This Gave Me Hope

ROCK ISLAND, Illinois — Officers from the Moline Police Department met with Refugees at a Cultural Festival on World Refugee Day. The festival was organized by World Relief Moline, a group that helps all refugees who arrive to Moline from refugee camps around the world. The festival is a way for refugees to meet with members of the community.

"Most police contact that they've had in their countries aren't a positive impact, so we want to change that for them," said Officer Victor Salvador, Moline Police Department who answered questions and guided kids' curiosity as they got the chance to look around a squad car.

Getting refugees to have a good relationship with their U.S. law enforcement is a personal issue for Officer Salvador. He is Mexican and El Salvadorian, his parents immigrated to the United States from countries where Salvador says corruption in local law enforcement happens. The culture festival is a change for him to build a positive relationship with the refugee community.

"Everybody within the police department wants everyone to feel safe with us, and I think this is a great way of doing it; different cultures and different groups of people," said Officer Salvador.

"Back in my country, [police officers] actually like control you, it's like they give you orders to do stuff," said Esther William, 19. She says now that she is in the U.S. she is free.

She and her dad William Neylin attended the Culture Festival. Their family fled Myanmar, also known as Burma. They have been in the Quad Cities for two years. World Relief Moline has helped them get on their feet.

"It's really hard to just move into country that you never know and like different language and different living," said Esther William. Learning the English language is very difficult according to William Neylin, he says it's easier for younger refugees, but for the older people, learning English is hard.

William Neylin says he tries to speak English, he says it's important to learn. He says the United States is his country now, and he needs to learn the language.

"There's a lot more awareness around the topic of refugees nowadays," said Amy Rowell, Office Director or World Relief Moline. The office helps all 220 refugees who arrive to Moline every year. Most are from Myanmar.

"Part of what we do is try to educate the community and our partners and churches and people so that they understand what refugees have to go through to get here," said Rowell.

She says she has to be confident in the current vetting process for refugees coming to the United States.

"One of the most difficult ways to actually come to America is as a refugee. It's a much easier process to come if you're coming on a student visa or a visitor visa or a work visa," said Rowell. She says coming to the United States is one of the hardest vetted processes.

Rowell says World Relief Moline believes there are three things for a refugee family to be successful. The first is to learn English, if they don't know it already, the second is to get a job so they can financially support their family, and the third is for Americans to surround the refugees.

Full article here.