Refugee Service Internship Report: Working with Somali Refugees

This report is based on an internship experience in refugee services, specifically focusing on interactions with Somali Bantu refugees. The author, who is also a refugee, provides insights into the challenges faced by refugees, including issues of political turmoil, terrorism, and the need for better job and life opportunities. The report highlights the importance of empathy, active listening, and effective communication in social work. The author discusses personal strengths, such as empathy and active listening, and areas for improvement, such as patience. The report further suggests creating a dedicated communication department to address the specific needs of refugees based on their age, gender, and socio-economic conditions. The author also discusses the positive impact of the internship on their understanding of the world and their approach to social work, emphasizing the importance of rationalism and humanitarianism.

Running head: INTERNSHIP AT REFUGEE SERVICE
INTERNSHIP AT REFUGEE SERVICE
Name of the student
Name of the university
Author Note

1INTERNSHIP AT REFUGEE SERVICE
As an intern in refugee services, I have had rich experience so far working with different
refugee individuals, families, groups and communities. The United States of America has always
been a cosmopolitan society that has accepted refugees in spite of certain xenophobic attitudes
and policies. As an intern, my experience of working with the Somali Bantu refugees have been
mixed; I have had pleasant as well as foul experiences with them. The most important point in
me being an intern in a refugee service is that I am myself a Black Muslim belonging to a
refugee community in the United States of America. Therefore, I can directly connect with the
plight which they might be going through. I have personally worked with different individuals
and families of Bantu community of Somalia who have come as refugees from Somalia to the
USA as an escape gate from terrorism and drought. I have come across many unmarried Somali
men and women from Bantu communities who have taken refuge to the USA in order to save
their lives from political turmoil and growing menaces of regional terrorism. Some Somali
youths have fled from their country to US in search of better job and life opportunities. I have
worked with a Somali Bantu family with husband, wife and two daughters (both the daughters
are adolescents) that have fled from the country to save their daughter’s life, integrity and future.
However, I had least experience with young single Somali women but I am fortunate to work
with them even in the refugee service, listening to their health and safety needs, educational and
occupational issues that they are facing and what could have been done to solve such issues.
If I had been employed full- time in the respective organization, I would have formed a
separate communication department for every Somali based on their age, gender, socio-
economic condition and community where they belong. The communication department would
take care of every detailed needs and expectations the refugees might be having and through

2INTERNSHIP AT REFUGEE SERVICE
effective communication and active listening, I would have tried to solve the issues which
refugees face to a certain extent.
As an intern in refugee services and as a social worker, my strengths include my
empathetic nature, active listening (in order to ventilate the grievances of the caretakers), self
awareness and unprejudiced observation of society. All these attributes have helped me evolve
and emerge as a good social worker working for social welfare. Active listening is the area
where I have improved a lot from my previous experiences. Communication skills in me have
improved and now I have an excellent command in verbal and non- verbal communication. My
weakness is that sometimes I lose patience, so I have to build perseverance in me. For a social
worker, patience is important as they have to deal with different people from different
backgrounds who would always not meet up to the expectation.
Excellent communication skills that include active listening, unprejudiced observation of
my environment and altruism are the interventions that have provided me with an interesting
edge in the area of social work. I have learnt to see and perceive the world differently and in a
better way with empathy, rationalism and in a humanitarian way.