Collection is open for research.
Gift of The Immigrant Story, June 2021 (RL2021-057).
Renso Bernal Cruz Munoz, who also goes by the name Bernal Cruz, was born in Guatemala City, Guatemala, in 1977. As a result of his father's involvement in the Guatemalan Army, his family sought asylum in the United States, and in 1990, they settled in Portland, Oregon. While in high school, he worked as a mediator. He attended Portland Community College, then transferred to the University of Massachusetts, where he earned a bachelor's degree in neuropsychology. He returned to Portland and worked as a therapist for Providence for 12 years. During that time, he and Karey B. Lakey were married. In 2014, he earned a master's degree in community-based social work from Portland State University, and in 2015, he completed Harvard's online refugee trauma and recovery program. He worked with unaccompanied minors and immigrant youth at Morrison Child and Family Services, and later became a case coordinator for unaccompanied children in association with the federal Office of Refugee Resettlement.
Oral history interview with Bernal Cruz, by Sankar Raman, SR 12315, Oregon Historical Society Research Library.
This oral history interview with Bernal Cruz was conducted by Sankar Raman on February 25, 2019. The interview was recorded for The Immigrant Story, an organization that documents and archives the stories of immigrants and refugees in the United States. Julianna Robidoux was also present.
In this interview, Cruz discusses his family background and early life in Guatemala City, Guatemala, including his father's career in the Guatemalan army; his Mayan heritage and culture; and his education. He shares the history of the civil war in Guatemala and talks about his family's experiences during the war. He describes the reasons his family sought asylum in the United States, and talks about the asylum process. He discusses his experiences in Portland, Oregon, as a Guatemalan immigrant, including his education, his social life, and adjusting to cultural differences. He talks about working as a mediator during high school, about his education in neuropsychology at the University of Massachusetts, and about working as a therapist for Providence in Portland. He then talks about his career change in 2014, after earning a master's degree in community-based social work from Portland State University; about his marriage to Karey B. Lakey; and about his work with unaccompanied minors and immigrant youth for Morrison Child and Family Services. He speaks at length about his volunteer work with organizations assisting refugees, and closes the interview by discussing his experience in Italy as part of Harvard's online refugee trauma and recovery program.
Joint copyright for this interview is held by the Oregon Historical Society and The Immigrant Story. Use is allowed according to the following statement: In Copyright – Educational Use Permitted,
An article about Bernal Cruz, "From Fist Fighting to Mediating" by Julianna Robidoux, was based on this interview and published on The Immigrant Story website at