National Mentor Month: How Burma Family Focus advocate Pray Meh met her RISE AmeriCorps mentor

RISE AmeriCorps member Pray Meh representing EMBARC at the 2021 CelebrAsian Festival in Des Moines. Photo by Kate Hayden/EMBARC

Mentorship proves crucial in many of our lives. This National Mentoring Month, meet Pray Meh, a RISE AmeriCorps member serving Burma Family Focus at EMBARC. 

Pray met her mentor, Dr. Patricia Singer, through a member support coordinator at RISE AmeriCorps, as part of the program’s guidance for members in Iowa. 

Pray immigrated to the United States in 2010. She joined RISE AmeriCorps in October 2021 to support her Karenni immigrant community, serving at EMBARC as an Adult WorkReady and Education Navigator for Burma Family Focus. She teaches IT classes and helps unemployed and underemployed refugees find work in Iowa.

Soon after joining RISE, Pray was paired with Patricia, a retired professor of biology at Simpson College.

At first, Pray asked Patricia to help her with a RISE assignment, developing program documents for EMBARC’s IT Navigator program. Patricia said “The first three or so meetings we talked and I edited some of her writing. That’s how I got to know what Pray is doing at EMBARC.”

Soon, they moved on to develop broader life skills. “Our relationship is very enriching,” Pray said. “Patricia explains to me many different concepts that are very important for me to know, like how to go into what you want to work with, like healthcare or dental assistance.”

Patricia found classes for Pray and forged connections so Pray could find work in her chosen field—healthcare—after leaving RISE AmeriCorps. Together, the two considered career options and the next steps she needs after completing her RISE term.

“[Pray] decided what she really wants to do is work at the reception desk with a clinic or a dental office. So I took a look around to see what kind of jobs are available, like through Mercy One, to maybe line her up with someone who is a receptionist to learn what kind of skills she’d need,” Patricia added.

One of the greatest benefits of their relationship is talking together, as Pray continues practicing English. 

“[Pray] is very good at defining what she wants,” Patricia said. “She’s less secure about her ability to communicate in spoken English. … Most of her day is spent speaking Karenni. So I can speak English to her, and that’s important. I discovered from Pray that she needs more English-speaking opportunities.”

Patricia’s commitment to supporting refugees extends over 20 years. Decades ago, she assisted three immigrant families settling from Bosnia in Iowa. As a professor at Simpson, she traveled each year studying global health. When she worked in Thailand, she frequently encountered immigrants from Burma.

“What I learned through all my years of studying global health is that refugees come from a horrendous background that we cannot see by looking at them, an unthinkable story behind the faces that we see,” Patricia said.

When she returned to Iowa and encountered EMBARC, she decided to support refugees through EMBARC however she could.

Pray joined RISE AmeriCorps to help her community, but she has also built her own skills as well. 

“There are so many experiences I learned about working at EMBARC, including communication skills, professional development skills, coping skills,” Pray said. “Serving with RISE has impacted me in many ways, but the most important is my personal growth and success and I am getting a lot of professional development training.”

RISE AmeriCorps continues to recruit mentors willing to work with RISE AmeriCorps members at EMBARC and other host sites statewide. If you are interested in working with a RISE member, learn more at refugeeriseiowa.org.