Immigration

September 11th, 2010  |  By Round Earth Media

Plear

For Kunrath Lam, the most special occasion for eating plear - this Cambodian beef salad - came after the murderous Khmer Rouge was finally driven out of power. | Photo by Mary Stucky

When Kunrath Lam was just a little girl she endured one of the most brutal regimes the world has ever known. Nearly 2 million Cambodians died during the reign of the Communist Khmer Rouge in the 1970s. Kunrath Lam and her parents somehow managed to survive – though her childhood was one of intense deprivation. Lam used to dream of the delicious meals her grandmother had prepared for her in happier times. Lam’s absolute favorite– plear salad. Now, in the new country she calls home, Lam makes plear for customers at her restaurant in St. Paul, Minnesota. Mary Stucky paid her a visit. Her story appeared in World Vision Report.
(more…)

September 11th, 2010  |  By Round Earth Media

Goat Cutlet

Jamal Hashi shows off the goat stew his mother taught him to make years ago. | Photo by Mary Stucky

Throughout East Africa, goat is a traditional source of both meat and milk. When he was a boy in Somalia, Jamal Hashi spent his summers herding goats on his family’s farm.   Now, he’s in the United States,  introducing Americans to Somali delicacies – including goat — at his restaurant in Minneapolis, Minnesota.  Mary Stucky visited Jamal Hashi as he prepared roasted goat cutlet with vegetables in a special sauce – a dish he says his mother served on special occasions in Somalia.
(more…)

August 7th, 2010  |  By Round Earth Media

Dual Identity and the Liberian-Minnesotan Experience

Tamia Dakinah is Miss Liberia Minnesota. | Photo: Facebook, Miss Liberia MN Beauty Pageant

To make other cultures real through vivid first-hand stories and to explain the connections between “us” and “them” – that’s our goal here at Round Earth Media, and Linda Sjostrom, our web editor, understands it well. Linda has spent time reporting and editing for print and radio both in the United States and abroad. Here, a recent event prompts her to not only reflect on a story she covered in the past, but to also consider identity.

Just last month, a crowd gathered at the Miracle Empowerment Center to witness the crowning of Tamia Dakinah as Miss Liberia Minnesota 2010. In the same way, others across the country have or will name someone the Miss Liberia of their own state this year.

(more…)

February 1st, 2010  |  By Round Earth Media

The Taste of Freedom

Rodwan Nakshabandi became well-known for his cooking in a refugee camp before opening his St. Paul restaurant. | Photo by JoAnn Verburg

Rodwan Nakshabandi | © JoAnn Verburg

These five restaurateurs survived war, genocide, and long journeys to bring their native cuisine to the Twin Cities.

(more…)

January 1st, 2010  |  By Mary Stucky

Questions for Ambar Espinoza

former gang membersHow horrifying to live in a country where one must believe these telephone calls and do what the caller demands. The situation is different in Nicaragua where we interviewed former gang members in Managua (photo left). About El Salvador, three essential questions arise.

(more…)

December 31st, 2009  |  By Mary Stucky

From El Salvador: What has changed and what has not

Ambar Espinoza, one of the journalists mentored by Round Earth, is in El Salvador. Here are her reflections from her first afternoon back in the country of her birth after many years.

(more…)

November 4th, 2009  |  By Round Earth Media

Crossing East

The Chinese Teahouse restaurant in Plymouth, MN. | Photo: Mary Stucky

The Chinese Teahouse restaurant in Plymouth, MN. | Photo by Mary Stucky

Mary Stucky is proud to have been a contributing producer to this Peabody award-winning documentary series about the history of Asian-American immigration to the United States.

(more…)

June 1st, 2007  |  By Round Earth Media

A Walnut Grove Welcome

A Hmong home in Walnut Grove.

A Hmong home in Walnut Grove. | Photo by Mary Stucky

Walnut Grove, Minnesota was the real life setting for the TV series “Little House on the Prairie.” But its population and business community was eroding until Hmong refugees from Laos showed up. They received such a friendly reception in Walnut Grove others followed. Now Hmong refugees make up a third of the town’s population. And Walnut Grove is prospering and growing. (more…)

July 1st, 2006  |  By Round Earth Media

Maria’s Story

Maria going to school recently at the International Academy-LEAP in St. Paul. | Photo: Mary Stucky)

Maria going to school. | Photo: Mary Stucky

As many as 85,000 illegal immigrants make Minnesota their home, including many who have crossed the border into the U.S. from Mexico. This is the story of one of them. We’ll call her Maria even though that’s not her real name. : Minnesota Public Radio News has agreed to protect her identity.

Maria, 20, came to Minnesota illegally five years ago. She lives with her family in the Twin Cities. She is watching closely as Congress debates whether to crack down on illegal immigrants, or give them opportunities to stay in this country

[The following is a transcript of Mary Stucky’s radio report.]

Mary Stucky: For Maria, home is the basement of a modest ranch-style house in a Twin Cities suburb.

Maria: “Home is pretty much where my family is. Because wherever they are, there is my home.”

Mary Stucky: And this family spends most of its free time at home. They enjoy being together, are tired from working, and don’t feel like exploring a city they don’t really understand.

They also stay home because they’re afraid — afraid of being stopped by the police, afraid their illegal status will be discovered.

(more…)

May 14th, 1993  |  By Round Earth Media

One Thousand Tibetans

A man participates in Tibetan New Year religious ceremonies at the Tibetan cultural center in St. Paul, MN. | © Keri Pickett

A man participates in Tibetan New Year religious ceremonies at the Tibetan cultural center in St. Paul, MN. | © Keri Pickett

Followers of the Dalai Lama start a new life where it’s just as cold as Tibet…but a lot flatter. Minnesota meets an ancient culture in this documentary by Round Earth Productions’ Mary Losure.
(more…)

Support more stories about Immigration from Round Earth Media!

Our not-for-profit model is emerging as a way to provide high-quality global reporting to a broad audience, information upon which an interconnected world depends.

Your contribution is tax deductible. Please, join us!