For refugees escaping persecution, acclimating to life in another country can often times, be the hardest part. In part three of "Finding Freedom - A Refugees Story," Karen Tararache explores how one family does this in Albany.
ALBANY, N. Y. -- Head to Lincoln Park on a beautiful summer afternoon and you may find yourself bumping into a group of people from Burma.
"I don't think people in Albany realize how many refugees are here," Debbie Taylor said, a USCRI volunteer. "Their stories are so amazing and they are not unlike our grandparents maybe who came to the U. S. for opportunity."
Data from the U. S. Census Bureau shows a .7 percent increase in Albany County's population between 2010 and 2014 due in large part to refugee and immigrant resettlement.
Steah Htoo and Shaw Mo are two of the many refugees that escaped military rule in Myanmar.
"The Army came to our village and was burning homes," Htoo said.
"Our lives were not safe and then we moved to the Thai-Burma border." Mo said.
Facilitating the arrival of refugees to our Capitol for the past 10 years -- non-profit USCRI.
"She is amazing she is like my mother," Htoo said.
"She is like my daughter, we've known each other for so long," Taylor said.
Deborah Taylor met Steah Htoo when she came to America in 2009.
"I could not survive in the jungles of South East Asia and she has adapted so well here," Taylor said.
She has helped many of the Karenni refugees with their mail, food assistance and health insurance but the biggest hurdle of all, Mo explained, "Any work is okay for me, but what's difficult is the language."
"In housekeeping, it is a hard job but I have to learn more so I can get a better job," Htoo said.
Steah Htoo became a U. S. citizen in December. She hopes to someday return to her village to visit and care for the family she left behind.
"Everybody needs to try and help each other," Htoo said.
To learn more information about USCRI, click here.