Dee Dungy

Year Joined MKLM: 2011

Country: Middle East and Northern Africa, MENA

City: Beirut, Lebanon

Ministry: Communities Coordinator, Arrupe Migrant Center (AMC) in Beirut, Lebanon

Ministry Area: Justice and Peace

Goals of Ministry:  Improve outreach, visibility, support, and leadership development programs for the diverse migrant and refugee-led communities within the AMC and St. Joseph Parish by building community capacity, fostering inclusive opportunities, and nurturing their unique cultural contributions to sustain peace through conflict sensitivity.

Nonviolence Focus:

Intervention and Reconciliation/Restoration.

This ministry opportunity aligns well with Maryknoll Lay Missioners commitment to engaging with people across cultures and ethnicities, living, loving, and working alongside marginalized communities to promote active nonviolence and healing. The Communities Coordinator accompanies migrants and refugees from various regions, including East Africa, Asia, and Syria, throughout the community-led capacity-building process. Many of these individuals have faced racial disparities in access to protection services, which have far-reaching consequences on legal documentation, education, and the right to decent work.

Ministry Context:

Eastern Africa is a region that has been tremendously affected by conflict. Unfortunately, nations like Ethiopia and South Sudan are torn apart by many years of conflict. Fragile or unsigned peace agreements in both countries wager on the lives of the forced displaced, rise to antisocial capital, and inhumane treatment. Ultimately, this leads to political or tribal conflict in communities, barriers to accessing education, and famine.  

See also “Nonviolence Focus” above.

Current Ministry:

Dee is a liaison between the AMC and the various migrants and refugee communities that are the AMC community. She facilitates communication and collaboration among different community groups for the planning of key shared events throughout the year in the parish and center community, promoting inclusivity and mutual support.

In addition, Dee assists in the development and planning of liturgical and parish events and the capacity building of ministers in the parish community. She coordinates the communities’ use of spaces within the center for activities and meetings, ensuring efficient and inclusive use of the facilities.

Personal Data:

Dee previously worked as a Maryknoll lay missioner in Cambodia, where her most recent ministry was with the Maryknoll Anlong Kngan Resettlement and Social Development Center in Phnom Penh:

Before becoming a Maryknoll lay missioner, Dee lived in the Fort Lauderdale and Miami, Florida, areas. She graduated from Indiana University, Bloomington, with a bachelor of science in marketing research, studied graphic design at Purdue University, and has a Florida Property & Casualty Insurance License. Dee was the small business unit property and casualty team leader at an insurance company and a project manager at a check printing company.

An active church and community member, she was on the St. Vincent de Paul Board and worked with Church Without Walls, Homeless Outreach, StandUp for Kids Street Children, and organizations that served people with disabilities. Dee participated in Cursillo and is a JustFaith graduate. She served three years in missions in Jamaica and San Juan, Puerto Rico.