Back to School, Full Circle: How Education Shaped Moo Say’s Journey

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For many students, going back to school means new teachers, new classrooms and the excitement of a new year of learning. For Moo Law La Say, the first days of school in the United States included all of that — plus the challenge of navigating an entirely new country. 

Today, Moo works as a full-time senior family resource and benefits specialist with World Relief Quad Cities, helping immigrant families access resources and systems that can support their stability and wellbeing.  

She’s also preparing for the next chapter in her own education, pursuing graduate studies in international education. Her dream is to expand educational opportunities for refugee children. 

Going to school helped Moo build a sense of belonging in the United States. Now, she uses what she has learned to help other families flourish and to imagine what might be possible for the next generation. 

School in a new country 

Moo was born in the Nupo refugee camp in Thailand, near the border of Myanmar. Her parents had fled their home and spent 15 years living in the camp. In 2013, her family traveled to the United States as refugees and settled in the Quad Cities. 

World Relief staff greeted them at the airport with a large welcome sign. At their new apartment, she learned how to use light switches, faucets and other unfamiliar features of their new home. 

She especially remembers Rachael Snyder, the caseworker who helped her family start over in a new community. Rachael’s impact has stuck with her. 

“I think I was 8 years old, didn’t know everything, but a grateful heart is going to stay forever,” Moo said.  

Soon, Moo began attending Willard Elementary School, just down the street from the World Relief office. “I didn’t know how to speak English at all,” she said. 

Her teachers found practical ways to help. They created cards Moo could use to communicate basic needs. If she wanted water, she could point to one card. If she needed to use the restroom, she had another. They were simple tools, but they helped her learn about U.S. school and community life. 

Language, education, employment, relationships and access to essential services all play a role in moving new neighbors from simply arriving in a new community toward truly belonging there. 

That’s why World Relief walks alongside immigrant families beyond their first days in the United States, helping create pathways toward stability, connection and flourishing.  

What education makes possible 

In elementary school, a teacher asked: What do you want to do when you grow up? She did not have an answer right away. But she knew she wanted her future to involve serving others. 

“I knew that I wanted to do something that would give back to the community,” Moo said. 

She recalled the people who had been there for her family when they had first arrived, including Rachael and the World Relief staff who had helped them navigate an unfamiliar city and new way of life.  

By middle school, Moo began researching careers. 

She remembered seeing United Nations refugee workers in the camp when she was younger and asked her mother about them. Her curiosity eventually led her to public health. The field resonated with her because of its emphasis on prevention and addressing challenges before they become crises. 

Around age 14, Moo decided that public health was the direction she wanted to pursue. In high school in Minnesota where the family had moved, she applied for the state’s Postsecondary Enrollment Options program, which allowed eligible students to take college courses while earning both high school and college credit. 

Moo did not pass the qualifying test the first time. She tried again. Then she tried a third time. 

“I knew I could do it,” she said. Then she passed. 

Beginning her junior year, Moo started taking college courses with a focus on health sciences. By the time she graduated from high school, she also earned an associate degree in health science.  

Education helped Moo discover what she cared about, what she was capable of and how she might use her own experiences to serve others. 

A return to where her U.S. journey began 

When it came time to continue her education, Moo began looking at universities. She knew she wanted to study public health, but she had another thought in the back of her mind: World Relief. 

Eventually, she looked again at the Quad Cities and discovered Western Illinois University. The campus was near the same World Relief office that had helped welcome her family years before. 

Moo wondered whether she might someday have an opportunity to intern there. Then her father told her something that made the possibility feel even more tangible: Rachael was still a good connection at World Relief. 

Moo reached out. 

“Suddenly one day I got the sweetest message from a fully grown-up Moo, asking about the internship process at World Relief Moline,” Rachael said. “I hadn’t realized most of the family had moved back to the Quad Cities, and I had the best time messaging back and forth with her that day, hearing all of the family updates” 

Hearing about Moo’s journey since she had last seen put a smile on Rachael’s face for days. 

Rachael helped connect her to an internship opportunity and agreed to serve as a reference. Soon, Moo was interning with the same resettlement program that had helped welcome her own family. 

That connection was deeply meaningful. 

“I used to be this little girl that she helped,” Moo said, reflecting on seeing Rachael again, “and now here I am being a little bit bigger girl.”  

For Moo, Rachael’s presence was a reminder that welcome can have an impact long after the first airport greeting, apartment setup or first day of school. 

Sometimes, the person receiving support today becomes the person offering it tomorrow. 

From intern to full-time World Relief staff  

“She joined our team as an intern shortly after she reached out, and of course quickly became an invaluable part of the team. Her journey has prepared her with the kind of perspective and compassion that is exactly what refugees and immigrants in the U.S. need right now. She has managed to keep her sweet spirit with clients despite hard things and the hard conversations her work involves,” Rachael said. 

Moo’s first internship with World Relief was cut short after changes in government funding affected refugee resettlement services. 

But Moo did not want her time with World Relief to end. 

A few months later, another staff member reached out about an internship with the Immigrant Family Resources Program, where Moo could help families apply for public benefits. 

She immediately said yes. 

“I felt like everything was orchestrated by God,” Moo said, reflecting on the opportunities that continued to open. 

That internship grew into a part-time staff position. Later, Moo became full time. 

Today, she walks alongside immigrant families as they navigate benefits and resources that can help them build greater stability. 

“It was incredibly humbling to be a part of Moo’s story and to see her thriving now. Moo is one of four or five former child refugee cases who later became co-workers with me here at World Relief in Moline. Each of them has grown into these amazing people who are even better equipped to continue the work in our community,” Rachael said. 

A scholarship and a new chapter 

Moo’s commitment to education has continued beyond her undergraduate studies. 

She was recently awarded the Ina Duncan Banks Scholarship through the Moline Regional Community Foundation in recognition of her studies in public health and international education. 

The scholarship reflects a passion that has been growing in Moo since childhood. 

Although her own family worked to ensure she had food and access to education while living in the refugee camp, Moo saw that not every child around her had the same opportunities. 

She still remembers one friend who loved school, but whose family was struggling financially. Her friend eventually had to leave school so she could help provide for her family. 

Moo was young, but the memory stayed with her. 

She often wonders how greater access to education might have changed her friend’s future. 

“Maybe she could have dreamed, dreams that I can now dream of,” Moo said.  

That question helps shape Moo’s own vision of the future. 

She is pursuing graduate studies in international education with the hope that one day she can take what she has learned back to Thailand and help create opportunities for refugee children who want to learn. 

“I’m just hoping that I could one day extend that back to children that were once my age too, who just want to dream and learn,” she said.  

When opportunity comes full circle 

As students begin another school year, Moo’s story is a reminder that education can open doors far beyond the classroom. 

Moo came to the United States as an 8-year-old refugee, entering her first classroom unable to speak English. Years later, she returned to World Relief Quad Cities as an intern. 

Today, she is a colleague, helping immigrant families access the resources and support they need to build stable lives. 

As Moo continues her own education, she is looking toward a future where even more children have the opportunity to learn, dream and flourish. 

At World Relief, we partner with churches, volunteers and communities to welcome refugees and other immigrants as they rebuild their lives and strengthen the places we share. 

This back-to-school season, you can help create communities where newly arrived children and families have the support, relationships and opportunities they need to belong and flourish.