On this week’s episode, hosts Mimi and Kim meet with Pauline Hassan Burkey to discuss her journey towards belonging as an immigrant to the United States. As a small child she, her mother, and her baby brother made the journey from a Kenyan refugee camp to San Diego, California, where she first learned to relate to the various cultures in which she was immersed. She also reflects on her mother breaking the Sudanese cultural codes around a woman’s place. Despite criticism from the women in her community, she served as an advocate and community organizer for her refugee community in San Diego, often the only woman serving among all men. Her mother modeled for Pauline how women can be whomever they are meant to be. 

Bio: Pauline is the daughter of South-Sudanese refugees who resettled in the United States in 1994. She grew up in City Heights, a densely populated and vibrant community of immigrants and refugees in East San Diego. She studied Interpersonal and Organizational Communications and Journalism at Azusa Pacific University. She’s worked with refugee and immigrant communities, then moved to fund programs across sub-Saharan Africa. In 2016, she and her husband moved to Rwanda to continue working in international development. She is back in the United States and works as a program manager for PICO California, the largest multi-faith community organizing non-profit in California. Pauline married her college sweetheart Kenny. They currently live in Sacramento and recently welcomed their first child. 

Other Reading:  

Which Women Matter to God by Jill Lin https://www.cbeinternational.org/resource/article/mutuality-blog-magazine/which-women-matter-god 

Advocating for Equality Among the Marginalized by Nell Green 

https://www.cbeinternational.org/resource/audio/advocating-equality-among-marginalized