My name Thorin Engeseth and I am the Hispanic Caucus leader for Germany. I was born on Halloween, 1990 in Michigan (my hometown Ada is the same as Betsy DeVos’s, my nemesis for decades), though I’ve spent time living in South Carolina, Oregon, Albania, Germany, Chile, and Ukraine. Michigan is the place that shaped me, I lived there the longest out of anywhere else, and I plan on returning so that I can help reshape the state’s future.
I currently live in Duisburg, where I’m a member of the Ruhrgebiet chapter. I came here in August and my wife in November of last year, mainly because as a DREAMer she was no longer safe, and we knew that we had to get somewhere where we can hone our strengths and acquire more tools for enacting change.
For the past nine years, I’ve been a full-time translator, working personally with a former President of Germany, two Minister Presidents, numerous governmental agencies, and several mayors. I have also translated for four United States governors, the President of Ghana, and the former Prime Minister of Albania. In addition, I work with Translators without Borders to provide language assistance to the homeless, and with an organization in Berlin that provides immigration and other official documents in the native languages of immigrants and refugees.
When not working on political projects I’m actively involved in language preservation. This year I was able to help document the endangered Gutob language of India. In September I will be meeting with the Crown Prince of Albania to discuss issues facing minority communities there and will be working on documenting the Arli variety of Romani. I hope to become more involved in Romani and Sinti rights in Europe, and the rights of “pygmy” people in Africa are also close to my heart.
I have worked with the Sexual Assault Resource Center to provide assistance and refuge to all survivors of assault in Oregon, have helped distribute food to exploited day laborers in Portland, and returned to Michigan to aid in the cleanup following the oil spill in the Kalamazoo River. I also contribute South American political analyses to Chilean newspaper The Santiago Times. Volunteering is very important to me, and I’m always happy to help if I have the time and mental capacity. Some days, of course, I need to stay at home, read Harry Potter again, have some coffee and hang out with my parrots.
Although I have lived in Chile, have some Chilean background and many relatives there, and speak Chilean Spanish, much of the work I perform for the Hispanic Caucus will be with my wife’s help. She is a Native American woman from Mexico City, raised in South Carolina. Relatives of hers have been held and abused in detention centers on the border, she has experienced racism firsthand in the American South, and she has extensive experience translating tax, insurance, and immigration paperwork for Spanish speakers. She has met with South Carolina’s senators and our representative to urge their support for women’s healthcare and reproductive rights. She also remains actively involved in Hispanic causes in the Carolinas region and is currently designing a mural for the South Carolina ACLU.
Join the Hispanic Caucus or contact Thorin at [email protected]
Thanks so much for having us, and we’re thrilled to contribute in any way that we can!