The Work of the Organization
Naturally, one of the major problems encountered by Angolans living in the UK is the language barrier. Whether Portuguese speakers or members of the francophone Communities of northern Angola, very few Angolans have an easy familiarity with the English language. As Angolans will inevitably need to communicate in English in order to access the range of services and support facilities that already exist, we have felt it necessary to establish a translating and interpreting service for the benefit of Angolans in need and very importantly, for the benefit of those who need to communicate with non-English speaking Angolans. We can offer an exhaustive list of persons, but we regularly deal with people such as private landlords, local authority landlords, the DSS, the immigration service, hospitals, G.P.s, schools and colleges, council tax offices, the police, employers and utility service providers in their dealings with Angolans.
As mentioned, a number of Angolans in the UK are fleeing persecution or the effects of war. These people require advice and assistance with the multiplicity of problems as well as support and counseling. The Angolan Community in London tries to be at the forefront in providing refugee arrival support. Jointly with local authorities, the Immigration Service and solicitors, we try to ensure Angolan asylum seekers are given access to housing, benefits, health services, legal advice, education and training and employment. Our volunteers also offer support to people attending a range of interviews connected with the above. There are also a number of Angolans who find themselves detained by the Immigration Service on arrival or as a result of transgressions committed whilst in the UK and we provide a regular detention centre visiting service for such persons, many of whom have no other persons know in the UK.
Some Angolans in the UK arrive with children or give birth to them here. We find this group also encounter many problems, principally with access to education and health services. The Angolan Community in London gives advice and assistance on the availability of health and education services, and we also run supplementary education classes for about 80 Angolan children under 16 years of age from our migrant and refugee centre offices. In this, our volunteers are paramount as it is their diverse knowledge and skills that are being imparted to the younger generation. We are particularly concerned with trying to develop this aspect of our activities as we believe the integration of young Angolans will be vital to any long term assimilation of Angolans into the UK culture.