The Culture and People of Afghanistan
Tue, Jan 18, 2022 2:00 PM - 4:00 PM Mountain Standard Time (UTC-7)
Register here.
This workshop will introduce people working with, or potentially sponsoring, Afghan refugees to important elements of Afghanistan culture.
About this event
This workshop will introduce people working with, or potentially sponsoring, Afghan refugees to important elements of Afghanistan culture. The presentation will review an overview of the country within the context of refugee arrivals. It will review what might be expected in an Afghanistan family, the religions followed, subcultural groups and the values associated with such groups. The presentation will encourage discussion of cultural expectation, clashes of cultures for arrivals, and areas where newcomers may require Canadian cultural knowledge. The idea behind the workshop is to give an introduction to those who might be assisting newcomers from Afghanistan, to maximize their successful transition and resettlement.
Facilitators
Trina Rahimi was born in Kabul, Afghanistan. Trina and her family left Afghanistan as a refugee and lived in New Delhi, then came to Canada under Government Assisted Refugee Program. She was an interpreter with the UNHCR and has worked for the CFN since 2001. She has been a facilitator with the Family Development program, the Family Literacy Program and now as an accredited Settlement Practitioner, including the Tax Time Saving Program in collaboration with Momentum. Trina has also worked as a manager in a medical office, and patient care coordinator with Mosaic Primary Care Network, plus as a bilingual (Afghan) teacher and coordinator with the Stepping Stone Program. Trina has acted as the Ismaili Council for Prairies Chairperson for Women’s Development Portfolio, Settlement Board member, various positions with IVC (Ismaili Volunteer Corp.), and the and Care for Elderly Project. She has helped organize the Torch Run for Special Olympics for Afghanistan in collaboration with the Calgary Police Services and was the team lead for the Women’s Health and Family Wellness Expo for more than 5 years.
Maryam Baiza Kassam was also born in Kabul, Afghanistan, where she completed, her grade 12 at Lycée Malalai. Then she joined the School of Law and Political Sciences at Kabul University, Afghanistan. In 2002, Maryam was rewarded with a three-year full scholarship from the United Kingdom, where she completed a two-year post-graduate program in Islamic Studies and Humanities and obtained her master’s degree in International law focusing on Human Rights Law from the University of Edinburgh, in Scotland. Ms. Baiza has also been actively involved in various voluntary positions across the Ismaili Council for Canada to empower women. For 6 years she served as the chairperson for the Women’s portfolio and then she was appointed as the main editor and translator for materials concerning law and family issues from English into Dari/Farsi language for the Conciliation and Arbitration Board of Afghanistan. For the last 14 years, she has been working with immigrants and refugees in Calgary as an Education counsellor and now as a Cultural Community Outreach Associate at the Centre for Newcomers engaging in community development and promoting newcomer settlement and integration issues.
