I received my first phone call at work this morning, and I could not be more excited. I know that receiving phone calls at work is a regular occurrence for the majority of working individuals. I have experienced a time or two at different jobs myself. This phone call, however, is close to my heart because it was the first call I received during my summer internship at the Center for Survivors of Torture... and it was from a client.

The Center for Survivors of Torture (CST) in Dallas is one of two offices in the state that provides services specifically for persons who have experienced torture in their countries of origin and are seeking asylum in the United States. We have clients from 37 different countries. In my first week at CST I had the opportunity to meet people from Egypt, Kenya, Zimbabwe, Pakistan, Ethiopia, and Cuba.

One of the volunteers referred to my first week at CST as a "trial by fire." I thinks she was trying to help me laugh off how intensely overwhelming my first week of work had been. Apparently, the majority of interns do not see as much action as I did starting out. I left each day with my head spinning with all that I had learned. Applying for asylum in the United States is a difficult, long, and strenuous legal process. For survivors of torture it is complicated by language and cultural barriers, fear of being deported, and trauma-related disorders like Posttraumatic Stress Disorder.

Imagine what it would be like to go through a trauma, flee your home country, and arrive in the United States hoping that someone would believe your story and offer you protection. It is a situation far away from most of our realities. I am grateful for the safety I experience as a U.S. citizen and frustrated for my clients who are jumping the hurdles of applying for asylum.

Last week I accompanied one of our clients to her merit hearing. The merit hearing is part of the process of seeking asylum that clients go through if their immediate request has been denied. They go with legal representation before a judge and request asylum. In this particular client's case, asylum was not possible. She was offered what is called Withholding of Removal, which means that she was ordered to be removed to her country of origin, but the order is to be withheld indefinitely. Withholding is a legal status. She can work, buy as house and stay in the United States. Most importantly, she can never return to the country where she was tortured. She is safe now.

This same client is the one who called me this morning. She wanted to thank me for being present at her hearing to support her. There is a lump on my throat as I write this. How am I deserving of thanks? All I did was show up. She was the one who battled, who survived, and who has not lost faith in the system that is making her jump through hoops. She is the one who shared her story with me. She is the one who has shown me the true meaning of the human spirit and the will to live. It is she who deserves thanks.

Kelly Rand is a member of the Student Ecumenical Partnership (STEP) Leadership Team and is a member of St. Andrew Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Olathe, Kansas.