• Home
  • About Us
    • Our Board
    • Our Team
    • Our Partners
    • Strategic Plan 2021-2023
  • Services
    • Mental Health Services
      • Survivors of Torture and War Trauma (CANA/Survivors)
      • Project Safe Space – Children’s Programming
      • STEPS to Better Health
    • Social Services
      • Case Management and Care Coordination
      • Case Management for Caregivers
      • Health Insurance Referral
    • Macklind International Senior Center
    • Naturalization Assistance
      • Immigration Services
    • Language Services
      • Interpretation
      • Written Translation
    • Advocacy and Education
  • Opportunities
    • Volunteer
    • Career opportunities
    • Practicum / Internship
  • In the Media
    • Newsletters
  • Events
  • Donate
  • Contact Us

Bilingual International Assistant Services

Providing Interpretation and Social Services in the St. Louis Are for over 12 years

Home > Featured > Language Services Director Victoria Barmak Elected as Missouri Delegate to Refugee Congress
Language Services Director Victoria Barmak Elected as Missouri Delegate to Refugee Congress

Language Services Director Victoria Barmak Elected as Missouri Delegate to Refugee Congress

November 13, 2020 By Jason Baker

Bilingual International Assistant Services is proud to announce Language Service Director Victoria Barmak’s election to the Refugee Congress, a national advocacy organization built and led by former refugees, asylum-seekers, and other vulnerable migrants to promote the well-being, integration, and dignity of all vulnerable migrants. Victoria has been involved with the RC for several years, and we are thrilled that she will be succeeding agency founder Julia Ostropolsky at that table as the organization grows.

Victoria came to the United States as a refugee from the Soviet Union in 1990. Her first memories in this country are a mix of stress and anxiety: a teenager, who had suddenly found herself in the role of her parents’ parent, she became her family’s sole link to the new society. With only limited English made, Victoria – like many other refugee youth –was thrust into the role of family advocate, a burdensome task that made her personal transition to her new life in St. Louis quite difficult. 

These challenges, however, trained her to navigate cultural misunderstandings and creatively problem-solve.  She prides herself on possessing the flexibility to navigate smoothly between cultures and being able to establish common ground with virtually anyone – skills that she attributes directly to her refugee experience.  For the past several years, Victoria has led the Language Services Department at Bilingual International, overseeing administrative staff and a pool of contracted professional interpreters and translators.  The position is integral to the agency’s multilingual service delivery model as well as the agency’s ability to bring in additional revenue to support critical programming.

Victoria’s motive for becoming a part of the Refugee Congress is quite personal. During the resettlement period, Victoria watched her father struggle to receive needed assistance due to his accent.  When her father, undeterred, stood up for himself and refused to be dismissed due to his language proficiency or accent, Victoria realized the power of self-advocacy for refugees and immigrants.  Lack of mastery of the English language does not imply a lack of intelligence or worth, something that recent arrivals to the US often fail to internalize.  Now, as Missouri’s delegate to the Refugee Congress, Victoria looks forward to working with other dedicated individuals to empower new immigrants, refuges, and asylum seekers by providing them with the information, resources, and support for them to assert the rights afforded to them in their new country as well as their right to basic human dignity and equal treatment.

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Print

Filed Under: Featured, Media, New Tagged With: advocacy, asylum seekers, Bilingual, Bilingual International, delegate, Immigrants, Interpretation, language services, Refugee Congress, refugees

A Voice for the Underserved Since 2002

Providing multilingual social, mental health, and educational support to over 3000 consumers annually

Contact Us

Give us a call. (314) 645-7800 x 200.
E-mail is great too: admin@bilingualstl.org

Contact

Support Our Work

Help us sustain services to immigrant and refugee populations in Missouri

Donate

Connect

  • Facebook
  • Google+
  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter

The Facebook News

Bilingual International Assistant Services

3 days ago

Bilingual International Assistant Services
Burundi is a small country that features mountains and plateaus that rise to 9,055 feet (2,760 meters) at Mount Heha, the highest point in the country. The Imbo valley and Rusizi River separate Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo on the northeastern side. On the western side is Lake Tanganyika, the second largest lake in eastern Africa. It is also the longest freshwater lake in the world (410 miles) and the second deepest lake in the world(4,710 feet). #WorldWednesday ...
View on Facebook
· Share

Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Linked In Share by Email

Bilingual International Assistant Services

3 days ago

Bilingual International Assistant Services
Our #WorldWednesday March feature is Burundi! Burundi is located in east-central Africa, south of the equator. The country is surrounded by Rwanda, Tanzania, Lake Tanganyika, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The capital city of Burundi is Bujumbura, which is located at the northeastern end of Lake Tanganyika (shown on the map). The city of Gitega is considered the “cultural capital” of the country since it has the national museum and several schools. Gitega is located near the southern source of the Nile River and the waterfall “Chutes de la Kagera”. ...
View on Facebook
· Share

Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Linked In Share by Email

Archives

Copyright © 2021 Bilingual International Assistant Services · Log in

Notice of Privacy Practices