Mentoring Through Challenging Times: How to mentor an Afghan woman
This post was originally published on the BizWomen website on September 13, 2021, by Ellen Sherberg, Bizwomen Contributor with information from Betsy Cohen
Mentoring Through Challenging Times: How to mentor an Afghan woman - Bizwomen (bizjournals.com)
Mentoring Through Challenging Times: How to mentor an Afghan woman
The United States is commencing one of the largest — if not the largest — resettlements in history as Afghan refugees arrive. This is an opportunity for each of us to make their lives and our communities stronger.
Betsy Cohen, Executive Director, St. Louis Mosaic Project, Author of “Welcome to the U.S.A.-You’re Hired! A Guide for Foreign-Born People Seeking Jobs”
You are reading that Afghan men and women may be resettled into your community. Could you mentor an Afghan woman? Once the families get placed in your region, this may be a powerful idea.
Over the last 20 years, some women in Afghanistan were educated and trained to become doctors, educators, bankers, administrators, and leaders of service agencies. Other women may have worked helping the U.S. military. Some stayed home and led very sheltered lives. All these women are among the evacuated persons who are currently being processed for resettlement to come to a location in the United States. Soon, they will move to regions around the country, possibly near you.
Once these women and their families arrive in a city, they will typically be helped by a resettlement agency. That agency works with limited governmental funds to get the family into short-term housing, arrange needed medical care and get the children into school. There will also often be a job skills assessment. If the women worked with the U.S. military, they may have solid English skills. And, they may have skills in translations/communications, administration, information technology or engineering. They will need to start earning an income within months of arriving.
The resettlement agencies will be looking to help the women acclimate and get jobs. And they may want local women to mentor these newcomers about overall life in America. When you hear that Afghan families are arriving in your region, consider signing up through your resettlement agency to help mentor the women as they become our newest community members. You will both benefit.