Stories
Kenyan Immigrant Helps Other Newcomers Settle into Baltimore County
As a student activist in Kenya in the 1980s, Thomas Mwaura spoke out against the authoritarian government—only to be accused of sedition, wrongfully arrested, expelled from his university, and left unable to find work. With the help of the American Embassy, he was able to get a student visa and… Read More
Nepali Immigrant Established a Café in Baltimore County
Narayan Khakurel grew up in a farming community in rural Nepal, where his family raised cattle and crops like tobacco and sugarcane. He never felt particularly deprived but, looking back, he recalls walking to school barefoot and not being able to afford a book bag. Today, though, Khakurel is a… Read More
Egyptian Immigrant is an Advocate in Baltimore County
When Noureen Badwi was two, her family immigrated to the U.S. from Egypt under her mother’s scholar visa. Her mother, who was the valedictorian of a 12,000 person class at Cairo University and later became a professor in the U.S., worked tirelessly so that Badwi and her twin brother could… Read More
Mexican Immigrant in Baltimore County Runs a Business and Teen Training Program
Rocio Herrera grew up in the shadow of an active volcano in a picturesque but impoverished region of central Mexico. She and her husband worked hard—she sold beauty products and cared for elderly people, and her husband was a carpenter—but they struggled to make ends meet. In 2004, they crossed… Read More
Mexican Immigrant Family Shares Success Across Allen County
Flora Barrón had a comfortable childhood in Northern Mexico, attended college, and worked as an administrative assistant before marrying a successful rural veterinarian. But when an economic downturn pushed local farmers into bankruptcy, her husband’s business struggled. “That’s when we came to America,” she explains. “Our plan was to come… Read More
Burmese Immigant Helps Make Allen County Welcoming for All
So Min Oo remembers the day in January 1977 when the Burmese government bombed his family’s village. “It stays in my nightmares — the gunfire, the people screaming,” he recalls. He was 11. His parents and three siblings spent the next several months fleeing on foot to Thailand, where they… Read More
Mexican Immigrant Ignites Entrepreneurial Spirit in Allen County
In 1991, when Aaron Robles was just a few months old, his parents crossed the border from Juárez, Mexico, and headed north. They landed in Fort Wayne and found work in construction and manufacturing. Robles didn’t learn English until he entered kindergarten, but with the school system’s ESL instruction, he… Read More
Argentinian Immigrant Helps Make Kent County Welcoming for All
When Natalia Kovicak moved from Argentina to Spring Lake, Michigan, at age 25, she quickly realized the challenges of starting a new career as an immigrant. It didn’t matter that she had a resume that included a good job with Coca-Cola in Buenos Aires and her own event-planning company. Kovicak… Read More
Mexican Immigrant Brothers Launch Mechanical Services company in Grand Rapids, Hiring Dozens
Although Ruben Ramos was born in the United States, he moved with his family to their village in the Sierra Madre Mountains in Mexico when he was a baby. When the family moved to Grand Rapids in 1990, the Hispanic population was small. Ramos was 10 years old. “I consider… Read More
Filipino Immigrant Finds Grand Rapids as Best Home for His Atelier
Romel “RC” Caylan is an internationally celebrated fashion designer who has dressed more than 100 celebrities and has a showroom in Beverly Hills. Yet he proudly runs his business out of Grand Rapids, at a studio in the Breton Village Shopping Center alongside Lululemon, Anthropologie, and other big-name retailers. Read More
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