Catholic Charities North Dakota’s (CCND) mission is to serve people in need with compassion, dignity and respect, empower them toward self-sufficiency, and work with others to advocate for justice. Under this mission, CCND was excited to accept the challenge to bring SPARCS groups to refugee students at West Fargo Schools in January 2008. The relationship with West Fargo Schools blossomed from there and CCND has offered SPARCS groups at West Fargo to students in grades 6 – 12. Our fifth group began this fall, bringing the total students served to 45.
Working with New American students has been a joy and privilege. It has also brought challenges and opportunities for me to be creative as a clinician. While eager to learn, the students’ English proficiency can be a barrier to comprehension of the material. Conveying information, while retaining meaning, requires adaptability. What does gentle mean?
Some ideas in the assessments are foreign to these young people. Many look at me in disbelief when I ask them questions about self-harm, unable to conceive of the possibility that someone would deliberately cut or kill themselves. Cultural differences also impact on the assessments and learning. Muslim students, because of their religious teachings, cannot comprehend what the question, “I think that I will not live a long life”, means.
Trauma has a distinctly different flavor for many of these young people. Some do not know what has become of family members, wondering whether they are dead or alive. They have witnessed war and killing. They have experienced deprivation and long walks through the jungle, hoping for safety on the other side. They have lived in close quarters and conditions of squalor. Many are here without their parents and have been “adopted” by other family members or family friends.
Yet, these young people are resilient, demonstrating hope and joy. They have a deep appreciation for all that is given to them. Facing many stressors, these students use the skills learned in SPARCS to help them through tough situations. A fourteen year old reported that he had often thought of running away from his aunt’s home during the time that he was in group. He credited SPARCS for helping him to use his wise mind to decide to stay and complete the semester.
The stressors this population experiences are similar to, yet unique from, those of their native born American cohort. Like a typical American teen, they want to fit in and belong. They enjoy the many material things that are available in this country. At the same time, they experience a differentness that we cannot understand and lack things we take for granted. A sixteen year old has been living in the United States with his older siblings and has not seen his parents in five years. Wanting to fit in, he hid his parents’ absence from adults and peers. He was afraid that this “differentness” would somehow be counted against him. Although he has many material things, he misses his parents dearly. Through his participation in SPARCS he developed sufficient resources to reach out and trust someone with this experience.
Article Submitted by Laura Kensok, Catholic Charities
Pictured above from L to R: Mary Jo Anderson (Counseling services supervisor) and Laura Kensok (Counselor)