Kassim Rajab is a Road to Livelihood case manager at Forward Service Corporation in the Refugee Cash Assistance Department and the founder and Executive Director of the Madison Refugee Union.
How long have you been in your current roles and what drew you to these positions?
I am the Executive Director of the Madison Refugee Union, which I helped to create in 2019, and have worked at Forward Service Corporation for 3 years. At Forward Service Corporation, I help refugees enroll to receive benefits, training, and help creating resumes and job applications. However, I have been working to help refugees since 2008—first, in Uganda, as an interpreter and child counselor, and now in Madison.
When my family moved to the U.S., to Madison, in 2018, we felt socially isolated. We didn’t find many other refugees or people from Africa. The language barrier made life very difficult. It was important to me to do something to bridge those gaps for people arriving in Madison.
This is exactly what the Madison Refugee Union does—our goal is to make refugees feel more comfortable in Madison and know that they are not alone.
What are some of the ways that Madison Refugee Union welcomes new refugees?
Our main goal is that we always want people to be in a good position for their new life, set up for success.
We started with 7 volunteers and now have more than 15. Our volunteers drive newly arrived refugees to appointments, to get groceries, show them how to use the bus system. Volunteers also show people how to understand road signs, rules of traffic, what to do if police stop you, offer translation at DMV computer test, and help people prepare for permit tests. We prepare food according to family size. These are just a few of the things Madison Refugee Union does.
I attend and present at a lot of conferences, talk to politicians during advocacy days. It’s important to have refugees advocating for other refugees, as they understand the challenges.
What are some of the challenges that you’re seeing for refugee families arriving in Madison?
New refugees don’t have enough orientation or support, and the organizations helping them are limited in funds and what they can do.
When refugees arrive in Madison, they have to adjust to a new language, new rules. Transitioning from camp life to urban life can be very difficult. For many people, it is their first time using new technology. 1-2 months of orientation is not enough.
Using your first language can help a lot with adaptation. Our volunteers are on call—literally. If someone nees help using or learning how to use new technology, we have people available to help them on a video call in their native language. This is very important as they build confidence as they adjust to their new lives.
The biggest challenges are employment and housing. When refugees arrive, their rent is paid for three months, but it is not always possible to find a job within that time. The language barrier and job scarcity make finding employment difficult. Insufficient housing, means that some people are housed at hotels.
I recently met with Amazon HR about employment for newcomers, as Amazon didn’t take non-English speakers. Now, we have 15 people working with Amazon.
Anything else you’d like to share?
Our next goals are to register our organization and get a headquarters so that we can work in an official capacity, sponsor refugees, etc. We are looking for a volunteer to help create a website. We don’t have a lot of funds and support is crucial—every single dollar makes an impact.
If you are interested in getting involved, please message Kassim at 608-622-1380 or [email protected].