Jabie Aljarawi arrived in Phoenix from Iraq in 1993, two years after the Gulf War ended. His first challenge was bridging the cultural gap between his life in Iraq and his new home in Phoenix. A large hurdle was skepticism from his neighbors.

"It took a lot of time to explain to them why we are here," Aljarawi said.

The U.S. invasion of Iraq led to a new wave of Iraqi refugees. Since the mid-1980s, a little over 63,000 refugees have been resettled in Arizona, with the largest group coming from Iraq.

Aljarawi noticed many refugees were struggling, so he founded the Iraqi American Society for Peace and Friendship (now the Arizona AllNation Refugee Resource Center) to help refugees integrate into American society.

"We are here to teach them from our experience," Aljarawi said, "and show them how they can achieve success and a better life in this country."

A Place for Support and Community

The Center helps refugees navigate day-to-day challenges such as employment, education, and housing. On average, 10 to 15 refugees visit the center every day. Some have been in the country for only a few months, while others have lived in the U.S. for several years.

The women’s program is one of the Center’s most popular offerings. More than 80 percent of all refugees are women and children. Many of the women have lost their husbands in their home country’s political conflicts and they are hesitant to perform many tasks on their own.

"When you haven’t experienced something, it’s scary," said Lindsey Dompier, coordinator of the women’s program at the Iraqi American Society.

"We did a role play a while ago in a doctor’s office—what to expect, what’s appropriate, what’s not, things you need to talk to your doctor about, just the whole process," Dompier explained.

Therese Paetschow, the group’s executive director, said the goal is to help every refugee become self sufficient. In turn, those who benefited from the center’s support take time to share their knowledge with others.

This was the case for Neven Sharak, who fled Iraq with her son. They initially settled in Michigan, where she worked as an interpreter for the U.S. government.

She felt Michigan wasn’t the right environment for her son, so she decided to move to Phoenix after learning there was a large Iraqi population settled within the city.

Sharak said she is grateful for the considerable amount of assistance available to refugees. Soon, she began volunteering as an interpreter to give back for the support she received and the welcoming community the center introduced to her and her son.

"When I came here, I didn’t have anybody," Sharak said. "Just God and the government."

A Welcoming Celebration for All

World Refugee Day was established by the United Nations in 2000 as a day to honor refugees and displaced people. A recent report by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, which advocates for refugees and displaced people, found that over 88,000 refugees resettled in various countries in 2012. The U.S. accepted the highest number that year—just over 66,000.

On Thursday, Phoenix settlers from around the world gathered at the Center to celebrate World Refugee Day. They filled a storefront in the northwest section of the city to celebrate their diversity with food, music, stories, and art.

The theme for this year’s World Refugee Day was family.

"A lot of families are separated, and they are all going through the same hardship," said Dompier.

Omar Bader, board advisor for the Somali Association of Arizona, said this year’s World Refugee Day is a celebration of how much Phoenix’s refugee community has grown.

"Looking back at where we came from … what we’ve achieved so far, and what we could achieve in the future—it's totally limitless," he said.

Uniting through Sport

In addition to last week’s celebration, the local refugee group recently organized a successful youth soccer tournament. Several refugee groups, particularly those from Somalia and Bhutan, expressed interest in coming together, Paetschow said. She suggested a soccer tournament.

"We put the word out, and it spread," Paetschow said. "Tell one person, and they tell everybody."

During the tournament, Paetschow quietly observed the groups putting aside their differences for the day.

"It’s the only way things can work," she said.

Photos: Patrick Breen

This article was originally published in the Arizona Republic.