Summarizes the contents of e-mails posted on the Center for Applied Linguistics’ Cultural Orientation listserv by International Organization for Migration (IOM) staff in Nairobi, Kenya. The IOM staff described the cultural orientation they were providing to Somali Bantus in refugee camps and offered insights about the challenges facing social service workers who will assist these refugees once they arrive in the United States. Among the key points made in the e-mails were that: (1) information presented during the training sessions was being retained at low rates, necessitating basic and repeated instruction in such topics as literacy, personal hygiene and household sanitation, parenting, education, employment, rights and responsibilities, transportation, money management, and the significance of time, dates, and punctuality; (2) U.S. resettlement agencies need to be prepared for high levels of malnourishment and related sicknesses, especially among the young children; and (3) health care workers need to understand and accommodate the Bantus’ traditional healing practices and other cultural beliefs concerning illness and to explain clearly how the American medical system works, including the concept of health insurance and the importance of giving a medical history.
