Today we’d like to introduce you to Pinar Bayrak-Toydemir.
Hi Pinar, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstories.
I do not know how I could become a community leader. When I look back, my personality did not fit being a community leader. I was a very shy person and did not have confidence. It was difficult for me to express myself. Moving to the United States without knowing the language made it very difficult. I spent many years learning English, raising my kids, and working hard to get academically successful. I remember during my thesis dissertation, I had to take some anti-anxiety medicine to be able to present my research in Turkish! Not having friends due to language barriers and not knowing how to be a part of a community, living in Salt Lake City for a long time where only a few Turks live… perhaps were strong components of my personal growth.
Within the last 10 years, Salt Lake City became more popular, and Turkish people started moving here. This suddenly made me the most experienced and wise person among them. I realized that many of them are having similar issues that my family and I had. I started organizing family gatherings to experience Turkish holidays, music, dance, and food. I wanted to create memories and familiarize Turkish culture with my kids and others’ kids. Our parents also felt that those celebrations made us feel connected to Turkey and each other, although we are physically thousands of miles away from home. My kids still remember many Turkish songs from those dancing/singing parties. I felt so much love and support from my community that creating an official association was the only natural next step. I am a founding member of the Utah Turkish American Association (UTAA) with my loving husband. I would not be where I am without his support.
My personal passion is to bring the Turkish community together and introduce Turkish culture to Utahns. I love organizing events to share Turkish history and culture.
Our organization’s (https://utahturkish.org/) main goal is to be a link between all Turkish-speaking communities living in the State of Utah through educational, cultural, social, and recreational activities. The UTAA will promote cultural events, bring families together, and help kids and adults learn the Turkish language, history, and culture. It will assist people of Turkish origin in solving various community and personal problems, welcome them to Utah, and assist permanent residents, visitors, and students. Additionally, the UTAA will participate in and support charitable activities such as educational, humanitarian, and natural disasters by means of partnering with humanitarian and charitable organizations or individuals in the USA, Turkey, and other countries.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
We created our organization in August 2019, just before COVID. We had our first celebration in December 2019. 100 Turkish people came together to celebrate the new year. We announced our Board of Directors during that party.
Everyone was so surprised to see that many Turks were in the room together. We were so excited and planned so many activities. We wanted to celebrate World Children’s Day on April 23rd. Started teaching Turkish songs to our kids and organized a youth band.
Unfortunately, like many other things, COVID affected how we could connect with each other. We continued to use our UTAA WhatsApp group but were not able to physically meet. It took two years for us to figure out how to function as a young organization in those days.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I am a professor of Pathology at the University of Utah and a Medical Director of Genetics and Genomics at ARUP Laboratories. I have received my MD and Ph.D. in Human Genetics from Ankara University School of Medicine in Turkey. I have completed a fellowship in Clinical Molecular Genetics at the University of Utah, School of Medicine, after which I took the board certification from the American Board of Medical Genetics and Genomics in Laboratory Genetics and Genomics.
I am a human geneticist. I work on rare disorders and help to end the diagnostic odyssey for families that are looking for answers for their kids. My expertise is to identify molecular mechanisms of genetic mutations causing rare genetic disorders. Working closely with the nationwide (NIH) undiagnosed disease network and trying to help families is my pride. One specific type of this rare disorder, called Hereditary Hemorrhagic Telangiectasia (HHT) disease is my specific interest that I have identified a causing gene for.
I believe in the governing body of the University that I can contribute as a faculty member. Currently, I am a member of the Academic Senate and vice chair of the School of Medicine College Council at the University of Utah.
Have you learned any interesting or important lessons due to the Covid-19 Crisis?
I have learned that being a part of a community was more important in COVID days. None of us (as an immigrant) have extended families living with us. Basically, we are, as an individual family, alone. We have learned that the Turkish community and our close friends are actually our extended families. COVID taught us that we were so lucky to have each other.
New question or a different one instead of COVID question: Has being in Salt Lake made it more difficult for UTAA members during the earthquake in Turkey?
After a devastating earthquake in Turkey on February 6th this year, being far from the earthquake and only watching the news makes it very stressful. I have learned that having a community, supporting each other, and coming to one purpose are so important. I am so proud of my association and the wonderful people I work with. We have been working so hard since the earthquake. Our goal is to raise money to help people in Turkey who got affected by the earthquake. We believe disasters make children and women the most vulnerable in every society. The children in these regions with incalculable psychosocial, economical, and health care-related burdens.
Among the many thousands of children that were traumatized in some form by the earthquake, experts have estimated more than 1000 children have undergone emergency amputations to save their lives. UTAA’s fundraising event is specifically focused on children and women affected by the earthquakes in Turkey. Our goal is to improve the quality of life of kids and women by supporting health and educational opportunities. Child Amputees of the Türkiye Earthquake, Equality of Opportunity in Education for children who have lost one or both of their parents, and some other similar projects will be UTAA’s list of projects to support.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://utahturkish.org/
