Refugees from Bhutan settle in Pittsburgh

Adapting to modern life
But now they are in their new apartment in the Pittsburgh suburb of Castle Shannon. They have suddenly had to adapt to running water, indoor toilets, carpeting, closets, a refrigerator, electric sweepers and clock radios — because, as their caseworker explains, promptness is important in America.

"I've never seen a house like this," Gautam said when caseworker Molly Ferra took them through the three-bedroom unit, showing them the small kitchen already furnished with bags of rice, tea, hot pepper sauce and a box of pots and pans.

She explained the use of the refrigerator and freezer to Gautam, the only member of the family who speaks English. "Very cold," Gautam noted of the freezer.

Although life in the United States is far easier, some of the refugees do not want to leave the camps.

"Most of us want to return to Bhutan because we love our country and our roots," D.P. Kafle, a resident of one of the camps, said in an interview in Nepal. "We are patriotic Bhutanese and there is no way we will go anywhere else."

However, Larry Yungk, a senior resettlement officer with the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, said 55,000 refugees from Bhutan have already signed up for relocation.

Cities eager to take in ethnic Nepalese
Norm-Anne Rothermel, Pennsylvania's refugee coordinator in the Department of Public Welfare, said most cities are eager to take in the ethnic Nepalese.

Keith Srakocic / AP Catholic Charities case worker Molly Ferra, left, explains to Chitra Gautam, center, and his brother Raju Gautam how the shower and bath water works in the bathroom of the Gautam family's new apartment in the Pittsburgh suburb of Castle Shannon, Pa.

"Refugees are excellent workers," she said. "They do not want government assistance ... all they want is a fresh start, so it's a win-win situation when it comes to refugees."

Mark Hetfield, senior vice president for programs and policy at the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society, said his group has settled 117 refugees from Bhutan this year and expects to double the number in 2009. HIAS is focusing its Bhutanese program on Charlotte, N.C.; Springfield, Mass.; Columbus and Cleveland, Ohio. Some will likely be resettled in Pittsburgh as well.

"There is no well-established Bhutanese populations in the U.S., so it is better to put them in places where housing is affordable and they could have the opportunity to buy a house in a few years," he said.

Despite the refugees' struggles with the language barrier, bureaucracy, job hunting and learning to live with modern amenities, Gautam had a question about something that to him seemed equally basic.

"A computer, will we get a computer?" he asked the caseworker. "I need the Internet to send e-mail to my teacher." — his U.N.-run school had Internet access.

Ferra told him the family will receive a TV but they will have to purchase their own computer. At the library, she explained, they can access the Internet.

"Yes, the library," Gautam says grinning. "My teacher told me I can get a card and use for free."

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