The final Opus Prize Spark Session last Thursday engaged the audience on refugee life in the Omaha community.
The hour long session consisted of three panelists — Claire Herzog of the YMCA of Greater Omaha, Carolina Padilla of the Intercultural Senior Center and Abdelhamid Mohamed of the Refugee Empowerment Center. Each provided a unique perspective on refugee issues and how their organization provides services to aid individuals in their transition to life in the United States.
Claire Herzog works primarily with preschoolers and their families to help them acclimate to the American education system and make sure their kids are equipped with the right resources once they are enrolled in school. Currently, 80 percent of the families she works with are from Myanmar — formerly Burma — however, many were living in Thai refugee camps prior to their arrival in the U.S.
She works with a group of cultural ambassadors, many of which are former refugees themselves, to work and interact with the families. She noted that if she could enact or change one law regarding refugees, it would be that “every adult would be required to take one year of English classes.”
She also expressed that mental health is one of the most important yet neglected issues in the refugee community.
On the other side of the spectrum, Padilla is the executive director of the Intercultural Senior Center. She works with senior refugees and assists them with tasks like obtaining housing, medical care and English classes.
Many of the refugees have pre-existing health conditions that may not have been diagnosed in their home country, so getting seniors proper medical care is a top priority. She explained that learning English is by far the most difficult thing for elderly refugees to overcome.
“It’s a learning process, but they keep coming back every day,” she said. “It takes a very, very long time.”
She also helps seniors obtain necessities like food stamps and connects them to the right resources if they need other services.
Mohamed works for the Refugee Empowerment Center. Originally from the western Sudanese territory of Darfur, he knows what it is like to be a refugee. Despite only living in the United States for a little more than 10 years, he is already working on his doctoral degree. His job is to assist families in the resettlement process and to make their transition to American life as easy as possible.
Mohamed is given all of the information about the family before their arrival and then makes sure that by the time they arrive that they have a furnished house or apartment along with a hot meal and crucial legal documents.
“This was a really wonderful opportunity to learn about refugees in our city,” said senior business student Matt Wenz, who was chosen to visit one of the Opus Prize finalists in Kolkata, India this past summer. “As students at a Jesuit university, we should be more aware of the systems and organizations in place to care for marginalized populations.”