“People were not getting their jobs through their friends but through acquaintances.” — “The Six Degrees of Lois Weisberg” by Malcolm Gladwell
The Montagnard Dega Association (MDA) is racing to enact large changes for the 2009-10 year in response to new rules which end services to refugees after five years upon their entry to the US. Thus older refugees who obtained jobs, raised families, and struggled towards self-sufficiency will find themselves ineligible to attend English and citizenship classes just as they have reached stability and have the time. We believe a coherent program that moves them onto the path of US citizenship would significantly improve the refugee experience and success of all Montagnards by firmly interlocking the components of language, employment, and social/information access essential for citizenship.
For this mixed population, which often is preliterate and segmented by tribal, religious, and language affiliations, it is critical for us to accelerate their learning of basic English and expand language competency to include numeracy and focused, specific computer skills. We want to redefine refugee employment training beyond low-skill, low-wage, so-called "secondary labor market" jobs to include service jobs that require substantial language interaction, skilled trade jobs, and simple entrepreneurial models that exploit our clients' traditional skills such as agriculture. Finally, we must improve refugees’ access to the American mainstream. Access has traditionally been defined as refugees' use of transportation and telephone, to which we propose adding social networking and digital media, now considered indispensable tools for acculturation and employment. By dramatically enlarging the number of face-to-face contacts ("weak ties") an individual refugee has outside his circle, we seek to boost his opportunities to master English, chances for advancement out of niche, "ethnic" jobs, and ultimately, to exercise his responsibilities as a community member and future citizen.
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