Last fall I was able to attend the 1Refugee Conference in Idaho. The event was well organized and everyone who approached our table was interested in what we did and wanted to know how to get involved. There were at least 100 students majoring in a variety of things who attended the event and we had 20 students give us their contact information. Most were interested in our internship programs. I met Amadou Diallo, who said he is going to be the next president of Changemakers (the TSOS student organization) and Alice Mwamba, who was excited because she knows the Mwingwa family on our story card.
We were each assigned to sit at a table with a group of students. They had some group activities, a one-on-one Q&A, and some great speakers. I've lived in Idaho for 20 years, and still learned new things! The keynote speaker was excellent. His name was Tiam Rastegar. He is a refugee from Iran who came to the US via Germany. He spoke about having a growth mindset vs. fixed mindset. He was very entertaining and engaging. The other presenters were from Idaho Power and Saint Alphonsus Medical Center. They talked about how there are opportunities out there for everyone.
Get involved with One Refugee. Their goal is to “graduate 1000 students with refugee backgrounds by 2030.”
One RefugeeVoice Your Support for Afghan Adjustment
The Afghan Adjustment (AA) has been reintroduced in both the House (H.R.4627) and the Senate (S.2327) of the United States by a bipartisan group of legislators. We invite you to join us in honoring our promise to our Afghan allies by urging your representatives to pass the Afghan Adjustment!
Invisible Barriers to Belonging: Their Story is Our Story Presents at the 2023 Idaho Conference on Refugees
Their Story is Our Story (TSOS) was pleased to present at the 2023 Idaho Conference on Refugees held at Boise State University on February 22-23. In alignment with the conference theme Creating Connections, our TSOS team addressed three significant invisible barriers that we consistently encounter in our work and invited audience members to think about how local community members might leverage their inter- and intra- connections to help Forcibly Displaced Persons overcome invisible barriers so they might achieve an equal footing in society.
Uniting for Ukraine: U.S. Sponsors Needed
Just as citizens in Europe and the U.K. have heroically supported displaced Ukrainians by opening up their homes or securing other housing, assisting with school enrollments, employment needs, and language learning, Americans now have the opportunity via the Welcome.us Sponsor Circles program to directly help newly arrived Ukrainians. The United States has committed to welcoming 100,000 Ukrainians temporarily for a period of two-years and the ability to apply for employment authorization in the U.S. as long as they have a U.S.-based sponsor to petition for them.