News and events

Intercultural training for asylum seekers, Poroszló, October 9-11, 2006.

Within the framework of our Equal project, N.E.E.D.S.- Individually through Equal Chances, our Foundation organized a two-day intercultural training for social workers. This training is the second one in a sequence of three seminars, which is based on Margalit Emerique-Cohen's three-step model of intercultural competence development. The general goal of the trainings is to prepare those working in asylum camps, thus, being in daily contact with asylum seekers, to prevent or minimize cultural conflicts, which could endanger their professional work.

In the first seminar, participants familiarized themselves with the method of decentration, which enabled them to become more aware of their own cultural conditioning. This is the first step when opening up to the Other. Having attained the capability of self-reflexivity, one is able to explore the reference frame of the Other. This enables a realistic apprehension of the needs and problems of culturally different persons. Thus, the central theme of the second seminar was the "Other", more precisely, "Getting to Know the Other".

Posing the right questions is the key to success. Accordingly, participants had to learn to abandon their preconceptions and to widen their horizon by asking the correct questions and multiplying plausible hypothesis. Of course, the best source of information are the clients themselves, but it is always advisable to rely on secondary sources and mediators.