Page 6 - SEEK Annual Report

REFUGEE’S STORY OF ENDURANCE AND SURVIVAL DOES NOT END
when he or she receives a letter of approval and safely travels to America. Indeed, resettlement is one of the most challenging transitions a refugee will ever face. The journey many refugees take in finding safety and security will be hard. Some will have faced trauma, years of waiting, and wrestling with the unknown of their future.
Fleeing from places such as Iraq, Somalia, and Burma, many refugees
are traumatized and vulnerable as a result of the extreme violence and displacement they have experienced. These experiences often have far-reaching negative effects on individuals, ranging from low self-esteem to an inability to form peaceful relationships with others. Without help and support, many will continue to suffer the effects of violence
and displacement in ways that hinder them from leading productive, healthy lives.
Being resettled into a new country, with a new language, brings with it a challenging set of obstacles to overcome. The difficulties that refugees now face are those of not only understanding their new home–cultural understanding, social integration, and economic sustainability–but also of working to understand and find healing for all the trauma of the past.
photo by Natalie Shelton for Seek the Peace
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