VIZIONZ-SANKOFA IMMIGRANT AND REFUGEE PROJECT
Statement of Problem
Who We Are
VIZIONZ-SANKOFA was created in June, 2014, to assist African American youth and young adults in becoming stewards of their lives due to socio-economic situations beyond their control.
VIZIONZ-SANKOFA acknowledges the disparities causing African American youth and young adults to be statistically challenged in schools, penal institutions and CYFD custody.
VIZIONZ-SANKOFA would like to extend services to the parents, guardians and care providers of our target population. The services would be but, not limited to:
Job Seeking assistance
Education & Training assistance
Social services referrals
Possible business ventures
VIZIONZ-SANKOFA is committed to having an open door policy whereby anyone can seek our assistance by calling or emailing us through the contact information.
What We Do
It is our view that African Refugee and Immigrant population in the State of New Mexico have hardly been equipped and empowered to thrive and contribute to community development due to linguistic and socio-cultural challenges they face on arrival to the United States. It is also our view that members of the Refugee and Immigrant community from non-English speaking African descent in New Mexico are largely marginalized linguistically and otherwise. There should be a smooth transition of linguistic competence and cultural experience from their mother tongues, spoken and signed languages to English and American Sign Language without losing their mother tongues, and culture, while they adapt to their new language and culture.
Objectives
- Study the existing programs and services provided to the Refugee population from Africa towards linguistic and socio-cultural literacy in New Mexico and the impacts of such programs in resettling them to their new culture and society and equipping them to contribute to community development.
- Collaborate with existing agencies with related objectives in providing an evidence based linguistic literacy intervention program for African Refugee and Immigrant population in New Mexico across the ages.
- Engage the young people of the above population in other related literacy programs (such as computer tech) targeted at their personal development, inclusion, and total wellness.
Goals
- Achieve a human capacity development of the African Refugee population towards community development and strength.
- Advocate for an inclusive mutual relationship between the Refugee and Immigrant population and their host community.
Tasks
- Obtain the services of speech and sign language interpreters where necessary.
- Hold linguistic literacy trainings for Target population across ages.
- Set up meetings with government and nongovernment agencies working with the Refugee Immigrant population in New Mexico.
- Orchestrate other community engagement events inclusive of Refugees and Immigrant population.
- Collaborate with schools to mediate between schools and Refugee families.
- Collaborate with computer tech companies to facilitate coding trainings for Refugees Immigrant young men and women.
Inclusion
Our activities and programs are designed to advocate for the African Refugee and Immigrant population in New Mexico towards community inclusion and integration. We compare the linguistic barrier and marginalization of the non-English speaking African Refugees to the plight of marginalized American-born residents.
