Cultural Context Of Immigrants And Refugees

The changing environment throughout time has caused many families to move out of their homelands. These families are either forced to make the decision to move out, or they move by their own desire. Migration and parenthood in a new country are significant transitions that pose stressful challenges for immigrant and refugee parents. Although living in Canada can be rewarding, however, there are challenges that immigrants and refugee face through trying to adapt to the culture of Canada. These challenges may include, battling cultural shock, Language Barriers, Misconceptions of Homeland and culture, employment, and depression.

Immigrants and refugees have some similarities, and some differences. Immigrants and refugees have many similarities. Similarities are that they want a better life in a new country, they start working menial labor jobs, and there is a language barrier present while talking. Although there are similarities between them, there are also some differences. Some differences include immigrants choosing to leave, while refugees flee to get away as soon as possible. Some refugees also need to do illegal things like smuggling to survive. Last, some refugees may want to return home when situations become better in their home country. Even though immigrants and refugees are different in many way, and they are similar too, they are two different

Hurricane Katrina, one of the most destructive hurricanes to whirl through the southern states of America in 2005, is probably one of the worst natural disasters of the United States in the 21st century. Damages from the storm were estimated at more than $100 billion . People living in the southern states fled north to reach safety from the storm after hearing about it being a category five hurricane on the news a few mornings before Katrina hit the shore. Authorities were doing what they were supposed to be doing, telling everyone to seek shelter, board up windows, head north and prepare for the storm. Everything in the beginning appeared to be just another

After spending quite a bit of time in a “new world” the refugees get used to their new lives. Many of them have a well paying job and start to become used to their surroundings. After a while many of the locals don’t care as much about having the refugees around. To many of the refugees this new place actually starts to feel like a home, but it could never replace the home that they left behind.

Have you ever meet a refuge or know someone who escaped their country because of war? When refugees flee their home they need to stay in refugee camps where they get food and shelter but they can't stay there for ever. Refugees go thru many things when they come to America, one thing is they don't know english and they struggle to communicate. Another thing is that the kids might get bullied because they come from another place or of there religion. Ha life is similar to the universal:Refugees life because she was a refugee and she got bullied in school because where she came from. Ha’s life and the universal:Refugees life have been affected wich that make there life inside out.

Refugees are people that leave their old lives behind to seek asylum in nearby countries because of the terror going on in their own homeland. Ha’s family had to flee Southern Vietnam because the war was drawing near Saigon. Both real-life refugees and Ha had to flee their respective countries and adapt to a whole new place before continuing on with their lives. Refugee children have a hard time becoming accepted by their peers before their community finally figures them out and start to receive them, just like Ha in Thanhha Lai’s Inside Out and Back Again.

The Cultural environment is a set of beliefs, practices, customs, and behaviors which are familiar to people in a specific population. There are essential components of culture which include language and symbols. Symbols show the meaning and actions of events while the word conveys the values and beliefs of religion which allows the members of the society to pass on the cultural expectations of other generations. The following factors affect the culture of immigrants to a new population where they settle (Oberg, 1960).

Discussion Questions: It has been over 10 years since Hurricane Katrina devastated communities in the gulf coast region. Many people were relocated and were never able to return to their own communities.

I experienced many different cultures, ethnicities and traditions when my family lived in Thailand. We lived in a Refugee camp and it was not like an America society. Every month, a volunteer group from a big city would aid every family in the refugee camp with bags of rice depending on how many people are in your family. There were about ten schools in the camp which were public schools and Catholic schools. Schools and houses were built out of bamboo and trees, and the buildings don't last more than a decade. Life was not easy in Thailand. Not every parent had a job and they found other ways to make money to provide for their families. There were many cultures and different ethnicities living in the same area and our neighbors spoke different languages and they were from different ethnic groups. There are many holidays and cultural traditions that we celebrate every year by dancing, playing music, and having big festivals.

Hurricane Katrina will always be remembered for the devastation it caused, my close friends, the Adams family knows this better than anyone else. My family has been close friends with the Adams for nearly my whole life, the thing that stood out about them the most was their passion to help others and their obsession for the New Orleans Saints. The Adams have numerous relatives who live in Louisiana, including their parents on the father’s side. The parents live just twenty minutes south of New Orleans on a small farm. During Hurricane Katrina, when the levees were breached, water flooded the town and their farm. They lost what few livestock they owned and their home was damaged beyond repair due to the high flood waters. The couple had to seek shelter on their roof until help could arrive. Meanwhile, the Adams family had no way of contacting them to ensure that they were alright and worried for almost a week. Finally, almost a week had passed before the parents were able to contact our friends, the Adams. After the parents were rescued from the roof of their flooded house, they were taken to the Superdome that housed thousands of other helpless victims. The only reason the parents had chosen not to evacuate the city like most other residents is because they both had survived Hurricane Camille in 1969 and Hurricane Andrew in 1992 with minor damage. Also the parents could not bear to abandon their livestock, which was their main source of income. After staying in the Superdome

As a second-generation immigrant, I grew up with two distinct perspectives of the world. While I identify as an American, I spent nearly every summer in Pakistan, my family’s home country. While in Pakistan, I developed respect for the distinct traditions and beliefs, even those with which I did not agree. I came to appreciate my unique ability to traverse between two cultures, and grew more culturally sensitive. As a medical volunteer in Peru, I noticed many of the other volunteers struggled to acclimate to the foreign environment. The food was different, our rooms were drafty, and we were lucky if there was enough water to shower. My trips to Pakistan taught me to adapt to culturally diverse environments. While Peruvian culture is vastly

“Today Our cowboy brings a paper bucket of chicken,skin crispy and golden .Brother Quang forces a swallow before explaining we are used to fresh chicken ” (120) This shows how Refugees turn inside out because Ha and her family must adapt to the food they have in their new home. Their life is turned inside out because the food they are used to from Vietnam is not in Alabama. “We wait and wait but mother says a possible widow,three boys ,and a pouty girl makes too huge a family by American standards.” This shows that Ha’s and her family's life has turned inside out because they must try to find a sponsor to get to America. In the result of their family being too big, it will be a challenge to be sponsored.“Both refugee and immigrant children may encounter society's discrimination and racism.”This text shows that refugee’s life are turned inside out . When refugees go to their new home , most times they aren’t accepted for who they are. They are usually discriminated because they don’t know how to speak the language of their new

Immigrants bring their culture to the host country with different values and beliefs. Several studies reveal that immigrants’ culture can lead to numerous changes including health practices, physical activity, and dietary. The purpose of Jadalla’s research article is to promote a better understanding of acculturation and how it influences immigrants’ health practices.

This semester, I chose to write my essay about the many obstacles that refugees experience while trying to achieve “the American dream.” I was inspired to research this topic after hearing my own family’s story and watching a film called, “Lost Boys of Sudan” and another film titled, “God Grew Tired of Us.” Both films are documentaries that tell the story of teenage boys as they travel from refugee camps in Kenya and Sudan to America. When they arrive in the U.S., they meet their adoptive families, begin to attend school, and start working at menial jobs. But despite their newfound stability, the horrors they experienced in their homeland traveled with them, making it difficult to adjust to life in their new country. These films increased my interest in learning more about the experience of refugees’ and their adjustment to life in America.

The dominant groups can play a role in marginalizing other groups based on racial and characteristics involving privilege tends to open doors of opportunity, but oppression tends to slam them shut. The dominant groups has played a role of marginalization to other groups based on racial characters that involve oppression and have emphasized pervasive nature of social inequality woven throughout social institutions. The dominant groups reap advantage and benefit from access to social power and privilege, not equally available to people of color. They receive more money and accumulate more assets than other racial groups, hold the majority of positions of power and influence, and command the controlling institutions in society. The dominant groups restrict the life expectancy, infant mortality, income, housing, employment, and educational opportunities of people of color for economic, social or political power (Adams et al., 2013).