Industry: Security
Current Position: Security Officer
Sengsourine has worked for DPI Security in Portland, Oregon, as a security officer since March 2005, but his story began thousands of miles away.
Sengsourine’s journey began across the Pacific Ocean in Laos. He was a police officer and then a military officer for the Laotian government. At the time, the United States government was helping the Laotian government to strengthen their military. The US government sent Sengsourine to Fort Belvoir outside of Washington, DC, to learn English on two different occasions.
When Sengsourine returned to Laos, political unrest had begun and the communist regime grew. They didn’t like the fact that Sengsourine had been working with the U.S. government, so Laos quickly became unsafe for him and his family. Sengsourine remembers being told he had to flee that night or he would risk he and his family’s life. He fled across the river in a wooden boat to Thailand, where he and his family lived in a refugee camp. When asked where he would like to move to, he happily requested America.
Catholic Charities sponsored Sengsourine’s family in Portland, and he initially worked for Catholic Charities as a translator for refugees. When there was no longer a need for translators, Sengsourine came to DePaul looking for work. He was hired as a security officer, working in different locations around the Portland metro area. His most recent assignment, at the Department of Human Services, has been his favorite because he gets to see children all the time.
He said, “I love working with the kids. It makes me so happy!” When asked if he was still happy to be in America after all these years, he laughed so hard and said, “Why, yes! I love America! I am 100% happy and am so thankful that I came here with my family.”
