Getting a new start

It's not easy to begin again.  It is common for refugees to arrive in the United States with only one bag of possessions.  Often their credentials and degrees from other countries do not transfer to our American system, and they are left with difficult choices about how they will work to support their family. 


Samuel "El Hag" Albino was once
a professor in Egypt.  He now works
as a CCME Language Partners
interpreter and a case manager
at Community Counseling Center.
(Image Source:Portland Press Herald)


Recently many of our interpreters participated in a job fair, aimed at solving this very problem.  Sometimes the most difficult barrier is just getting to know the right people.  Catholic Charities Maine and other community partners worked to organize an event where qualified refugees and immigrants could meet and network with industry leaders.  This event was the first of its kind. 


I'm excited about this new endeavor.  We're amazed daily at Catholic Charities Language Partners by the background and experience of our interpreters.  We have among our staff doctors, professors, nurses, architects, and engineers.  It is an honor to offer our positions as interpreters as a means for our staff to move back to the professional credentials they once had. As we all know, sometimes getting the right job is as much about who you know as what you know.  And getting to know these sorts of highly skilled refugeees is one of the perks of my job.  I'm glad that these industry leaders got the chance as well.