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01/26/2022 07:30 AMWhether in Iran, Australia, or Madison, Farida Ahangari has made a difference wherever she and her family have lived. This Madison resident and citizen of the world continues to serve the community not only by her work as a medical researcher and professor, but as a lead volunteer for Saints on the Shoreline (SOS), a non-profit that assists refugees.
Farida came to Madison by a circuitous route that started in Iran, where she was born.
“I was born and raised in Iran and ever since I was seven years old always my passion was medicine. I was crazy about finding out questions about the body and about biology,” Farida says. “When I graduated from medical school in Iran, because of the political situation and the many things going on there and because I really wanted to learn more, I worked for a few years as a physician and then I left Iran in 1998 and went to Australia.”
The options open to her in Australia allowed her to shift focus.
“I did my research training there and when I started doing research I was so involved, and I really loved doing research. I decided that my main focus was going to be science,” she says. “So instead of going to see a patient, I wanted to find out how the mechanism of a disease works and prevent that...to start with.”
After coming to America, Farida took several years off to raise her two young children, and then decided to go back to work again.
“We came to Connecticut mostly because of Yale. So, I applied for a position for a post-doctorate there and immediately was accepted so I started there at Yale working in the post-doc and did a couple of years there as that, and now I am a staff professor in Pulmonary Department at Yale,” she says.
Though she works hard at the Yale School of Medicine doing research on pulmonary fibrosis and finding a therapy for this disease and raising her two children, Farida still somehow found time to volunteer as well.
Farida first became involved in refugee resettlement issues when she was asked by SOS to assist with interpretation work with an Afghan family that was being resettled in 2018.
“It was a little by chance that I got involved. I found out they needed an interpreter for some of the families they were sponsoring, so that’s how I got involved,” Farida says.
Farida says her native tongue and the language spoken by much of Afghanistan are similar and she is able to negotiate the dialects. These skills made her invaluable to SOS in translating for families and easing the complicated and confusing problems of culture that all refugees face.
“The language that I speak, Farsi, is very similar to the language of Afghanistan, Dari. They are similar enough to understand that I can communicate. So, they reached out to me as a translator and I was happy to help,” Farida says. “Then I started that in 2018 and I saw and met with a family from Afghanistan. They were so impressed with the enthusiasm of the other volunteers and the organization.”
Her fellow volunteers’ dedication inspired her to get more involved.
I was from that region, so in my mind I had some responsibility to help out. But I was so impressed that there were so many Americans that were willing to help. They were so enthusiastic and so dedicated, and that was touching, so I began to help as an interpreter and anything else I could do,” she says.
St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church in Madison, the North Guilford Congregational Church, the Methodist Church of Clinton, Holy Advent Episcopal Church in Clinton, and the Church of Latter-Day Saints in Madison have all contributed money, time, and effort to ensure that at least one more family can find some peace and relief here on our shoreline. SOS also works in conjunction with New Haven-based Integrated Refugee & Immigrant Services (IRIS), which since the 1980s has been assisting refugee families in their transition to a new life in Connecticut.
According to Farida, after that Afghan family made its transition successfully, in 2019 the group’s efforts began to wane. However, when U.S. forces began their withdrawal last year, the need for resettlement volunteers was ramped up again, says Farida.
The current family that SOS hopes to integrate into shoreline life should be arriving in a few weeks, says Farida. They will live in temporary housing and then move into a more permanent residence that they can afford on their own. The program is working so well that Farida says another Afghan family will be arriving soon as well, and more help is needed.
“Whoever is willing to volunteer for us, we greatly appreciate it,” Farida says. “Any kind of profession—teacher, lawyer, driver, doctors, nurses, even child care—we need everything. We would be happy to accept anyone.”
She says SOS is set up to be very volunteer-friendly.
“We train them, do a background check, and then get them to help, even if people have just a few hours a week,” she says. “We also do not want volunteers to get overwhelmed with lots of work. We divide our work…and we distribute it out so no one is overwhelmed. We understand that people are busy, they have jobs and children and a busy schedule, so we will take anyone who is willing.”
Farida says SOS assists with every aspect of integration, as the process can be overwhelming for someone who doesn’t speak the language and doesn’t have experience with the culture. In past efforts, they normally have refugee families self-supporting themselves within just three to six months, according to Farida.
“They need to learn everything—public transport, how to do grocery shopping, everything is so new to a family. So we just coach them. But we are very optimistic about this because we have so many dedicated people who are willing to do anything,” she says. “They are so great and work so hard.”
Whether by donation of money or time, SOS needs volunteers to assist in the integration process that will allow these families to transition into shoreline life.
Farida says just imagine how difficult it would be for you to uproot your family, escape to a foreign country, and try to survive without any language, cultural, or employment skills. That scenario is exactly how every resettled refugee feels when they step onto foreign soil, says Farida.
“I thought to myself. ‘If I don’t do it, who will?’ So I stepped up and accepted the responsibility,” she says. “In my personal view, I do not see any borders in this world. So, I feel that whoever needs help anywhere in the world we have to help. It doesn’t matter where we live or where we are from.
“The people of Afghanistan are living in a horrible situation right now. Financially, security—everything is terrible there now,” says Farida. “I believe here we believe in peace, and if we can put ourselves just for one minute in their shoes, we make a difference. Just imagine losing everything-most come with just the clothes they wear. This is something that is the responsibility of all human beings, just to give them a little peace and little comfort.”
Farida says that the core subcommittees most in need of volunteers are housing, education (English language teaching and child care), transportation (drivers), employment, health, legal, and fundraising.
For more information, visit the SOS FaceBook page saintsontheshoreline. For volunteer information, can email Farida directly at fahangari@yahoo.com.