Privilege and Giving Back

by Valerie Thompson, CVT volunteer

Lisa Matos of HealthRight International is privileged and she will tell you so. She will also tell you that it is this sense of being fortunate that drives her to work for others.

[[{“type”:”media”,”view_mode”:”media_original”,”fid”:”1124″,”attributes”:{“alt”:”Lisa Matos, HealthRight International”,”class”:”media-image media-image-left”,”height”:”392″,”style”:”width: 200px; height: 272px; float: left; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px;”,”typeof”:”foaf:Image”,”width”:”288″}}]]“I was a privileged immigrant,” she says, and as such, she wanted to help those whose circumstances were difficult and complicated.  She began volunteering with immigrants and survivors of torture.

Matos studied International Human Rights and International Relations in her hometown at the University of Coimbra, Portugal. She came to the United States on a scholarship and two years later graduated from Long Island University with an MA in Political Science.

“I took a job with the Human Rights Clinic,” says Matos. “When I started, I didn’t know much about the complexities of working with torture survivors. It was a grant-funded position, the salary was low. I thought I would be there three months and I would move on. But the work kept drawing me in…and the population…and the cause. Survivors in the asylum process have no access to health care resources.”

“The beauty (of this work) is in seeing someone gaining confidence, growing…you can see it in their eyes.” She cites a recent client for whom her organization provided services and who has since moved on. “He comes back to visit” she says. “He told me ‘now I can go home at night and I don’t cry.’ That is very, very powerful.”

HealthRight International is a health and human rights organization working with partners all over the world to ensure access to healthcare to excluded communities. In the United States, HealthRight provides forensic clinical services and specialized case management services to survivors of torture across the country.  In 2011 Matos became Program Director of HealthRight’s torture treatment program, the Human Rights Clinic.

“My team is wonderful. Our volunteers are inspiring and committed. You can tell that they truly care—that they are passionate. The work just becomes part of you.” [[{“type”:”media”,”view_mode”:”media_original”,”fid”:”1125″,”attributes”:{“alt”:””,”class”:”media-image media-image-right”,”height”:”357″,”style”:”width: 200px; height: 248px; float: right; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px;”,”typeof”:”foaf:Image”,”width”:”288″}}]]

The low point of her work, she says, is the constant struggle to get funding for immigrants and survivors of torture. And then there are those days when the clients and their paths of unthinkable suffering really get to you. “When I want to give up, I take a step back, think back on my life. I take a mental health day. I cry, eat ice cream, go to the gym…whatever it takes because the next day, the work still needs to be done.”

 Just as she was drawn to her work with immigrants, after 12 years in New York City, she is drawn to return to her hometown of Coimbra to be near her family and give back to her community. She hopes to bring the knowledge and experience she acquired to form partnerships and build a program in Portugal to continue assisting immigrants and survivors. “I’ve noted a lot of interest,” she adds, but the infrastructure is not there yet.

In the United States “we are a community of organizations. Many of our colleagues across the country have been doing this work for decades, and are inspiring, giving individuals. We draw a lot of strength and support from each other.”

Matos continues to work for HealthRight International, although remotely from Coimbra. She is working to bring the proficiency she gained in the United States to those in need in Portugal.
She will definitely bring her passion.