Now, these village women, whisked 10,000 miles west by international refugee agencies, are among about 300 Bhutanese starting life anew in an apartment complex in Prince George’s County.
When they arrived, some as recently as two weeks ago, nothing seemed remotely familiar. The weather was colder. No one spoke their language. Unlike other refugee groups in the area, such as Ethiopians or Iraqis, there was no exile community to receive them and few who could translate for them. Tradition had taught the women to be shy and submissive. Here, they needed to be the opposite.
“Ishtraw-berry. Co-ren,” Dharjmer said slowly, examining each sign in the fruit and vegetable section of the supermarket and trying to sound out the words.
She searched for familiar items she could cook for her family, like bitter melon and chilies, and struggled to recall her numbers from English class. Was the price sticker on that box of mushrooms $1.94, or $1.49?
Merengue music filled the market, and the air conditioning was strong.
“English cold, Nepal hot,” Dharjmer said with a shiver. A Mexican grocery clerk politely greeted the group of women in Spanish, and they all giggled. At the checkout stand, Dharjmer carefully counted the change in her palm. “Four four-eight,” she said with a satisfied nod and headed for the exit, trailed by her companions.
The successful shopping excursion was another quiet milestone in the odyssey of these Bhutanese refugees, who are among 60,000 being resettled in communities across the country. The first few arrived in the Baltimore-Washington area in mid-2008, but many came from Nepal within the last year.
Prince George’s is one of several dozen resettlement locations nationwide, chosen where affordable housing is available and officials are willing to participate. The county has accepted refugees from many lands, but the Bhutanese are the largest new group.
According to both the newcomers and the nonprofit agencies charged with guiding their entry into America, it has been an extremely daunting endeavor. The Bhutanese, who came from one of the most isolated countries on Earth and spent nearly a generation in stateless stagnation, have arrived with far fewer tools than most to navigate modern Western society.
“At first, they seemed to need a lot of help in almost every aspect of life,” said Hanako Kubori, an official with the nonprofit International Rescue Committee in Silver Spring. Most of the elderly were illiterate. Most women had never worked. Most children had been born and raised in confined camps.
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