Here is the full transcript of Nhi Aronheim’s talk titled “3 Ways to Help Resettled Refugees Acclimate Faster” at TEDxManitouSpringsLive conference.
In this talk, author Nhi Aronheim shared her personal journey as a refugee and offered insights on aiding refugee resettlement. She emphasized the unexpected challenges refugees face, such as depression and cultural shock, even when they have support systems. Aronheim highlighted the importance of community support, illustrating this through her own experiences and interactions with Afghan refugees, Aziza and Amina.
She proposed practical steps for community integration, including aiding refugees in understanding basic living expenses and offering emotional validation. Her second solution focused on individual support, suggesting personal acts of kindness like tutoring in English or cultural acclimatization. Aronheim also discussed the value of refugees being able to work, contributing positively to their new communities.
Her talk concluded with a call to action, encouraging people to engage with refugee support organizations and make a difference in the lives of resettled refugees.
Listen to the audio version here:
TRANSCRIPT:
Introduction to Refugee Experiences
It was December 2022, and my phone was ringing. My friend called to tell me about two Afghan refugees who had recently immigrated to the U.S. and were experiencing depression that none of the volunteers knew how to handle. They were not prepared for it. It was supposed to be a joy that these two young ladies had been fortunate enough to leave Afghanistan after the U.S. evacuation in the fall of 2021. And they had wonderful sponsors and volunteers helping them resettle into their new home in Colorado. A depression was unexpected for everyone.
But imagine that you have to leave everything behind: your family, friends, careers, and your support system. Imagine that you wake up in a new country where you can barely express yourself due to your language barrier.
How would you feel if you were in these situations? Here’s a photo of me with the two Afghan refugees, Aziza and Amina.
Understanding the Refugee Experience
Aziza read my book, knew my story, and thought that I might be one of a few people who would understand what it’s like to be a refugee and the struggles that come with it. She was adamant that I would have a perspective that might help them navigate that depression that seemed to paralyze them from making the decision to integrate into their host country.
Today, I’m going to share how we can help resettle refugees, acclimate faster, so that they can thrive and contribute to their host country sooner. And how we, as communities and individuals, can supplement mental health support for refugees when they experience depression or cultural shock for having to restart their new lives.
According to UNHCR, about 20 new people are displaced every minute due to economic, social, or political crisis, as well as climate change. As of June 2021, 89.3 million people worldwide were forcibly displaced, including 27.1 million refugees.
How do we define refugees? Refugees are people who have fled wars, violence, or persecution by crossing an international border to seek safety. In the United States, in order to be qualified for refugee status, a person must demonstrate that he or she was persecuted or fears persecution due to race, religion, nationality, or politics.
The Challenges Refugees Face
Among all these refugees, psychiatry.org stated that up to 44% of refugees experience depression upon their resettlement, but only 3% of them receive mental health support. Yes, 3%. This all rings true for me because I lived through it all. I am a refugee and experienced this myself.
Here’s a photo of me with a couple of other unaccompanied minors in a refugee camp. The soles of my feet still bear the scars of my horrific escape from Vietnam, where I trudged through the jungles of Cambodia as a child with a group of strangers seeking the land of opportunity, America. My possessions at the time were only two pieces of clothing and a heart filled with hope. My physician father worked for the US government during the Vietnam War, and the communists imprisoned him for doing so when the war ended.
To avoid the rest of the family meeting the same fate, my quick-witted mother bribed a driver to put us on a bus headed for Saigon. At the age of 10, I struggled to survive on the streets of the fallen city until I escaped, not knowing if I’d ever see my family again.
My harrowing trip to the Cambodian jungles eventually led me on a boat to Thailand, where I lived in an orphanage for two years until I got qualified for refugee status in the United States. My saga isn’t much different than the story of the many millions of other refugees who have fled or are fleeing their countries for safety and opportunity, many of whom, just like me, found the United States and other countries that accept refugees as their only hope.
Personal Reflections on the Refugee Experience
My personal story isn’t just another inspirational survival story, it’s about the lessons I’ve learned about humanity that the US, its community, and individuals offered me so that I could thrive and contribute to my new country as soon as possible. Here’s another photo of me among hundreds of unaccompanied minors at a refugee camp being hosted by UNICEF.
Regardless of the immigration status, I know of three ways, in addition to mental health resources, that we can help legally resettled refugees acclimate faster. Solution one, community support. What I’ve discovered is that after leaving everything behind in search for safety, refugees struggle with depression, having post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, and cultural shock.
Just like millions of other refugees, I also encountered my own trauma. And deeply understand how important it is to receive communal support, who would voluntarily work in partnership with local refugee agencies or family services to welcome newcomers and help resetting their expectations, perspectives, and validate that their struggles are real and normal. Just like all the refugees.
When I met with the two Afghan refugees, I asked about their struggles and validated their feelings, and then asked about and addressed their concerns about how to deal with cultural differences. I also helped them understand the survival number, which included at least one in every 10, including a calculation of their potential income and basic living expenses they would need to survive once they stop receiving government support.
These basic tactics about how to deal with money can help them have a clarity to their vision, so that they would come to believe that, “I can make it even when working at minimum,” and the belief and then taking action will gradually help refugees thrive. I am a living proof of what it’s like to become a thriving refugee as the result of others’ actions.
When I was an unaccompanied minor feeling devastated from escaping Vietnam and having to restart my new life, I felt I had nothing to offer to my new community. Thanks to the support and devotion from a high school teacher in Kentucky, Mary Lou, here’s a photo of me with Mary Lou. She showed me much kindness, caring, and offering to tutor me English outside of her class. She then got her colleagues, family, and friends involved in teaching me how to acclimate to my new culture, including some of the most basic skills, such as how to use Western utensils instead of chopsticks, or how to greet people differently based on their diverse background.
The Power of Individual Support
Because of the support from this teacher and her community, I gradually began my healing process and believed in humanity again. The community support was one of the reasons that led me to become a thriving refugee. Solution two, individual support. Aside from the community support, refugees need individual support from people like you in order to thrive.
How about us, connecting with refugees through their ways of celebration, such as food and music? How about us, contacting your local religious organization or family and social services, offering to tutor someone, a refugee who might need your help? You may also consider doing something similar to Big Brothers and Big Sisters for a refugee and then spread the word out to your family and friends for additional assistance. Several years ago, my husband and I sponsored my brother and his family’s immigration to the U.S.
Upon their arrival, they also experienced cultural shock and depression. To help them, my neighbor, who used to be a teacher, offered to tutor them conversational English. Two other families donated their own bicycles to my nephew and niece. The small acts of kindness from these individuals helped my brother and his family feel better mentally because they felt welcomed and accepted in their host country.
Solution three, refugee contribution. Refugees get over their depression and cultural shock quicker the moment they begin to work. And their integration will be easier if they get to work with people who are more like them. And the sooner they can begin to work, the faster they can sustain themselves, which will impact all citizens of the host country.
When it comes to our tax contribution, “dollar bills, dollar bills.” In September 2022, Forbes stated that major American corporations such as Amazon, Pfizer, or FedEx pledged to hire more than 22,000 refugees in the next three years to help with refugee resettlement. That decision will help these companies tremendously because refugees usually have incredible work ethics and are loyal and resilient individuals.
Imagine when you feel part of a family, friends, community, and country that you love. More likely, you would feel obligated to contribute your shares. It’s not any different with refugees. When refugees have a sense of belonging, they want to contribute more to the new society.
Encouraging Refugee Integration
If you have any co-workers or employees who are refugees, show them that you value them and their contributions and your effort will make a difference in them acclimating faster. Going back to the two Afghan refugees I told you about earlier, the good news is that they both are now working and contributing. Their acclimation is still challenging and will take a long time, but at least they have started supporting themselves and relying less on government support.
If you were to commit to being a community change agent and invest in refugees through your kindness, inclusion, and helping hands when opportunities arise, what would our world and society be like?
If you have any passion to make a difference in resettled refugees by helping them sustain themselves economically faster, what would happen? If you want to make a difference, I encourage you to reach out to various refugee support organizations and get involved. Based on my own experience, when we change one life, it’s a domino effect. We change the community we live in and the world around us.