‘Overwhelming’: Utahns get a chance to walk through a day in the life of a refugee

By Sydnee Gonzalez

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    LEHI, Utah (KSL) — Have you ever navigated a completely unfamiliar housing system that won’t rent to you because you lack the right documents? Or had to write your name in a foreign alphabet using instructions in a foreign language? What about adapting to a new set of cultural norms around food, money and safety?

These were a few of the tasks participants experienced at Utah Valley Refugees’ “Day in the Life of a Refugee” event Friday. The nonprofit aimed to educate community members on what coming to the U.S. is like as a refugee and some of the typical difficulties refugees face.

“It was overwhelming at the beginning. You come to a place that you don’t know anything about and you don’t know anybody,” said Carlos Reyes, who attended the event with his wife and three kids. “It was really humbling to see that it’s really hard to start a new life in another place. It was an example of what if would be like in real life. They’re asking for things you don’t even have.”

Lindon residents David and Mary Ann Hatch said the experience opened their eyes and motivated them to be more proactive about helping refugees in the state.

“I took the role of a person who is actually going through it and I could feel some angst. With some of those things, I was thinking I would get more help than I got. Basically, they said, ‘You’re going to need legal help and we can’t help you,'” David Hatch said. “Even though you want to protect your country at the same time, you have a heart for the people who are coming here and you want to help. And you have no idea what an average citizen can do to help, so it’s good to have these things to inform us.”

Rachel Tingey, a BYU student and community outreach intern with the nonprofit, helped organize the event. She said although she’s been pleasantly surprised how supportive people generally are of refugees in Utah, she also sees some recurring common misconceptions. She said many people, for example, think refugees only live in Salt Lake County, or they don’t understand the term “refugee” is a legal immigration status that allows individuals to legally live and work in the country.

“What we really need is a workshop for the community to teach them how to be a better community for refugees, how to be more kind and accepting,” Tingey said.

That knowledge gap was part of the reason Utah Valley Refugees Executive Director Leonard Bagalwa founded the nonprofit in the first place. Bagalwa, who came to Utah as a refugee from the Democratic Republic of Congo in 2004, knew, firsthand, the difficulties refugees face in adapting to life in the U.S.

“I kind of found out that the most need was more educational, not just giving things,” he said. “I’m not talking about just refugees having to get educated or anything; it’s more about integration and the local community understanding how hard it is for a refugee to come here who doesn’t speak English … they have to start from scratch.”

Valerie and Sam Lee also attended the event and had previous experience volunteering with refugee services. The couple encourages Utahns to reach out to refugees in their communities and to contact nonprofits that assist refugees.

“To truly feel a part of the community, people need friends, they need to feel like they know people … and they can count on people when they have problems that they can turn to,” Sam Lee said. “We’ve been involved in refugee services in Salt Lake and mentoring families — one from Afghanistan, one from the Democratic Republic of the Congo — and they’ve just become our great friends. They’re family to us.”

Utah Valley Refugees hopes to hold more community education events in the future, including making the “Day in the Life of a Refugee” event an annual tradition. More information about the nonprofit, including its upcoming Run for Refugees, is available on its website and Instagram page.

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