UNAR Inspires Global Service
Daniel Douangratdy, 28, grew up in Rochester and graduated from Brighton High School in 2011 and St. John Fisher College in 2015. He started out in Mary’s Place Refugee Outreach for a college internship and then assisted Margaret Corbin of the UNAR board as her executive assistant for a year and a half or so following graduation from Fisher.
Bearing witness: I instructed refugees in English lessons, informed individuals about social services, citizenship exams, and how to obtain drivers licenses. On Saturdays, I assisted with care taking younger children including assisting with homework and recreational activities.
The time I was at Mary’s Place, it was extremely rewarding to welcome our new guests to the US and Rochester. It hurt to hear the context in which they had to flee home, but it was incredible to witness the work they were putting in to understand this new world they were entering. Not only for themselves, but for their other family members and children.
It’s always tough to learn a new language and/or culture in a classroom context, but the least my fellow volunteers and I could offer is an environment free of judgment.
A family connection: The internship allowed me to really develop a deeper understanding of my parents’ journey from refugee camps in Thailand to becoming US citizens. Neither of them had advanced past high school, and both of them arrived with a few dollars in their pockets – which was a similar storyline that was shared amongst the men, women, and children that we were supporting.
Reaching out: My time as an executive assistant to Margaret included a lot of community outreach in which we were working with several different organizations and nonprofits in addition to Mary’s Place.
There has been such a constant need for support for refugees and immigrants coming to the US and the supply for support has always been trying to play catch-up. It was particularly tough when there was a request for more of our interns, but there was simply not enough assistance to go around.
On to the Peace Corps: The internships particularly inspired me to continue my commitment to giving back to Rochester as much as I could while at Fisher. This eventually led me down the path of international service as I served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Panama from 2017-2019 in the Teaching English, Leadership, and Life Skills (TELLS) sector.
I assisted a rural technical middle school/high school in English language development as well as curriculum development with two teachers that consisted of the English department. My secondary projects included supporting fellow volunteers in sexual health workshops, environmental community cleanups, and leadership camps.
Supporting others: I am currently working in the Office of Health Services (OHS) at Peace Corps Headquarters in Washington, DC as the Medevac Program Specialist.
My primary functions are to provide support to medically evacuated Peace Corps volunteers either for physical or mental health reasons from around our 60+ Posts in the world.
The agency evacuated around 7,000 volunteers in March of 2020 due to the pandemic, and we are now focused on the return of volunteers to the field today. I am also assuming the role of OHS Re-Entry Coordinator and support cross-office communication and coordination as it relates to Post re-entry.
