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Menuka: The Most Beautiful Place
Menuka, a refugee from Bhutan, was raised in what she calls “the most beautiful place”. In the shadows of the Himalayan mountains her family made their living as farmers, growing beautiful vegetables amongst the lush grass and fertile soil.
It was in the 1990s that her life changed dramatically, when Nepali families who had fled conflict into Bhutan were driven out in the name of ethnic purity. Menuka and her family were forced into a refugee camp, where they stayed for 18 years.
Homesick and fearful, Menuka sought out a source of comfort and found it in a small patch of land within the refugee camp. She tended it with great care, growing whatever small plants the land would yield. It was in 2008 that her application for US refugee status was approved and she left the refugee camp – and her garden – behind to relocate to Chicago.
“When I got here, I saw concrete. Just over all the ground, there was concrete. I was so sad,” said Menuka of her first days here. “This place was nothing like Bhutan, what would I do here?”
To help Menuka adjust to her new life, she was connected to Heartland Alliance’s Refugee Health Program, which specializes in helping refugees build healthy, safe lives in their new homeland.
“In Bhutan, she and her family were farmers and we are fortunate to be able to provide a beautiful rooftop garden here” says Erin Hantke, who oversees the program. “Menuka was one of our original gardeners when we were first able to provide garden plots to refugees five years ago. It gives our gardeners a little bit of home here.”
After five months this growing season, Menuka’s garden looks much like it once did in Bhutan. She has peppers and tomatoes, eggplant and beans, as well as bitter melon – a vegetable native to her home country and essential to traditional, healthy Bhutanese cooking. The vegetables themselves aren’t the true harvest, though.
“These vegetables and food remind me of my home. My family, we were farmers. I’m keeping my skills and traditions alive.”
How You Can Help
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Heartland Alliance—the leading anti-poverty organization in the Midwest— believes that all of us deserve the opportunity to improve our lives. Each year, we help ensure this opportunity for nearly one million people around the world who are homeless, living in poverty, or seeking safety.
Please consider making a donation today to help others like Menuka.