Hi there! My name is Sajeda Kabbani and I’m a senior majoring in Human Services and Social Justice. I am a member of Team 2 and was tasked with writing the Request for Proposal that we sent to many organizations across the DMV. I initially joined this major because I knew I wanted to make a change. I didn’t know what change I wanted to make or which population I wanted to work with, but I knew it would only be a matter of time before I found out.
After this last presidential campaign, many people have become much more openly racist and as a result immigrants and refugees have an even harder time leading successful, healthy and happy lives. I believe that immigrants are several steps behind the general population. Many do not speak English, and if they do speak, they may not be fluent. This can prevent immigrant children from doing well in school or making friends. In addition, it can make it challenging for adults to find good jobs. How can they have a successful interview if they can’t communicate? A lot of them also do not have college degrees either because they did not go to college back in their country or because they cannot afford college here in the US. This also prevents them from moving forward in the world. Furthermore, they have to deal with racism and hatred every day which can have serious effects on their mental state in the long run, leading to depression and other illnesses.
I wholeheartedly support this [giving] project because we are gifting funds to an organization who is supporting immigrants by either professional or educational services. The programing we have decided to support is incredibly necessary because it helps give them a chance. As a young professional, I now know that I want to focus my time and energy on making their lives a little bit easier, any way I can.
After graduation, I plan to start a scholarship foundation to help immigrants go to university. I believe an education will not only be beneficial to them but also to their family and the future generations to come. If they are given a chance at a solid foundation in life, perhaps their children and grandchildren might not have to face the hardships they once had to endure.
--Sajeda
Responses from our class
Thank you for sharing this, I loved the candid way you spoke about these large degrees of differences within our national community. I have definitely found myself to be thinking more about these issues since my time here at GW, and since the 2016 presidential election.
I grew up in small town outside of Philadelphia Pennsylvania. It was a wonderful place to grow up, and I have very fond memories of my time there. However, those memories don't include many experiences with different cultures. Diversity was lacking in Havertown, Pennsylvania. Upon coming to GW, I was excited and energized by the amount of diversity around me. I loved feeling like I was amongst people who were different than me. It wasn't until I delved deeper into the concepts of race and culture that I realized that feeling different is not as exciting in every circumstance. I was forced to face the fact that many people (many of whom are immigrants) face their own difference every moment of every day. What, for me, was an exciting new phenomenon was an unfortunate reality for someone else. I will never fully understand what it feels like to be non-white in this world.
This feeling comes into play when thinking about the 2016 election, and how scary it must be for my nonwhite neighbors at a time like this. Additionally, immigrants are even more at risk due to policy changes made at the federal level. This situation reminds me about the difference between sympathy and empathy. While I can sympathize with these feelings, I will never truly understand them. I will never be able to empathize.
-Haley
Thank you for sharing how our foundation inspired your future career choices and your thoughts on our organization’s contribution to the lives of immigrants. I appreciated how you described our programming as giving immigrants a chance. Something noteworthy that we learned in this class was to think expansively about the populations we try to serve. As you explain, immigrants face a variety of challenges upon arriving in the United States. Whereas some adults come to this country with very limited educational backgrounds or unaccepted/underutilized credentials that the United States does not recognize, children who are immigrant also sometimes face challenges associated with lower socioeconomic status or struggle in a school system with inadequate resources for English language learners. Each of these struggles represents a valid barrier to well-being among this population. As an organization, we did not want to prefer one immigrant’s struggle over another. Therefore, we opted to adopt broad language in our mission and request for proposals, providing clear, diverse examples of what counted as an opportunity for along the “lifelong learning.” In this manner, we established an explicit focus for our organization around education without exhibiting a bias to any particular age group or type of programming.
In addition, I wish you all the best on your work with the scholarship fund. A few years ago, I worked at a Jewish Big Brothers Big Sisters of Los Angeles summer camp, and they annually awarded college scholarships to former campers who participated in the program. Often, they were the first in a generation to go to college and/or the children of immigrants. On the announcement day, people’s extended families came. People who worked hard their entire lives to afford the essentials and provide for their children held back tears as their child earned a pathway to intellectual enrichment and a more stable income. When I saw pure elation on three or four generations of faces, I knew our organization made an impact. For many, the college scholarship represented a means, as you put it, to benefit “their family and the future generations to come.” The camp built its scholarship application around a set of core values, rewarding the funds based on academic excellence, financial need, and demonstrated alignment with these principles. Perhaps, a similar criteria would serve you well as you fund immigrants’ post-secondary educational opportunities. I wish you the best of luck, and I hope our capstone seminar continues to serve as an informative resource for learning how foundations achieve their mission.
-Adam
Thank you so much for your response and for sharing your thoughts about why you chose this major, your inclination to help others, and your plans post-grad— what a meaningful post to read! Below are some of my follow up thoughts I had! With the political climate we are in today, I 100% agree that immigrants need all the support possible because of the reasons mentioned. As aspiring Human Services professionals, I believe it is detrimental to acknowledge the reasons often for arriving to the "land of the free" and how that imposes additional challenges to adapting, in addition to the reasons mentioned.
In result, programs that support all populations, from youth to adult are essential for not only adapting purposes but for development and realizing that they are welcomed here, as a nation of immigrants. For example, free programs that support first-generation student success, ESL classes, literacy initiatives, adult job classes, etc. Moreover, while I acknowledge and sympathize the challenges the immigrant communities face, more financial support, emphasis, and awareness should be towards non-profit organizations and human services individuals that serve these populations. That is why, I am also thankful that this project, because of the flexibility we had in choosing the issue area, being funded by a service-minded philanthropist, serving a population that is often overlooked, and the ability to create change!
On another note, congratulations on your next career steps and aspirations in continuing in helping this population. I wish you nothing but the best in the next steps!
-Ashley
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