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Vesna Vila: Former pediatrician now helps refugees heal from trauma
Vesna Vila.
Photo: Carol Fouke-Mpoyo
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She came to the United States as a refugee herself. Now the head of a Church World Service resettlement affiliate, Vesna Vila is helping other refugees build new lives in their new community.
Vesna is one of six former refugees who now head CWS refugee resettlement offices in Fort Worth, Texas; Columbia, South Carolina; Portland, Oregon; Harrisonburg, Virginia; Lincoln, Nebraska, and Denver, Colorado. Here is her profile.
Vesna Vila, Program Manager
Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon
Sponsors Organized to Assist Refugees Portland, Oregon
Nationality: Yugoslavian, then Bosnian.
Education/profession in Bosnia: Medical doctor, specializing in pediatrics. "My last job was in a neonatology clinic in Sarajevo."
Refugee story: "When the war began in former Yugoslavia in 1992, it was sudden. Even though we knew something was going on, the shooting and shelling caught us by surprise. I was able to escape on the last train with my parents, my daughter, and two nephews. After 15 or 16 days in the real war, we went to Croatia -- not so far away, but safe. I couldn't work in Croatia, could not go back to Bosnia. I applied for the U.S. Refugee Program and was approved."
Arrived in the United States: July 27, 1993, "on the second plane out with my daughter, 3, to Fargo, North Dakota. My husband joined us eight months later, with our two nephews."
Sponsor: Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service, through Lutheran Social Services (LSS) and the Episcopal Diocese of North Dakota.
Congregational cosponsor: "None, but we got a lot of help from volunteers. Gloria Wrigley from Olivet Lutheran Church was helping arriving families. As one of the first two Bosnian families who came, I helped her with interpretation. So she helped me, too. We became friends, and are still in contact."
First big surprise: "Waking up one mid-October day and the snow was almost coming in the window. And it didn't go away until May. Even coming from a country where it snows, that was a huge surprise."
Most challenging: "The climate, learning you should not go outside because you'll be frozen. Later when we had a car we had to plug it in to be able to start it in the winter. I told myself, 'I escaped war, I will escape this cold.' Then in summer, there were big mosquitoes; you can't go outside unprotected."
What you still laugh about: "In school, we had learned British English. Even though I spoke the language, many American phrases were challenging. For example, an American-born neighbor told me she had been 'in the dog house' the night before. Imagine my face, picturing her in the dog house. I realized after five minutes that I probably didn't understand. So she wrote down some phrases for me. The first ones I learned were 'dog house' and 'couch potato.'"
First U.S. jobs: Interpreter for LSS, the Fargo welfare office, and in court. Translated an LSS handbook for parents. "All part-time, as my daughter was small."
Jobs with Sponsors Organizing to Assist Refugees (SOAR): "We moved to Portland in November 1995. A distant friend, a gynecologist, lived here. I started working as a SOAR case manager in 1996, becoming director after 9/11."
Languages: English, Serbo-Croatian; understand Russian.
Countries visited: Almost all European countries except Albania and Ireland; Russia, Morocco, Algeria, Tunis, Brazil, Uruguay, Argentina, Panama, Mexico, Hong Kong, Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam.
Countries most want to visit next: Australia, New Zealand, countries in sub-Saharan Africa.
Family information: "My brother, sister-in-law, and – after my mom died – my father came one by one to Fargo and later relocated to Kentucky. My dad spends three to four months a year with us."
Heroes: "Definitely my parents. They survived World War II when they were young, then a second war when they retired. The war was a really hard time for us but they kept a positive attitude. Now I appreciate more the love, protection, and instruction they gave my brother and me. They sent us for good education. We had a great childhood. We’ve had a great life. Even now, my father, who is 86 and sick, has a positive attitude. How hard it must be for him to live without my mom and become very old in this country."
Favorite book: The Mallow-Coloured Garden by Branko Copic.
Favorite movie: Saturday Night Fever. "I was young and living in London when it came out. It reminds me of the good life before I became a refugee."
Favorite music: Indexi, a Sarajevo group.
Interests outside of work: Travel, being with friends, including connections with the American Filipino community.
Why should the United States welcome refugees? "We should not forget that we are a nation of refugees and immigrants."
Why do you help other refugees? "I love helping people and nothing will change that. As a doctor, I was working to help sick people. Now I help people coming to this country heal from trauma and culture shock. It's not an illness, but you need to heal it, just without medication."
What is your counsel to a newly arrived refugee? "Adjustment to a new culture is a slow process. Be patient. Learn the language. Get a job. When you become self-sufficient, you will start to build your life step by step. That's what I learned from my own experience. It is not going to be overnight. Put your past on hold and start to build your future. Your family is counting on you. You have the power to start again. And you are not alone."
Fifth in a series of articles profiling former refugees who now head CWS resettlement affiliates.
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