WKSU News: Namaste: A past in Bhutan, a future in Akron

Festivals, fishing, and the world's game of football
The Nepali-Bhutanese recreation, like other parts of life, have been transplanted to Akron

For many of the Bhutanese refugees who settled in Akron, farming is a longstanding tradition in their families. Both they and others in Akron who've gotten to know them would say that spirit of hard work continues. But they also take the time to renew body and mind -- and that time is filled with gardening, sport, food, music and celebration.
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Law, order and building trust
When a Bhutanese man was murdered in 2012, many questioned whether Akron was the place to remain; but the tragedy also opened a relationship with police

Orientation for new immigrants includes a simple lesson: Police officers are your friend. It’s a first step in overcoming a suspicion many refugees feel toward those in uniform and authority. Through opportunity -- and tragedy -- the lesson is being refined and built upon.
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Learning language, culture and more
A growing number of people in North Hill speak English as a second language, or don't speak it at all -- and scores of people and dozens of classes are working to change that

The migration of thousands of Nepali-speaking Bhutanese refugees to the North Hill area of Akron is playing out not only at the high school, but in preschools and in classes for adult learners and in a whole lot of education in between. WKSU’s M.L. Schultze has more on the transformation of classrooms especially at places like North High School.
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Bhutanese resettlement has had a big economic impact
The economic model includes first jobs, first cars, first houses, first businesses

The influx of thousands of Bhutanese refugees to the North Hill neighborhood of Akron has created a dozen small businesses and been enough of a boon to the economy that people are moving here from other parts of the U.S. But, as WKSU’s M.L. Schultze reports, the wealth is not necessarily shared – at least not yet.
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North Hill, its history and its newest settlers
An Akron neighborhood settled by migrants becomes home to thousands of refugees from half a world away

For decades, the North Hill neighborhood in Akron, has been a place for the newly arrived: Italians, Croats, Poles, Irish. And now Nepali-Bhutanese. WKSU’s M.L. Schultze introduces us to the neighborhood and some of the thousands of the newest settlers who have started calling North Hill home in just the last decade.
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How thousands of people arrived in Akron from half a world away
The next chapter of a history set in the Himalayans more than a century ago is being written in Akron's North Hill today

For decades, Northeast Ohio’s aging cities have seen their populations dwindle as the children of immigrants grew up and moved on. But one Akron neighborhood has seen a sudden reversal of that. As many as 5,000 refugees from half a world away have settled in North Hill over the last decade. WKSU’s M.L. Schultze reports how the resettlement came to be.
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