Explore stories of refugees and the people who help them become a neighbor in Pittsburgh
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“We are living our second life here”: Farima’s Story
Farima is not only a high school student, but a wife, mother, and refugee looking to give her little family a better life. Farima, 19-year-old, and her husband are from Afghanistan and have lived in Pittsburgh for over a year with their son Mosawer who they welcomed in August 2022. The couple married a year…
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Cultures Colliding: A Refugee Story
Imagine all the things that make your life how it is right now: your daily routines, your school, your job, or your friends and family. Imagine all the things from your past: things that you remember by memory, places you’ve visited, and maybe a special event like a concert, or a movie that you saw.…
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Hello Neighbor Photographer Tells Story of Refugees
“In all chaos there is cosmos, in all disorder a secret order,” by Carl Jung may be the few words which can describe freelance photographer Christopher Sprowls’ work style. Sprowls presents himself as the grunge poster child from his past, with long hair and neutral clothing colors. He embraces that being a professional photographer is…
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Ukraine to Pittsburgh and How Everything is Different
Iri is a 27-year-old who was born in Kyiv, Ukraine and was forced to move away in October with her husband due to the war with Russia. Hello Neighbor took her in when she arrived in October and helped her get situated here in Pittsburgh. Iri said the first three months working with Hello Neighbor…
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How a Fist Bump Changed a Point Breeze Woman’s Life
A little over a year ago, Venita Pimley found herself piling a couple with 10 kids and over a dozen suitcases into a van and driving them to an apartment she had just finished setting up to start their new life in America. The family from Afghanistan spoke minimal English, and Pimley mainly communicated through…
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Whitehall Woman Experiences First Bus Ride with Afghan Refugee
On a cool February afternoon, Angela Chang’s kitchen is filled with the smell of doro wot, an incredibly fragrant, spicy, flavorful, rich slow-cooked Ethiopian chicken stew mostly eaten for special occasions and family gatherings. Chang is surely making it for a special occasion, as a newly landed refugee mother just had an emergency c-section for…