MILWAUKEE — The Islamic Society of Milwaukee is helping Afghan refugees that have recently settled in Wisconsin.
Othman Atta is the executive director of the Islamic Society of Milwaukee. He explained on Sundays during Ramadan, they invited Afghan refugees to break their daily fast.
“We feel it is our responsibility to help these new individuals in our society, really to get adjusted into this country to help them with something they are familiar with so that they can feel more comfortable with their new country,” Atta said.
To accomplish this, the Islamic Society of Milwaukee put on a presentation to promote their school.
Atta explained the goal is to teach kids more about the Muslim faith while showing their parents how to integrate into American society.
“When they are coming here, they are coming here, unfamiliar with our community and our society as a whole and we want to help them in that regard, whether it be children for school, their health care issues, transportation issues, whatever we can help them with, we try to help them with,” Atta said.
Asma Iqbal Azada moved to the U.S. with her family almost a year ago from Afghanistan.
She said she has enjoyed her time in America so far and hopes to become an American citizen one day. Asma is thankful that the Islamic Society has made this adjustment easier.
“Since we moved to Milwaukee, we saw a lot of mosques in here,” Asthma said. “I’m so grateful because this is very helpful for Muslims. For their children, because they won’t forget their religion.”
For Atta, the most important thing is to remind Afghans that the Islamic Society of Milwaukee is here to make sure they don’t have to give up their religious identity.
“Despite the weather, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, is a great place to be and we’ve been here,” Atta said. “We’ve established our organization, and it has been here for 40 years now. It’s telling them, we been around here for a long time.”
Atta also reminded that in Milwaukee, they are not only a part of a Muslim community. He said they are also part of a much larger community as well, and that everyone is ready to welcome them here.