When Faten Rashid came to the United States from war-torn Iraq in May 2009, everything was strange to her. She worried for her husband and their three children.

“We are Iraqi, we are Muslim, so I was afraid because we would not be accepted,” she said.

But, she was accepted and has felt welcomed since she arrived. Rashid’s children are doing well in school and she now has a job working in employment services for Sea Tac Airport, and her husband works as a security officer.

“I was so afraid, but now it’s better because I think I’m doing good, [I am] working,” Rashid said.

She is eager to educate the American public about her journey and the plight of the Iraqi friends and family she left behind in a cultural orientation  that will be part of the festivities planned for World Refuge Day 2011.

There will be a series of free, one-hour cultural orientations organized by the King County Library System and the Refugee and Immigrant Children’s Program at Lutheran Community Services Northwest in collaboration with the Language Bank of the American Red Cross, the Coalition for Refugees from Burma, Jewish Family Services and Seattle Public Schools.

In Renton, Rashid will give her free presentation on Saturday, along with another presenter Mohamed Roble from Somalia, who appears later that day. The 10th anniversary of World Refugee Day is June 20.

According to organizers more than 400,000 King County residents over the age of five, or 23 percent of the population, speak a language other than English at home.

And between October 2010 and February 2011, 966 refugees arrived in the state, according to the State Department, Worldwide Refugee Processing System. Of those, the most numbers came from Burma, Bhutan and Iraq.

Rashid wants other refugees to know the transition is not easy but success is attainable.

“It’s not easy, you have to work at it,” she said. “You have to work on yourself to be involved in the community, to learn more about the American community in order to live with them.”

Rashid said her success is also due to the fact that she trusts herself and her family encourages one another, which helps them meet daily challenges.

Understanding the new environment, being patient and involved in the community by trying to communicate are all things she said made the difference in her becoming acclimated to America.

Rashid had the support of her family when she came over, but some young refugees come alone.

According to a representative from Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Services, there are more than 600 unaccompanied refugee minors in foster care programs nationwide. Of that number, 55 live in culturally sensitive foster homes in King and Snohomish counties

through the local Refugee and Immigrant Children’s Program of Lutheran Community Services Northwest.The United States is the only country in the world responsible for resettling unaccompanied refugee minors, said Erika Berg, community outreach coordinator with the Refugee and Immigrant Children’s Program at LCSNW.

On Monday, June 13, Renton Mayor Denis Law signed the World Refugee Day Proclamation.

For more about refugee children, visit www.refugeechildren.net or contact Erika Berg, at eberg@lcsnw.org or call 206.694.5780.

WORLD REFUGEE DAY EVENTS

WHAT: In honor of World Refugee Day 2011 there will be cultural orientations in Renton.

WHEN: 11 a.m. – noon, Saturday, June 18, Faten Rashid (Iraq) and 2 p.m.-3 p.m., June 18, Mohamed Roble (Somalia)

WHERE: Renton Library, 100 Mill Ave. S., Renton

MORE INFO: visit the Refugee and Immigrant Children’s Program on Facebook.

“MOVING TO MARS” SCREENING

WHAT: Exiled Voices for Justice and Seattle Central Library will co-host a free documentary screening, panel discussion and advocacy fair.

WHEN: 2 p.m.-5 p.m., Sunday, June 19

WHERE: Microsoft Auditorium at Seattle Central Library, 1000 Fourth Ave., Seattle

MORE INFO: visit www.exiledvoicesforjustice.org