In conjunction with International Education Week, Northwest Vista College hosted Nov. 18 the newly-formed Arab American Community Network, the first group like this in San Antonio.
The group has a mission to educate, empower, provide access to resources, utilize capacity building and promote social change among Arab Americans. The organization is co-founded by NVC’s Dr. Haethem Abdul-Razaq, an assistant professor in Sociology,
Haetham was joined by his co-founders Angie Gala and Dr. Hana Shahin and they talked about the plight many immigrants face trying to navigate education and careers in a new country. Angie is an advocate for health equity and access which led her to Texas A&M University to work on her Ph.D. in Health Communication. She said a huge obstacle is getting access to quality healthcare since many immigrants don’t have the language skills or interpreters to help them communicate.
This organization will be a welcome resource for many new Arab immigrants to Bexar Country. According to the Census, Texas has one of the fastest growing Arab populations in the country and San Antonio has the 5th largest Arab community in the state.
Texas State Representative Ina Minjarez welcomed the new organization and referenced the contributions and innovations many Arab Americans have made to the country.
Sherry Dowlatshahi and Tino Gallego from the City of San Antonio shared how the city has a goal to make itself more welcoming to new and current residents. They said AACN will help their mission since they know the language barrier is a big factor to accessing city resources.
Alejandra Bueno of Alamo Colleges District’s International Education office spoke about the importance of International Education Week and how her team works to support the colleges in getting international students registered and remove education barriers.
NVC President Dr. Ric Baser welcomed the new organization and guests from the local Arab community who were there to celebrate its launch. He said International Education Week is the perfect time to start AACN because it’s an opportunity to celebrate the benefits and highlight the importance of international education, culturally rich experiences, global curriculum, exchanges, and travel.
“At NVC, we believe in diversity as a global value. It is a touchstone that we embody through our outreach efforts, experiential education opportunities, study abroad and peace and conflict studies programs, internalized curriculum, and innovative collaborations,” he said.