Help with Syrian Refugees - any ideas?

[NeedleinA]

I am very curious to see if any of you have any specific experience with Syrian/Muslim refugees in your area. Perhaps the concepts apply if you have had any experience with refugees at all. 
To give you a brief idea of the challenge I'm working on right now.

1. We have very recently hired a couple of Syrian refugees at our family business. 
2. Extremely nice guys, very excited to work and learn.
3. Very little English, so our conversations/training involve: Google Translate for Arabic, lots of hand gestures, drawings, pictures, Youtube demonstration videos

So... looking to see if anyone knows any great ideas for:
1. tools, apps, software (Google translate is "good", anything better?)
2. anyone housed Muslim refugees in your home before? good/bad, things you wish you knew or learned from it

My understanding from the local church group that actually is sponsoring them (Non-LDS) is that thanks to the Trump Exec. order(?) that funds have been cut and this group has a couple of months 2-3 to assimilate and be on their own 100% financially. I feel the immediate pressure/drive/need/desire to help these families but finding resources and suggestions aren't always readily available, so I'm asking the MormonHub family for thoughts. 

Thank you all. Anything is better than nothing. 

[Backroads]

Located any adult education English classes? My mom, an ESL teacher, has kid refugees from Congo; their folks are too involved in their own English crash course just through some local.program that has always been there.

[Just_A_Guy]

1 hour ago, NeedleinA said:

I am very curious to see if any of you have any specific experience with Syrian/Muslim refugees in your area. Perhaps the concepts apply if you have had any experience with refugees at all. 
To give you a brief idea of the challenge I'm working on right now.

1. We have very recently hired a couple of Syrian refugees at our family business. 
2. Extremely nice guys, very excited to work and learn.
3. Very little English, so our conversations/training involve: Google Translate for Arabic, lots of hand gestures, drawings, pictures, Youtube demonstration videos

So... looking to see if anyone knows any great ideas for:
1. tools, apps, software (Google translate is "good", anything better?)
2. anyone housed Muslim refugees in your home before? good/bad, things you wish you knew or learned from it

My understanding from the local church group that actually is sponsoring them (Non-LDS) is that thanks to the Trump Exec. order(?) that funds have been cut and this group has a couple of months 2-3 to assimilate and be on their own 100% financially. I feel the immediate pressure/drive/need/desire to help these families but finding resources and suggestions aren't always readily available, so I'm asking the MormonHub family for thoughts. 

Thank you all. Anything is better than nothing. 

If you are in Utah, the Asian Association of Utah has been doing yeoman's work and could probably be a good resource.

[pam]

I don't have any advice to give.  I just wanted to say that I think it's awesome that you hired a couple to work.  Many are willing to work and provide something better for their family.  They just need to be given the chance.  

[NeedleinA]

Thanks for the comments thus far. 
@Backroads, members in our Ward are taking turns attempting ESL right now with them, it is going "okay". We out in the Mid-west @Just_A_Guy but that is the kind of local type thing I need to tie into, I will keep digging. @pam, it is slow going, training is extra hard, but we all knew this wasn't going to be easy. We just keep trucking along doing what we can do. 

Suddenly life's fluff, extras, indulgences have evaporated as we all are just focused on core life sustaining needs of these families: food, a surgery, electricity.  

[anatess2]

I used to work with Bosnian refugess in the 90's.  My job was to assimilate the Bosnian's into American life, just basically anything that comes up about living in the US - I took them to movies (my favorite part of my job), took them to the grocery, fast food places, helped them settle into their apartments showing them how everything works - like the toaster, the microwave, etc - organized parties, helped them find jobs, helped them find a car or taught them to ride the bus, introduced them to their primary care doctor, enrolled them in English classes, showed them their church and introduced them to their spiritual leaders, etc. etc.  I was basically the all-around fun person.  Hah hah.

[NeedleinA]

@anatess2 any language barriers or did they already know enough English?

[anatess2]

8 minutes ago, NeedleinA said:

@anatess2 any language barriers or did they already know enough English?

Out of all the refugees I worked with only 1 knew English.  Which was awesome because I drafted him to be my translator.

So, I took them to action movies to help them with their English.  The jobs I helped them with were ones that didn't need much English - dishwasher, truck unloader, construction work, etc.  There's this Bosnian guy who migrated to the US way before the war started and owned a construction business.  He took in temporary workers to apply stucco siding or lay tile, etc.

Edited March 6, 2017 by anatess2

[Blackmarch]

The church put out resource for finding opportunities to help near you. Ill see if i can findbit again.