From Failure to Meaning & Refugee Empowerment

Senior Bonner Katia Iverson tells a story of finding unexpected meaning and lifted spirits one day, and of her commitment to refugee empowerment. Her insights are shared as her responses to the questions below. Katia is studying Cross-Cultural Studies and Spanish.


1. What placements have you had in Bonner? Describe a meaningful moment you had at one of them with another person or a group of people.

I have worked at VOA SALT charter high school as a classroom assistant, the East African Women’s Center in a number of roles (ELL teacher, childcare help, girls’ group program, farmer’s market/cooking), Redeemer Lutheran Church as a youth coordinator, Campus Kitchen and, currently, Minnesota Council of Churches Refugee Services.

I often think of one hot, summer day when Rachel Svanoe and I were working at Redeemer. We had a planned a big group field trip and were looking forward to touring Minneapolis and meeting successful business people, eating lunch, and learning more about the community. Well, the time to meet at the church passed, and it was only me and Rachel—no kids had come to join us as we sat anxiously waiting on the church steps. After another half hour of waiting, we began cancelling our meetings for the day and wondering what we had done wrong.

As we wandered up and down the sidewalk in front of the church, a young woman walked by flaunting a set of balloons. We stopped her and asked where they had come from, and she explained (beaming!) that she had just graduated from a job training program. She mentioned that she was happy, but very hungry. In that moment, Rachel suggested we all go out to lunch. So, with a small flexible budget, disappointments and successes to talk about, we all headed to the nearby café. The excitement in the woman was palpable as she ordered her lunch at the café counter, still clutching the herd of balloons. She later told us that she was pleased to be celebrating with us, as she was unsure who else she could share her joy with. It felt like we’d found a meaningful day despite a seemingly massive failure at the start.

 2. What social justice issue in the Cedar-Riverside area or one of your placement neighborhoods is most apparent to you? How have you been involved in helping create awareness of this issue and/or what have you learned about this issue through your time at Augsburg and/or at your Bonner placement?

 I am all about refugee empowerment. I find that some people are uncomfortable with using that word—“empowerment”—but that is always my goal when I meet new arrivals to the country. When I began interning at the East African Women’s Center fall of my sophomore year, I was exposed to stories I had never considered before. It was one of those moments where “you don’t know what you don’t know,” and I instantly felt I needed to bridge a huge gap in my understanding of the world. 

Now in my current placement, I mentor refugees as they practice public transportation and find that there are a whole new set of barriers and cultural idiosyncrasies to unpack. Here are families who have been uprooted from their lifelong homes, often leaving immediate family members behind and, in many cases, very much alone in a new environment. Yes—most refugees I meet are incredibly motivated and thankful for their opportunity to be in the United States, but the process of settling into a new, aggressive American culture is anything but straightforward. The gaps in literacy and understanding are great, and transitions are necessary on every level.  I have come to believe that it does not matter what  a person’s view on immigration is—we have new neighbors arriving in our communities every week, and it is our responsibility to make them comfortable and welcome.