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Youth Initiatives
Refugee Youth Project
Youth in the Middle is the name of an important, innovative
project designed by the Oklahoma Institute for Child Advocacy
(OICA) to help refugee youth in Oklahoma City:
- increase their success in understanding and assimilating
into their new environment;
- increase language and communication skills;
- expand educational opportunities that address their
specific needs;
- receive positive peer and adult support in safe,
supervised settings;
- learn and use good health practices;
- access community resources and services that will meet
their needs and the needs of their families;
- gain confidence in their ability to adapt to the new
culture and environment; and
- heighten their sense of belonging and connectedness to
their new community and school settings.
 In
addition, the project raises awareness among community
organizations about the issues and needs surrounding the refugee
youth and their families as they struggle to fit into and become
part of a new community and country, while still retaining the
traditions and culture of their native land.
For more information on the Refugee Youth Project, or to
learn how you can help, please contact
Sharon Rodine at
405.236.5437, ext. 108.
Definition of Refugee
Refugees are different from immigrants. By definition, "the
refugee student is an individual who is outside his or
her country of nationality and is unable or unwilling to return
to that country because of persecution or a well-founded fear of
persecution that may be based on race, religion, nationality,
membership in a particular social group, or political opinion."
 This
does not include persons displaced by natural disasters or
persons commonly known as 'economic migrants', whose primary
reason for flight has been a desire for personal betterment
rather than persecution. Many of the refugee children and youth
coming to our community have known little beyond war and strife
during their growing up years. |
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