Last September an article appeared in the LA Times about Somali refugees bound for the United States. Before travelling, they were offered a U.S.-mandated course of American culture, climate and society, to prepare the newcomers for the trials and tribulations that lie ahead. The article is quite funny and worth reading.
Some funny excerpts:
“How do I save my family from this … snow?” asked Hassan Mohammed Abrone, 41, a father of two who was already trying to embrace the American lifestyle by wearing a Statue of Liberty baseball cap and a pair of secondhand Nike Airs.
“I know all about America,” said Amal Nuradia, 27. “I’ve seen the Hallmark Channel.” She is among the thousands of Somalian refugees at Kakuma, most of whom fled their country more than a decade ago. More than 12,000 have resettled in the U.S. in recent years.
-”What do you know about America?” Kassim asked at the beginning of a recent orientation class. Students yelled out their answers: It’s a superpower. People are always in a hurry. Neighbors don’t talk to each other. Dogs are treated like people. Gay people get married. All children go to school.
-Coming from a country without government or law, the idea that help is only a phone call away amazed Yussuf, whose parents were killed and who is traveling to the U.S. alone. “So if anyone bothers me, I just call 911 and the police come and beat them?” she asked. “Life must be very easy.”
-Immigrants also heard about U.S. laws. Beating your wife and children is illegal, they were told, and so is chewing khat, the leafy amphetamine-like stimulant popular in Somalia. Performing genital excision on young girls is prohibited.
-”If I can’t beat my wife, how will she know that I love her?” Abrone asked, seated next to his silent teenage bride.
Concerned? So are the some other people involved with the project as well, but about different things, would be my guess:
“They can learn about flushing toilets and riding buses once they get there,” said Hussain Mahmood, head of the Kakuma branch of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, which also works with Somali refugees. “Instead, I think they’d be better served by a frank discussion about the discrimination and hostilities they may face as Muslims or Africans in the U.S. What’s going to happen when a woman in a scarf meets some skinhead? I’d like to see more about dealing with those cultural challenges.”
Yes, teach them how to play the racism card before they speak English. 
