[music playing] WILL PRICE: Coming up on Keystone Stories, "New Neighbors."

Support for Keystone Stories comes from Explore Altoona, offering visitors of all ages outdoor recreation, performing arts, visual exhibits, and eateries located throughout Blair County.

Information at explorealtoona.com.

Tom and Sara Songer of the Torron Group in State College, a proud supporter of programming on WPSU.

More information at torrongroup.com and by viewers like you.

Thank you.

[music playing] There are people from virtually every corner of the world who now call Pennsylvania home.

Those who have emigrated here from other countries have shared their tradition and talents with their new neighbors, contributing to the rich cultural tapestry of the state.

Here are some of their stories.

[music playing] Jungwoo Ryoo and his son Kim have lived in Central Pennsylvania since 2005.

They first came to the United States more than two decades ago from their home country of South Korea.

JUNGWOO RYOO: South Korea has some big cities.

So I was born in one of those big cities, Daegu.

And then I had an opportunity to come to the US as an exchange student.

WILL PRICE: Jungwoo studies led him into a career in academia.

Today, he is the chancellor at Penn State, Dubois.

Hyeseon also came to the United States as an exchange student.

I was born the opposite side of where he's from.

So I was born in Yeonggwang.

I was given this opportunity to come to America on a scholarship.

And I came to America in 1994.

So that's where I ended up meeting my husband.

JUNGWOO RYOO: I was 25, and she is a little older by like six months.

No, 10 months.

OK. [laughs] HYESEON KIM: Now we lived more years in America than in Korea.

[music playing] YAMILA AUDISIO: My name is Yamila Audisio.

I grew up in a small town in rural Argentina.

I went to the University of Rio Cuarto where studied history.

And while I was a student there, I met Eric who is now my husband.

In 2016, we moved to the Johnstown area.

And we started our life here in Western PA. WILL PRICE: Alexi Casilla remembers his family's first impression of the area.

ALEXI CASILLA: I remember when we drove from Florida to here, we had like five minutes left.

And my wife said, "Where are you taking me?

I don't see nobody here."

So when we turned right, we came here, and she was very impressed.

This place was hiding from the world.

[speaking spanish] I am from the Dominican Republic from a city called San Cristobal.

I have a wife dulkys and two boys Alex Junior who is 13 years old and Alex John Dill who is 9.

[music playing] I got here to the United States because of baseball as a professional baseball player.

I first signed with the Anaheim Angels back in 2003.

Then I got traded to the Minnesota Twins.

It was the first time in Minnesota that I saw snow, and then Baltimore Orioles.

When I retired from professional baseball, I made the decision that it was time to bring my kids here in the United States.

I wanted to give them the opportunity to come to school here.

So I was doing my research.

I read about State College that it was a good town and the school had a good rating.

So that was how I made that decision.

We are collecting more.

Oh my goodness, how nice?

I have a son Vincent or Vicente.

He is four years old.

Can I give you a kiss?

WILL PRICE: One of the challenges that parents like Yamila talk about is figuring out how to raise children across two cultures.

My son was born here in Johnstown, and he's 100% American boy.

But my husband and I are teaching him and sharing with him the Argentinian culture through songs, through books, [speaking spanish] and also through trips.

We take him to Argentina every year, and he gets the best of both worlds.

Stir.

Stir.

Stir.

Stir.

I have been teaching him to cook the same way I learned from my parents and grandparents.

Let me.

Gently.

He also speaks to my parents on the phone every week.

Who's that?

Oh, that's from Argentina.

YAMILA AUDISIO: My parents don't speak English, and he doesn't speak Spanish, but they understand each other through love, I guess.

HYESEON KIM: So this is the scroll.

It's a Korean.

So Korean writing goes into this box every syllable fit into the box.

And this is the chant that we recite in every service.

And these are the pictures of our three kids when they were young.

WILL PRICE: For Hyeson and Jungwoo, being bicultural was a factor in how they raised their three sons.

HYESEON KIM: I explained to our kids why it is important to maintain your cultural heritage and identity as a Korean-American that has shaped who they are.

We tried taekwondo, which is the National sport of Korea.

And also Boy Scouts of America.

[laughter] Our kids really got a lot out of that experience.

And music.

Through music, they develop this confidence and resilience.

[piano music] Music means a lot to me.

I was very young when I was first exposed to piano.

And then life happens, and you just don't have those opportunities to sit down and enjoy your passion.

HYESEON KIM: He paid for kid's lessons for 10 years.

And when they stopped, that it's my time.

[piano music] Music is about what is possible and what I can accomplish if I keep trying.

[piano music] WILL PRICE: For Alexi, baseball has played a dual role, providing a way for his kids to stay connected to their Dominican roots and also a way for him to find community here.

Just stay right there on your shoulder right there.

And then from there, you're going back into a ball.

And we are rotating the right foot.

Right foot?

Yes.

I didn't know anybody here.

I wanted to make friends.

So I say, why not get involved and help the community with my baseball knowledge.

Nice.

Baseball is been my passion my whole life.

And coaching my kids means a lot because that reminds me of when I first played baseball.

I still have in my mind those beautiful moments when I was a kid.

[music playing] In the Dominican, baseball is everything.

Growing up, you're watching baseball games.

You have idols.

They play here in the United States.

And they have success.

Dominican is not a rich country.

Dominican is a poor country.

So you grow up as a kid playing baseball, and the first thing that you think is that you want to help your family.

I'm very grateful to baseball because baseball gave me the opportunity to come here to the United States and get paid for the job that I love.

You tell me what color is this.

[speaking spanish] YAMILA AUDISIO: My ethnic background is complex.

In Argentina, we don't classify people into groups.

You are just Argentinian.

When I moved here and I went to the doctor's office and they give you those forms to fill, I had an existential crisis because I was thinking.

What am I. Americans think of central Americans and South Americans as Latinos.

But Argentina has a lot of European immigration just like here.

And my family happens to be of Italian descent.

So I don't feel I can be in one group.

[music playing] The idea of moving to a different country was super exciting, because I wanted to see what's out there and meet new people and have new opportunities to new things.

But I soon found out the hard reality of making connections and friendships.

I remember crying a lot because once the fun is over of being in a new place and traveling and then you're like, OK, what do I do now?

WILL PRICE: Yamila thought about how she could find community here while also staying connected to her roots.

Growing up, my family was heavily influenced by Italian culture.

And I started to think about the foods that we eat, the things that we do, and it's Italian.

It's all Italian.

So I decided to create a Italian club for the area.

[speaking italian] That means welcome.

Today, we are going to have a pizza demonstration.

We get together.

We socialize.

We have done cooking demonstrations.

We also explore the language.

How do you say eat well?

[speaking italian] YAMILA AUDISIO: Now we are going to be reading a book.

We're inviting guests to speak about different topics.

So it's cultural, but it's also a way to build community.

Community to me means to be involved, and it means a group of people that welcomes everyone and have each other's backs.

And I hope I am part of building that here for myself and for others as well.

Will, left field.

Ray, third base.

John, the second base.

Here we go.

ALL: 1, 2, 3, team.

When I started teaching John Dill, he didn't know how to play catch.

He didn't know how to swing at the bat because when I was playing baseball, I didn't have the time.

But here now I have the time because we are out of the chaos.

My wife and I are trying our best to teach our kids both cultures.

In the Dominican, we leave for baseball.

And that's one of the things that they need to know about their country, Dominican Republic.

All right.

Here we go.

Here we go.

Sometimes, when they are watching my videos on the internet, they tell me, "hey, dad, you're famous.

You're famous."

And I'm like, I just worked hard.

You have to do the same thing.

One of the essential qualities of a person coming to the United States of America is resilience.

We have very abstract ideas of an American dream and all these opportunities available in the US, but those dreams and opportunities just don't come to you.

You have to be ready to sometimes get hurt and depressed, but at the same time, never giving up and always moving forward.

YAMILA AUDISIO: On April 28, I finally got my citizenship approved after many years of waiting.

It was a super difficult process.

And it finally happened.

And I'm very excited about it.

I feel like now I have two homes.

Every time I go back to Argentina, it feels like being home.

But when I come here, I feel the same way.

And you have double.

Everything is double-- double family, double friends, double everything.

ALEXI CASILLA: When we first came, we were going to try for one year.

And then after that, maybe we try something new.

But we have good neighbors and good people in the community.

My kids feel comfortable now, and they don't want to go somewhere else.

HYESEON KIM: It is so important to find your tribe.

And so get involved and not just show up, but be part of that group and by engaging with the group not only you are learning the American life, but at the same time, you develop as a person.

[music playing] WILL PRICE: In 2017, we shared the story of a textile artist who brought his skills from West Africa to Western Pennsylvania.

I'm Ansumana Komba Gbembo.

I'm a clothing designer.

I was born in Sierra Leone.

We had a war, so we ran away to Guinea as a refugee with my parents and my siblings.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees sponsored a program for me to go and train as a designer.

And the one who made me like doing it more is my mother.

And she inspired me a lot and encouraged me to work.

NARRATOR: While living in the country of Gambia, Ansumana fell ill and was sent to the United States for medical treatment.

I don't choose to come to Erie, but they choose for me.

So when I found myself in Erie, it's like Sierra Leone to me.

It's like I was reborn.

So the place is like a home to me.

I'm doing any hard job to pay my bills.

But if you ask me really what I want to do is sewing.

NARRATOR: Ansumana has brought his passion for sewing and designing from West Africa to Western Pennsylvania and is eager to share his skills with the community he now calls home.

ANSUMANA KOMBA GBEMBO: When I came to the United States, I'm trying to create another different design that will blend America, African-American Design.

And I can design anything that somebody like or see in any type of fabrics or material.

So when I came here, I talked to the agencies to find me a place where they would hire me for sewing, but they said they can't get that.

I have to move out of the Erie.

So if that's the only thing, I'm not going nowhere.

I will design for myself.

And if you see it you like it, I'll tell you I designed this.

If you like it, I can make it for you.

NARRATOR: Many folk artists feel just as passionately about passing on their craft as they do about the art itself.

Whether it be the joy of creating that motivates them or the desire to preserve an aspect of their heritage, these artists are on a mission to make sure that their traditions survive.

WILL PRICE: Where some of our new neighbors relocating to the Commonwealth is a necessity, this next story features a family who are working hard to hold on to their heritage after fleeing to Pennsylvania from Afghanistan.

[music playing] We are from Afghanistan.

We both were born and raised in Kabul City, which is the capital of the country.

We got married in 2013.

It was a love marriage.

[laughter] STORAI JALALI: Now we have two kids, Murwat and Mohammad.

(SINGING) Johnny, Johnny.

(SINGING) Yes, Papa.

(SINGING) Eating sugar.

(SINGING) No, Papa.

(SINGING) Telling lies.

The first thing they did was start searching for the people who had views against them and wrote against them.

Murtaza has 16 years of journalism background, and he wrote many articles about Taliban.

And I was a women's right activist.

I worked for international organization.

And we were focusing on women empowerment and all over Afghanistan, which of course, Sullivan doesn't like.

They tried their best to search for us.

So we just escaped for our lives and a future for our kids.

WILL PRICE: After an eight-month long journey, the Jalali's arrived in State College in April of 2021.

STORAI JALALI: When we came here, there were three Afghan families, and we were the fourth.

We were the first family who came as a refugee or a part of evacuations.

WILL PRICE: The Jalali's are practicing Muslims and observe the Islamic celebration of Eid al-Adha [speaking arabic] They join other Muslims at the mosque for prayer followed by breakfast.

[speaking arabic] STORAI JALALI: It's hard for my daughter and my son to accept both cultures together.

They both are interested to go to school and spend the day with their friends rather than being in the mosque celebrating Eid.

But me and Murtaza, we both really like to see both cultures in them, but it's not easy because they are turning really American.

Some people ask me, why you are wearing the scarf.

Even my kids, even Muhammad, it's been weeks that he's asking, "Mom, why are you wearing scarf?"

Because he might see everybody not wearing it and it's not normal.

And he was like, "why you are wearing scarf?"

For me, it has nothing related to religion or political stuff.

It's my culture.

[music playing] MURTAZA JALALI: You are born in a country, grew up in a country, you're studying in a country, and then you're forcing to escape and to lose everything.

STORAI JALALI: It wasn't easy doing all this with two kids.

They were all the time asking questions why it happened, why we lost our home, why we are traveling, why we are not in our home.

Sometimes I feel good for Muhammad because he has no memories.

He will not remember, but Murwat, she still remembers and she still has that in mind that fair.

People say that time will heal everything, but I don't think in our whole life we'll forget about what happened with us.

MURTAZA JALALI: Of course, by the passing the time, you can get new thing.

You can buy new house, car, stuff, but how about your age?

You will never get back your age.

And another life.

Yeah.

It's a big trauma that we went through.

[non-english].

STORAI JALALI: People were saying when you move to this country you'll have depression because everything will be new, but I have to thank all those people who helped us.

They never let us feel like we are alone.

MURTAZA JALALI: We have met lots of friends.

We are sharing our cultures and foods and activities.

STORAI JALALI: We have Indian friends, Pakistani friends.

Most friends we have are Americans.

So we socialize with everyone.

MURTAZA JALALI: I believe we are part of the State College community, not a particular like Afghan community.

STORAI JALALI: We are grateful that we are here and we were able to escape.

And we are grateful for all the good people we have around in this community.

WILL PRICE: In October of 1949, roughly 30,000 people came together in a tiny town called Aaronsburg to celebrate religious and racial understanding.

This event was documented in the 2016 production of Our Town Penns Valley Hi.

I'm Kurt Grotz.

I'm with Waterhouse Studios in Aaronsburg.

And I'm here to talk about the Aaronsburg story.

In 2013, I moved to Aaronsburg.

And one of the main reasons that I purchased my house was I discovered that it was right above the Salem Lutheran Church, which I learned was the site of the Aaronsburg story.

The Aaronsburg story started in the late 1700s when a gentleman by the name of Aaron Levy donated land for a church, which became the Salem Lutheran Church.

And he gave the parishioners a very fine pewter communion set made by a top pewter maker in the city of Philadelphia.

And the long story short, in 1949, after the Holocaust, a gentleman by the name of Arthur Lewis was an aide to Governor Duff.

And he was traveling across the state and came through Aaronsburg and saw that they were celebrating 150 years of this church.

He found out about the gift from Aaron Levy who was Jewish to the Christians and thought the story was so great that the state should join in the celebration.

They ended up having a remarkable event at the fields next to the Salem Lutheran Church in Aaronsburg.

A large mass of people descended on the town of Aaronsburg.

Politically speaking, it was a mixture of Democrats and Republicans.

But everybody was there on the same page to talk about tolerance and religious freedom.

There were three main workshops.

One of them dealt with religious tolerance in America.

One of them dealt with racial equality among people.

And one of them dealt with prejudice-- how you identify it and how you deal with people that are prejudice.

It was 10 years before Rosa Parks and 15 years before Martin Luther King.

And it was just an amazing, amazing event right here in the Valley.

There's markers around that keep the story alive.

We're planning to have some sort of recreation or a concert or an event in 2019.

My plan actually is to turn my house and property into a retreat, a peace retreat.

We're really looking forward to this story being a catalyst for further discussions and activities along those lines.

[music playing] Thanks for watching.

See you next time on Keystone Stories.

[music playing]