receive refugees as well. While refugees resettled in Colorado come from almost every country in the world, during the past few years the majority of refugees have come from Burma, Iraq, Bhutan, and Somalia. The African Community Center is one of many organizations in Denver that helps to resettle refugees. The ACC assists refugees by providing English language classes, cultural orientation, and work training programs. Overall, the ACC acts as a guide, a resource, and a reference for refugees after they arrive in the United States. Through the efforts of the ACC, thousands of refugees have been able to build safe and sustainable lives here in Denver.

The refugee population is a unique and dedicated community. Refugees commit to a high standard of hard work and responsibility. While they may experience immense challenges, such as language and culture barriers, their positive spirits and strong sense of perseverance provide them with the drive to be successful in this new environment. In the workplace, refugees add great diversity to the community. Incorporating various worldviews and perspectives into the workplace creates a productive space in which all ideas, backgrounds, and values are respected. For refugees, employment is not merely a job; rather, it is the path toward a better, more sustainable life. Employers in the Denver metropolitan area should greatly consider hiring refugees because the opportunity to help a refugee get back on his or her feet is not only good for business but also a strong step toward building a more inclusive and connected Denver community.

The Interview

Paula Veith is the Benefits Director at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Denver, CO. Her warm demeanor and incredible passion for improving the lives of refugees in the Denver community reveal her great insight into the world of hiring refugees.

What first interested you in the prospect of hiring refugees? What drew you to the opportunity?

For us, just the opportunity to give back and help these people because a lot of the time they are struggling just to get back on their feet. So to have the opportunity to give them the opportunity to do that through a job means a lot. And you know it’s more than just a paycheck because they get to learn English and adapt to our culture and to become self-sufficient. And we get workers that are very dedicated and very reliable with a just a great attitude. It enriches our culture here at the Hyatt to have people from all around the world.

Did you have any reservations or expectations when you first began hiring refugees?

I think the biggest concerns were from the managers. Well actually two concerns, one from human resources was checking work references. You know it’s difficult to call employers from, say, Bhutan, so we had to get creative. We had to rely on the caseworkers to know that a person is reliable and is dedicated to showing up on time and then just go with those opinions. And the managers were really concerned with the work culture, will the refugees adapt into the work culture, you know? And they do, they add a richness to the culture actually with different perspectives about the world. Another concern was communication. They come in with varying levels of English, and that gets really hard. So the biggest challenge was how can we train them.

How have those reservations and challenges been addressed in your work environment?

Any time the refugees come to orientation with little English skills … the community centers like the ACC would come and translate so that they could understand all the rules and policies- so that they know what to do to stay hired, like getting their uniform, where to check in, how to check in, how to get to places in the hotel etc. That way they could really start off on the right foot. And once we got enough people that could speak English, we were able to train the newer refugees that were coming in with the help of the older employees. And we also learned how to show the refugees how to do a task, which is more time-consuming and requires patience. But, you know, just because someone doesn’t understand English doesn’t mean they are less intelligent than you are, which is a common perception I think people have. People may talk really loudly or overly slow, which isn’t always necessary because people can obviously be very intelligent and not speak the same language you do. Overcoming these challenges and practicing patience really helps the refugees learn how to do the job. Another thing we do is use the Language Line, if someone comes in and they have a problem, or want to discuss something they can’t properly communicate, we can call and get on the phone on the Language Line so that it can be translated so we know what they are trying to get across.

What sort of advice could you give to future refugees or the African Community Center to make them more hirable in the hospitality industry?

I think one of the hardest things, and we’ve noticed this throughout the years, is something that is probably cultural. A lot of refugees are reluctant to smile or make eye contact during an interview and those are key things for us. Even if you are going to be washing dishes and rarely interact with customers, we still want to create a team culture that is friendly. And sometimes during interviews we see refugees come in with very canned answers, and I understand that everyone needs a certain level of coaching, but they do come in with predictable answers. You can anticipate one of the questions being, why do you want this job or why do you want to work at this hotel always being asked or being part of the interview. And rather than giving them a canned answer like it’s a big hotel and my friends live here, try to get down with that refugee and ask why they want to work in that hotel and coach them on an answer that’s personal to them. And then coaching them that it’s okay to smile during an interview. And that’s difficult especially in some cultures. It’s hard for them to somewhat adapt to this culture and I can only imagine how difficult it is, but eye contact is something necessary.

Hospitality is a fun place to be, but it’s hard work especially in a lot of the positions that the refugees are coming in to like housekeeping or dishwashing. And we do have a lot of great success stories where people have grown into supervisory roles, but it’s not easy cleaning 18 rooms a day or washing dishes. So one of the traits that really helps them succeed is their dedication, I think that if they see that a company is treating them well then they feel loyal and invested into the company and they tend to have a high work ethic. Hard work is not a foreign concept and it’s not hard for them to learn, they have a hunger to learn- to learn English and to learn how to navigate the bus system. So they have a desire to enrich their own lives, and this also helps us.

REFLECTION

Overall, my interview experience was incredibly helpful. Paula had keen insights that will be very helpful for employers; she listed key resources such as the language line (an international language translator via phone) and a specialized orientation program. She also noted that patience is a key trait both in company management staff and in the refugees who are applying for work. Most impressively, Paula recognized the difference between English proficiency and intelligence. She said that a proper work culture is created if all persons are treated equally, and equality only stems from maintaining a practice of approaching all refugee employees as adult human beings rather than children needing to be taught. 

The Group Project: Iraqi Profile

The Conflict

The nation of Iraq has experienced decades of continual violence and anarchy. After the carnage and wreckage of the 1980-88 Iraq-Iran War, the 1991 Gulf War, and uprisings following the wars, 2.7 million Iraqis have been internally displaced and more than 2 million have sought refuge in neighboring countries, making Iraqis the third largest refugee population in the world. The rise of Sadaam Hussein lead to a massive cultural purge against the Kurdish population to the north and the Shi’ite population to the south. Through the horrors of civil war, sexual violence, and abandonment of vital social programs, Hussein’s dictatorship created unbearable living conditions, forcing millions to flee from their homes in the name of survival.

Resettlement Process

The resettlement process of Iraqis begins when the refugee registers with the UNHCR; the UNHCR then refers the case, if criteria are met, to U.S embassy for resettlement.  There is then a long process of paperwork, interviews, and waiting.  If approved, they are then flown to the United States, thrown into debt, and are resettled with financial assistance below that of the U.S. poverty line.  The refugees are given an apartment, household items, food, and a one-time payment of cash.  They are provided eighty days of health insurance and given three months to find a job, enroll in school, and schedule medical appointments as necessary.  Finding a job is the hardest part for the Iraqi refugees no matter the background, and their success is usually based on their English proficiency and their early employment.  The types of refugees that are relocated to a third country (defined as a country not bordering or sharing cultural tendencies to the home country) are usually:  “victims of severe trauma or violence, members of oppressed religious or ethnic minorities, unaccompanied children, special medical cases, stateless persons, refugees associated with governmental or international organizations, and refugees at immediate risk of refoulement” (Masterson 1).

Limitations of the Resettlement Process

As of 2012 about 64,000 Iraqi refugees have been resettled in the United States. While a refugee's long journey of awaiting resettlement in refugee camps or elsewhere has ended once they arrive in the United States, another journey has just begun.  The language barrier is by far the most difficult aspect in securing employment, but at the same time searching for a job and working a job cuts into time that can be spent on language instruction, especially when family constraints are considered. The recent economic downturn is not helping either to secure Iraqi refugees jobs. Above all empowerment of refugees is key to introducing refugees to American culture and finding them employment.

Cultural Transition in America

Iraqi refugees face unique challenges both before and after resettling in America.  Iraq has been ravaged by war since 1980 and many of the refugees coming to America have to deal with the psychological repercussions of the conflict in Iraq while at the same time facing cultural, ethnic, and religious persecution in America.  Some Iraqi refugees also face a particular discrimination by the United States government for previous militaristic affiliations.  Many people in the United States are insensitive to the differences of the Iraqi refugees and usually harbor a bias against them due to their affiliation with the United States’ conflict with Iraq.

Gender Roles

The Iraqi people adhere to rich traditional values. Arranged marriage is still widely popular, and it is expected that a woman marry into the husband’s family. In Iraqi culture, all actions of a woman are interpreted as a direct reflection of the man of the household. The Iraqi people adhere to a strict commitment to formality when communicating with members of the opposite sex. Therefore, in the United States, friendly, informal gestures such as a touch on the shoulder may be perceived as an expression of sexual interest. It is important that formal boundaries are maintained during communication with Iraqi refugees.

Education

In Iraq, 6 years of compulsory education has been in place since 1978. However, only around 9 percent of the country's total population has completed secondary school and overall, 74.1 percent of their population is literate. 20 years ago, Iraq used to have one of the best education systems in the region, but after multiple wars and now very little funding it has been very hard for the education system to recover. Refugees that are being resettled in the United States come from all different educational backgrounds, with some having completed university level education and others having never attended school.

Works Cited

Ghareeb, Edmund, Donald Ranard, and Jenab Tutunji. "The Refugees from Iraq: Their Histories, Culture, and Background Information." COR Center - Cultural Orientation Resource (COR) Center. N.p., 1 Oct. 2008. Web. 13 May 2013. <http://www.culturalorientation.net/library/publications/refugees-from- iraq-refugee-backgrounder>.

The Cultural Orientation Resource Center's backgrounder on Iraqi refugees is an informative yet brief account of the conflict in Iraq and the cultural distinctions of the nation. This source is particularly useful because it provides direct information about many aspects of the Iraqi culture, giving readers a clear insight into the intricacies of Iraqi refugees lives.

Gore, Paul A., Jr., Jonathan D. Codell, Robert D. Hill, and Dan J. Woltz. "Predicting Meaningful Employment for Refugees: The Influence of Personal Characteristics and Developmental Factors on Employment Status and Hourly Wages." Springer Science, 1 July 2011. Web. 01 May 2013.

This article is a study done on refugees from different areas, Iraq included, in a medium sized city in the western US.  They conclude that the possibility of acquiring a meaningful job decreases for each year being a refugee.  I can use this source to discuss the hardships faced when being labeled a refugee in the United States.

Harper, Andrew. "iraqi's Refugees: Ignored and Unwanted." International review of the Red Cross 90.869 (2008): 169-190. International Review of the Red Cross. Web. 5 May 2013.

"Iraqi's Refugees: Ignored and Displaced" begins with a general overview of demographics of the Iraqi refugee population, including estimates of the total population and the different ethnic groups that attribute to this population. The article continues to assess the impact of the mass exile of Iraqi refugees on neighboring nations while evaluating the future sustainability of the Iraqi refugee crisis in the Middle East. This source will be particularly useful because it provides concrete data and places a special emphasis on the context of the crisis in the Middle East.

Husarska, Anna. “Exile Off Main Street: Refugees and America’s Ingratitude.” World Affairs 171.1 (2008): 89-97. Proquest. Web. 1 May 2013.

People who helped the United States in the war in Iraq are being targeted for their disloyalty to their country.  They are given special visas to enter the United States for their service.  They come to America as refugees and are harassed because of they are refugees from Iraq.  I will use this article to show how refugees from Iraq are seen in America.

Jabar, Faleh A., and Hosham Dawod. The Kurds: Nationalism and Politics. San Francisco: Saqi, 2006. Print.

This book is about the culture, language, and history of the people of Kurdistan from early history to the modern day conflict in Iraq. I can use this source to provide initial informative information on Kurdistan and place refugees in the context of the history of their own culture.

Mamgain, V. "Off the Boat, Now Off to Work: Refugees in the Labour Market in Portland, Maine." Journal of Refugee Studies 16.2 (2003): 113-46. Web. 1 May 2013.

This article deals with the differences in employment of men and women refugees.  The pay based on ethnic group, language proficiency, age, and gender are analyzed.  I think I can use this article to discuss the benefits of having a refugee work a job based on the merits discussed in the article.  If I can find out why certain refugees are paid more than others or get jobs faster, I can use that information to inform employers of the benefits of hiring refugees.

Masterson, Daniel. "An American Dream: The Broken Iraqi Refugee Resettlement Program and How to Fix It." Kennedy School Review 10 (2009): 4-7. Proquest. Web. 1 May 2013.

In this article, the resettlement program for refugees from Iraq is analyzed.  The refugees who come to America are thrown into the culture without orientation and fall into trouble that way.  I can use this article to show the ill preparation that refugees from Iraq receive and how they can be assisted when applying for a job.

Sassoon, Joseph. "Internal Displacement, Iraqi refugees in the rest of the world, The        role of humanitarian organizations ." The Iraqi Refugees. London: I.D. Tauris & Co Ltd, 2009. 9-27, 87-114, 115-140. Print. 

The Iraqi Refugee provides immense context about the evolution of the Iraq from a nation filled with vast populations of internally displaced people to the nation of origin for millions of international refugees. It also provides a case study for the neighboring nations that witnessed massive influxes of Iraqi refugees following the invasion in 2003, including reports on Jordan and Syria. This source is especially relevant because it introduces the failed role of the United States and the UNHCR during the refugee crisis, linking both failures to intimate political reasons.