Catholic Charities to Highlight Refugee Essential Workers For World Refugee Day on June 20

Catholic Charities will highlight refugee essential workers in our community leading up to World Refugee Day on June 20!

Through Immigration and Refugee Services, we will cover clients that have been working as eseential workers through COVID-19.  

For Thursday, June 18, we highlight Dauda Sesay! 

Dauda Sesay fled the civil war in Sierra Leone to The Gambia, where he lived in a refugee camp for 9 years before resettling to the U.S. with his wife and daughter.  “I had always dreamed of working in the medical field, but when I arrived in the U.S. my first job was as a dishwasher.  It is tough for someone like me as I barely spoke English, and I had to learn how to communicate.  You have to go through the system like any other American, and I had to adapt.  Now I work as a Technician with Dow Chemical Company.  I work 7 days a week, but this work means a lot to me, as the things we make are used in the health industry to make hand sanitizer and plastics for PPE, as well as in homes, schools, and industry.  What we are producing saves lives, and the nation needs us.”

World Refugee Day 2020 Dauda Sesay

For Wednesday, June 17, we highlight Refugee Doctors who want to join the fight against COVID-19! 

During the COVID-19 pandemic, refugee doctors and essential workers want to join the fight! 

Trained medics working as cashiers and wait staff want their qualifications recognized so they can save lives in the pandemic.

Read more about Refugee Doctors here.  

For Monday, June 15, we highlight Beatriz García!

Beatriz García fled persecution in Venezuela two years ago, where she worked in special education helping children with autism and other special needs. “When you arrive as a refugee or asylee, you come with the knowledge that life is precious and everything is a gift. It doesn’t matter what you end up doing for work. I was ready to work in any field… A cousin of mine connected me to work at Ideal Market as a food server, and after six months I was promoted to work in office administration. When the coronavirus hit it was really hard because I felt once again like I might lose my life. But I knew some places needed to be open, and supermarkets were part of that – workers would need to face that invisible fear. I decided to continue to work and serve people in my community, and I am so happy to help people when they most need it. I’ve just finished my certification in Special Education here in the U.S. and I’m waiting on my opportunity to work in that field again. As a mother of a child with special needs myself, it is an issue I understand.”

Beatriz Garcia World Refugee Day 2020