Islamic Speakers Bureau of Atlanta to Offer Training to Welcome Afghan Newcomers

ATLANTA - Nov. 2, 2021 - PRLog -- Georgia is expecting 200 Afghan families in the next few months. To help resettlement, direct service and other organization's staff and volunteers prepare for them, the Islamic Speakers Bureau of Atlanta is offering Cultural Competency Training specifically focused on Afghan newcomers.  The virtual training will take approximately 90 minutes and is free of charge.  Organizations can submit training requests on ISB's website: isbatlanta.org/request-a-speaker

Direct service organizations that provide for the refugees' basic needs, navigate the American bureaucracy and support staff and volunteers, need information, guidance and resources that address the specific cultural challenges of the new arrivals from Afghanistan. In order for resettlement to be successful, the service providers must have the information and tools needed to understand the cultural differences and help bridge those gaps.   To address this need, the ISB created "Assalam Alaikum: A Cultural Competency Training for Providers Serving Afghan Refugees."

For more than 20 years, the ISB has been successfully engaging with groups and individuals from different faith traditions and backgrounds to increase understanding and fight bigotry.  Using this expertise, the knowledge of partner organizations, and relying on Afghan immigrants already established in the Atlanta area, the ISB developed a 90-minute training for agencies with staff and volunteers who will be (or already are) working directly with the new arrivals.

"As descendants of immigrants, we understand how hard it is to leave home and start over in a new land. For the current Afghan newcomers, their abrupt and somewhat chaotic departure only makes the transition more challenging," said Soumaya Khalifa, ISB's executive director.  "We created this training to identify and explain the full cultural heritage that informs the Afghan newcomers' world-view.  Without that information and a clear understanding of it, the people working with them may have to deal with miscommunication, suspicion and distrust."

The "Assalam Alaikum: A Cultural Competency Training for Providers Serving Afghan Refugees" is available to nonprofit, faith-based and/or civic organizations, as well as any government agency, educational institution or healthcare provider that will be working with the Afghan newcomers.  To request a training, complete the form on the  ISB website: https://isbatlanta.org/request-a-speaker or call (404) 632-3550.

For more information, please contact Soumaya Khalifa at 678-523-5080.