Helping Refugees Ease into US Way of Life

Center promotes understanding to avoid cultural clashes

22 July 2010

Phyu Phyu Aye teaches sewing and helps her students adapt to a new culture at the Refugee Resource Center.

Fort Wayne, Indiana, deals with cultural obstacles every day.

The Midwestern city of 250,000 is not only home to the largest Burmese community in America, the U.S. State Department also uses it extensively as a resettlement site for refugees from around the world.

It's home to Bosians, Darfurians, and Hispanics, among other groups.

Melting pot

Minn Myint Nan Tin, with the Burmese Advocacy Center, or BAC, says keeping this melting pot from boiling over is a delicate balancing act.

Nyein Kyaoo helps his students learn computer skills as well as the differences between Burmese and US society.

"Sometimes people need to take time to adjust to a new place, a new culture, a new system," she says, but adds, "you can't excuse [inappropriate behavior] either. It doesn't matter if you're American or Burmese or Latin or African."

Nearly all refugees in the Fort Wayne area visit the Refugee Resource Center. BAC and 10 other organizations offer services and classes there, in everything from how to clean a home, to proper indoor plumbing etiquette, to employable skills. These are new concepts for people who may have lived in rural areas or refugee camps all their lives.