From Leesburg to Bataan – a Journey of Hope
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Steve Muncy
Steven earned a Bachelor of Social Work degree in 1979 at a state university in Virginia, then moved to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, where he discovered his vocation. There, he worked full-time as a social worker in a residential treatment center for youthful offenders, while going to graduate school in social work at Barry College, now University, in Miami.
It was 1979, and thousands of Vietnamese, Cambodians, and Laotians were fleeing armed conflict, persecution and repression, and making perilous trips across land and water to seek refuge in other countries, including the Philippines. Reading about the Indochina refugee crisis in the papers every day, Muncy had an epiphany: He felt he was being called to that region to work with the refugees.
“For some reason, the plight of the Cambodian people in particular grabbed hold of me. The situation was so profound that you had up to 1.8 million who were in trouble, and in fact died, owing to genocide committed by their own people,” he narrates.
Encouraged by his Baptist pastor, the 23-year-old signed up for a two-year overseas volunteer work with his congregation’s social ministry program (akin to the Peace Corps), “which came with a modest stipend, free airfare and accommodation, and booked a flight to the Philippines, which was then offering asylum to the ‘boat people.’” Muncy had two choices, but he picked the Philippines over Thailand because of its interesting “dilemma”— it was accepting refugees, yet at the same time persecuting its own people under martial law.
A Brand New Start
“I left for the Philippines, arrived in Manila in August 1980, and headed to Morong in the province of Bataan. Muncyfound himself at the Philippine Refugee Center, the final stop for 400,000 Vietnamese, Cambodians, and Laotians until they were resettled in countries such as the United States, Canada, and Norway. He came face to face with Vietnamese women who had been raped by pirates and abandoned by their husbands, and Cambodians and Laotians traumatized by the horrors of genocide and political persecution.
There were light moments at the start. “Every time I would take a walk for whatever purpose, people would ask ‘Hey Joe, where are you going?’ It took a while to realize that it was a greeting, not a question anyone expected me to answer. Being a six-footer, they would invariably conclude that I was a basketball player and note that I must have eaten a lot of Star margarine when I was growing up.” It also took him a while to learn that the product was advertised to make children grow tall!
Reality Sinks In
In Morong, he noticed that refugees exhibited symptoms of trauma and anxiety brought about by their experience of war and persecution. It was emotionally taxing to listen, more so to provide daily counseling and therapy to the hundreds of refugees, even for a trained social worker. Much needed to be done and there was no turning back.
The camp administrator, Gaudencio Tobias, a retired Filipino general, suggested that Muncy set up a nongovernmental organization, which he did. He set up Community Mental Health Services (CMHS) and tapped volunteers, including wives of full-time workers, a Filipino nun, and an Iranian social work intern to help provide psychosocial services for the refugees. Muncy tapped the Norwegian government to fund the NGO, through the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, for several years. That started a lifetime partnership with the UN agency.
“I believe that by investing our heart and our soul, over time we will demonstrate that we are indeed all members of the same family – humanity”
Expanding the Work
In 1989, the organization was renamed Community and Family Service International (CFSI), “committed to the lives, wellbeing and dignity of people uprooted by persecution, armed conflict, disasters and other exceptionally difficult circumstances in Asia.” CFSI was tasked by UNHCR to replicate its work in Vietnamese refugee camps in Hong Kong, and later expanded to ten Asian countries.
Muncy explains: “The CSFI-service style is you first need to talk to the people. You need to listen. We went to different evacuation centers and talked to the people who experienced firsthand conflict and displacement, and in so doing we heard of many people who felt so bad about the loss that they were distressed and angry.
“I have never met an intact Cambodian family. Every family lost someone to genocide. When you move from a place like that, all things you’ve been holding inside your head come to the fore, so people would get anxious and display evidence of trauma,” Muncy added.
The group also faced risks—it had lost some staff to violence, and one staff member was jailed on trumped-up charges but would later be pardoned by the head of state. CFSI persevered and in 40 years, it grew into a 400-strong organization.
CFSI has provided aid to refugees from 48 countries and territories but has worked longest in the Philippines, Myanmar, and Vietnam. “I undertook a mission for UNHCR that required travel to some of the most difficult duty stations in the world, in 13 countries in Africa, Asia, and Europe or ‘from A to Z’ as one of my colleagues used to say, meaning from Afghanistan to Zaire, now the Democratic Republic of Congo.”
Consulting with displaced Rohingyas in Rakhine State, Myanmar
The Mindanao Missions
After Islamic State-inspired militants laid siege on Marawi City in 2017 the organization, with the help of the Australian government, rolled out a recovery project to help 40,000 internally displaced people get jobs and provide psychosocial support for persons with disabilities. Together with the United Nations Children’s Fund, CFSI has helped the families of 900 former child soldiers transition to productive lives.
It also played a key role in a World Bank-led initiative to help in the socio-economic recovery of conflict-racked Mindanao as the government and Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) rebels negotiated a peace deal. The organization helped build water systems and health centers, as well as learning centers, to provide alternative education to students in MILF camps, benefiting more than 700,000 in 19 provinces.
Speaking at public school in Zamboanga City, Mindanao
We All Have a Role to Play
Speaking on the theme “Changing Asia” at the Asian Forum for Enterprise in Society, Muncy cited the need for durable or lasting solutions: “voluntary return home, local integration, or rarely, resettlement to a third country.” There are, however, some situations where the solutions don’t come quickly. Sometimes, for very long periods of time, forcibly displaced persons stay at refugee camps, IDP centers, transitory sites, and evacuation centers.
His call to action: “So what can we do, particularly the youth, to bring about a healthier Asia? We have some ideas. We can amplify their stories through protection advocacy campaigns. We can make sure that they are fully vaccinated and have access to health, mental health, and psychosocial services. We can help them reach those they left behind, obtain birth certificates to ensure they are protected and not becoming stateless, help them complete academic programs, and help them to access job opportunities.
“We must hold states accountable, but we can and should help them formulate new approaches, policies, and laws. We can help bring an end to discrimination, exclusion, violence, and conflict by speaking frankly about these issues and working on them together. We can promote, as well as consistently practice, peace and understanding, respect for human rights, and equitable distribution of resources.”
The Recognition
It was a big surprise for Muncy – the call from Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation president Susan Afan informing him that he was among this year’s awardees of Asia’s premier prize. “But I have come to understand this is an amazing opportunity, a fantastic platform. It’s there for a purpose; it’s not there to say what a wonderful life you’ve had. It’s to start a new life and to do things to help others,’’ he said.
The foundation cited Muncy for “his unshakable belief in the goodness of man that inspires in others the desire to serve; his lifelong dedication to humanitarian work, refugee assistance and peace building; and his unstinting pursuit of dignity, peace and harmony for people in exceptionally difficult circumstances in Asia.’’
At 64, Muncy, has no plans of slowing down. He intends to use the prize money that goes with the award as “leverage funds” for CFSI. He also hopes to use the award as a platform to raise $10 million by next year to expand the NGO’s response to emergencies, particularly in the Philippines and Myanmar.
What Keeps Him Going
“What I see among forcibly displaced persons… they find a way to keep putting one foot forward, to extend one hand to help another hand, to give one smile to somebody who needs a smile. I find that very hopeful.”
“At the end of 2020, there were more than 82 million forced displaced persons worldwide, that’s one out of every 95 persons. More importantly, 42 percent are children, our future. The pandemic has not slowed the pace of forced displacement of children, women, and men,” Muncy shares.
He believes that survivors of forced displacement have rights to protection, and also have the right to humanitarian assistance. “The objective is very clear: save lives, alleviate suffering, restore or maintain human dignity, and foster recovery.”
”I believe that by investing our heart and our soul, over time we will demonstrate that we are indeed all members of the same family – humanity.”
Manuel “EG” Hizon is a Manila-based communications specialist who has been engaged in development work projects in the areas of health, environment management, and countryside economic growth.
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