Providence Alaska’s training opens doors for refugees

By LISA EISENHAUER

When Suliman Abdalla came to Alaska in 2013 from Lebanon, where he’d taken refuge from the strife in his homeland of Sudan in Northeast Africa, he was alone, didn’t speak English and had no means to support himself in America.

Abdalla had accepted an opportunity to restart his life in Alaska through Catholic Social Services. The organization oversees refugee resettlement across Alaska. It has helped hundreds of people fleeing war, persecution and other misery around the globe get their bearings in America’s northernmost state through its Refugee Assistance & Immigration Services program.

Abdalla got job training as part of the program at Providence Alaska Medical Center. The training led to a permanent position on the hospital’s environmental services staff. Except for two trips back to Sudan that each took him away from Alaska for a few months, Abdalla has stayed with the job ever since. For each trip he resigned and was later rehired. One of his trips to

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