New children’s books explain Afghan journey
A new initiative seeks to help the thousands of Afghan children in Houston process the challenges of adjusting to their new homes through a collection of culturally relevant books about the refugee experience.
Newly arrived Afghan kids in Houston will receive a special shipment of more than 3,000 children’s books that highlight the resettlement process, especially the process of adapting to a new country.
The global education nonprofit Room to Read announced the initiative Monday, World Refugee Day. The organization will publish and distribute a total of 51,600 books in cities across the country.
Houston was selected as a participating city for the program due to its high population of evacuated Afghans — many of whom are children.
Texas has resettled more than 11,000 Afghans who were evacuated by the United States after the Taliban takeover. Roughly half of those Afghans were resettled in the Houston area, according to agency data.
Twelve different stories are part of this collection, which was specially tailored to a young Afghan audience, according to Shannon Hesel, Room to Read’s U.S. program associate director.
“They all touch on the themes of resettlement, and finding a new home, meeting and integrating into a new culture, navigating different social situations, connecting with others who may have gone through a similar kind of experience,” Hesel said.
The stories were originally written for other refugee groups, such as Syrian refugees living in Jordan, but have been adapted, translated and reviewed by Afghan authors. They will be printed in the two most common Afghan languages, Dari and Pashto.
“In some cases, there were some minor adaptations to the actual artwork,” Hesel said.
The books in Houston will be distributed by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops through Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of GalvestonHouston, which has resettled more than 1,300 Afghans in Houston.
Refugee families typically experience a number of logistical and psychological obstacles when resettling in a new country, including a loss of culture and family.
Some may also be dealing with post-traumatic stress from their experiences in Afghanistan.