Action Plan | Team Cultural Etiquette

Written By: Kara Abney, Vanessa Bonilla, Sreenidhi Karanam, Jayden Sussman

The Problem Statement

Refugees and others who have recently arrived to this country face many cultural barriers, and one of the biggest includes understanding the cultural etiquette for transportation. Refugees have so many activities and errands to run constantly as they are trying to build their new life, but they are unaware of many of the transportation rules — both written and unwritten — since they are vastly different in the United States than in other countries. The lack of knowledge in understanding the ways of the road causes refugees to face many obstacles in getting to places.

The Solution Statement

Develop multiple communication mediums that will involve community leaders in a series of videos and written guides to teach new community members in a classroom-like setting, in addition to posting on Ride4Refugees website, basic cultural etiquette of transportation in Columbus.

Transportation etiquette videos

One of the crucial differences is the ways of learning between the United States and other countries. Most of the countries in which refugees come from tend to have more of a visual and listening based learning, rather than reading-based. To address this, creating transportation example videos would be a beneficial way of engaging people, as well as having the chance to portray information that can be remembered and played multiple times. Below is a plan of how we want to create these transportation guide videos.

• Topics to address: crossing the street, getting on and off a bus, road signals and signs, hazards
• Utilize community leaders and people within the refugee communities to make these videos, be an example
• Videos should each be a couple minutes long, can be in English and have closed captions in other languages
• Videos can be posted on a Youtube channel made by R4R, and links to these videos can also be posted on their website
• Example of a video already made: click here

Develop a Written Guidebook

Central Ohio currently has a strategic plan for the years of 2022–2025 on welcoming immigrants and refugees. This guidebook contains information on how to learn and assimilate to equitable workforce and economic development, safe and celebrated communities, equitable access to resources and services, and civic engagement. However, this plan does not include information on how to adapt to cultural etiquette, particularly in the transportation sector.

To combat this, we recommend adding a section on cultural etiquette of transportation. This section can include information about rules of the road, how to cross the street, unspoken rules of public transportation, and many more. Overall, the topics covered in this guide will be similar to the content captured in the videos mentioned above.

This guide, whether part of the Welcoming Guide or independent, can be handed out in resettlement agencies in the Columbus area and can be translated into many different languages. This guidebook will also contain many photos for the people learning the content to comprehend easier.

Central Ohio’s guide for refugees

Integrate New Resources into Cultural Orientation Programs

CRIS: A social service agency

There are multiple refugee service agencies available in Columbus, and in many cities. Two agencies include ETSS (Ethiopian Tewahedo social services) and CRIS (community refugee and immigration services). These agencies have programs already in place that help refugees get more settled, and using these services we can incorporate more transportation training material, such as having these agencies go over the transportation videos, and guidebooks, and quiz them on understanding as well as repeating the material to ensure the people truly know.

• The videos that get made as well as the guidebook can be shown and handed out at the cultural orientation that is done by refugee resettlement agencies
• This way, R4R doesn’t need to create a separate time to implement these solutions
• ETSS: Ethiopian tewahedo social services
• CRIS Ohio: Community Refugee & Immigration Services

ETSS: Another example of a social services agency

Translation of Resources

Language is one of the biggest barriers and challenges for the refugees, and it is difficult as well for agencies to be able to translate or have translators all the time with them. Therefore, when creating the videos and the guidebooks, having more of languages depending on the demographics of the refugees

• Utilize the resources at The Ohio State University, work with different professors and language departments to translate guidebook and create closed captions for videos

Important Contacts/Essential People

• The Ohio State University language department
• ETSS: Ethiopian Tewahedo social services
• CRIS Ohio: community refugee and immigrant services
• Someone from the refugee community that is adjusted and settled, and is willing to speak to others and help them too

Itemized Action Plan

1. Create scripts for educational transportation videos and gather community leaders to participate/act in the videos
2. Film and edit videos, post to a youtube channel created by Rides4Refugees
3. Work with Ohio State language departments to apply closed captions to each of the videos in different languages that refugees would be more familiar with
4. Take the ideas from the video and use them to develop a written guidebook that can add to the visual aids
5. Videos can be played and guidebook can be handed out at cultural orientation done by resettlement agencies, ensuring that the refugees are getting all the right tools they need to be successful when it comes to transportation
6. Continue to gather feedback from resettlement agencies as well as the refugees themselves to gage the effectiveness of these resources and continue improving them

Timeline

• Videos can be filmed and produced in 1–3 weeks once the people acting in them are chosen

Will likely take another 2–4 weeks to add closed captions to these videos in other languages

• Written guidebook can be developed in conjunction with the videos since they should include similar information

Can take about 1–3 weeks to put together and write up with the necessary information. Allow for another 2–6 weeks to work with resources at OSU to translate the guidebook to other languages

• These resources will be continually distributed at resettlement agencies’ cultural orientation, which is ongoing