So much of the immigration journey is focused on where you’re going. But what happens when you look back at where you came from? Hangda Zhang moved to the US as a college student. Now she works in the DMV area, with a stable career and a supportive social circle. Her family, though, is still back in China, and reflecting on that distance has been particularly meaningful over the past year. Music: Ketsa - Acid Road

Redefining Home with Hangda Zhang

Ed Beetar, a journalist from Syria and co-founder of KAMA DC, tells us how he used laughter and comedy to overcome the negative emotions endured during the war in his home country. Through humor, he has been able to speak the truth publicly on the current problems of Syria. He says humor has saved his life many times. Ed grew up in Syria and moved to the U.S. in 2013, but his love of laughter has followed him his whole life. Music: Acid Road by Ketsa

Choosing Humor with Ed Beetar

The concept of Patriotism has received a lot of attention, especially over the last few years with the increased polarization of the United States. Joining us for part two of our interview with Paola Salas to hear how, from growing up on a military base to then moving to D.C., her understanding of patriotism changed. Music: Acid Road by Ketsa

Relearning Patriotism with Paola Salas

Join us on this week’s episode to hear how Fabiola Delgado, originally trained in human rights law, began working at the Smithsonian, and how she continues to support human rights through art. Music: Ketsa - Acid Road

Supporting Human Rights through Art with Fabiola Delgado

Born to Ukrainian immigrant parents and raised in Ellicott City, Maryland, Leeza Malachevsky talks about the challenges of navigating generational trauma and unlearning mental health stigma that children of immigrants often experience. Listen to the episode to hear what Leeza has learned about setting boundaries, re-parenting herself with compassion, and honoring her own needs.

Music: Ketsa - Acid Road

Honoring Your Inner Child with Leeza Malachevsky

In the second installment of our mini-season featuring Afghan refugees, Javaid Rafat discusses the history of Afghanistan leading up to the government being overthrown and his experience moving to the U.S. with his family 2016. Javaid provides an insider's look into how it was working for an international organization in Afghanistan, and discusses his family's experience with the refugee crisis that took place at the end of 2021.
Music: Ketsa - Acid Road

Afghan Refugee Mini-Series: Changing Afghanistan with Javaid Rafat

In the third installment of our mini-season featuring Afghan refugees, Zarmina Hamidi tells the story of how she moved to the US as a refugee with her siblings and parents in 1988. Having spent most of her life in Virginia, she’s had to learn to balance the identity that she was born with: Afghan and the identity she adopted: American. As a refugee caseworker, mother, and actress, Zarmina wears a lot of hats. She says her father, and his lessons of compassion, are with her every step of the day.

Music: Ketsa - Acid Road

Refugee Mini-Series: Practicing Compassion with Zarmina Hamidi

In the final episode of our min-series highlighting the voices of Afghan refugees, Abdul Noori shares his story of courage, the pain he experienced when separating from his family, and his commitment to helping others in his same situation. He shares his rawness and emotion of moving to a new country alone, while fearing for his families’ life everyday back in Afghanistan. 

Music: Ketsa - Acid Road

Afghan Refugee Mini-Series: Finding Courage by Helping Others with Abdul Noori

Our third episode of Journeys Season 2 features Simone Dichiara, an immigrant from Italy who studies stars, supernovas, and black holes. Listen to the episode to hear more about Simone’s journey to becoming an astronomer and the work he does now on observing the universe.

Exploring the Stars with Simone Dichiara

Kenya Ahuatzi is very happy to live in the U.S. now, where she works as a Spanish teacher and has a vibrant and supportive community of friends. But she hadn’t expected it to be this way. Prior to the move from Mexico, Kenya and her family were really apprehensive about what life in the U.S. might look like, and she’s been pushing back against that narrative of fear ever since. 
Music: Ketsa - Acid Road

Tackling Stereotypes with Kenya Ahuatzi

Keshni was born and raised in an apartheid segregated township in South Africa, she now also considers Washington D.C. home. And after a decade here, she has finally gotten used to Orion being the right way up in the night’s sky. Her stories are influenced by her evolving definition of home and belonging, and the tides of political and social change that move us all.

Writing Your Story with Keshni Naicker-Washington

When you imagine an immigrant journey, do you think of a harrowing trek across borders, or the joy of winning a visa lottery? To Obiekwe Okolo, an immigrant from Lagos, Nigeria, these binary options leave much to be desired. In fact, the vast majority of migrants make their way to new countries on trips that may just seem ordinary at the time. At least that’s how it was when he arrived in the U.S. at age 6, thinking his family trip might just be a vacation. Now an artist and creative director living in D.C., Obiekwe reflects on what it means to have a “normal” immigration story, and how to find a sense of belonging within it.

In Full Flight with Obiekwe Okolo

Krish O’Mara Vignarajah is the President and CEO of Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service (LIRS) — the largest faith-based national nonprofit exclusively dedicated to serving immigrants and refugees. In this episode of Journeys, Krish shares with us her story of how her family came to Maryland from Sri Lanka and her thoughts on the U.S. immigration system.

Rethinking Immigration with Krish O’Mara Vignarajah

Growing up in Poland, Maz Bednarczyk says criticizing one’s own country was almost like a national sport — so they were struck by such a stark sense of American exceptionalism that relies on competitive outlooks and discounting the opinions of outsiders. In reality, they learned, life in the U.S. is complicated, dynamic, and constantly evolving. But that was no problem for Maz, who approaches learning and acclimating to American life with a healthy dose of curiosity. 

Marta Bednarczyk (they/them), known to friends and colleagues as Maz, is an expert in intercultural and non-formal education with more than eight years of experience developing and delivering training courses, workshops, and e-learning activities on leadership, human rights, global citizenship, and more.

Listen to the episode to hear their thoughts on combating assumptions with curiosity and compassion.

Music: Ketsa - Acid Road

Getting Curious with Maz Bednarczyk

Anna is a security professional with over 10 years of experience in the government and private sector. She mentors students from her alma mater- American University, as well as Girl Security- a non-profit organization preparing girls, women, and gender minorities for national security careers. 

Anna immigrated twice in her life, and is very passionate about cross cultural communication, and supporting immigrants and refugees. In January 2022, she launched AlisAdel www.alisadel.com- a social entrepreneurship venture. In addition to being an aspiring social entrepreneur, Anna is the host of the Immigrant² Podcast. On her podcast Anna provides a safe space for immigrants and refugees to share their journeys, struggles, successes, and advice for other immigrants. In addition, she is partnering with and hosted organizations who work tirelessly to support immigrants and refugees.

Learning from Each Other with Anna G

Andres Almosny has enough cultural ties to weave an intricate tapestry — born in Argentina to a Venezuelan mother and Argentinian father, raised in the Dominican Republic, and married his Puerto Rican wife before moving to the U.S. in 2022. Being focused is a key part of his approach to making a lifetime of transitions feel sustainable and achievable. As a former sports broadcaster and current development coordinator at Lutheran Social Services, Andres brings a goal-oriented mentality to everything he does. Taking ownership of his identity as an immigrant has kept him in positive spirits with an open mind, and given him a penchant for finding a soccer team wherever he goes.

Music: Ketsa - Acid Road

Keeping Your Eye on the Ball with Andres Almosny

Join us for the beginning of Season 3, as we follow Sana Salah through her unexpectedly dramatic journey from Kolkata, India, to the US. Sana, who works with the American Red Cross, explores the difference between low-context and high-context communication and the power of courage when talking to strangers. She’s learned firsthand that the willingness to be open and direct can take you incredibly far — even as far as her first Thanksgiving meal, and a meaningful relationship to follow.

Music: Ketsa - Acid Road

Building Relationships with Sana Salah

Join us as we hear from Téa Ivanovic, the Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer of Immigrant Food, a social enterprise startup that fuses innovative gastronomy and social justice advocacy. In this episode, we hear how Téa first came to the U.S. for tennis, began working in the political field, and has now opened three restaurants with the mission to celebrate immigrants' contributions through food, while being an advocate and platform for educating on behalf of immigrants.

Advocating Through Food with Tea Ivanovic

Yao Zhao is a man on a mission. In his family’s home in China, sichuan peppers were a culinary staple, and now he’s determined to expose the world to the unique, tingly spice. On this episode of KAMA Journeys, he tells us about the cooking experience that inspired his business “50Hertz Tingly Foods,” the story behind its creative name, and why exactly he’s so passionate about sharing Sichuan’s magic with everyone he meets.

Broadening Culinary Horizons with Yao Zhao

Join us as we hear from Liz Kleinrock (she/her), a Korean-American transracial adoptee, queer, Jewish, anti-bias and anti-racist educator, facilitator, and author. In this episode, we discuss Liz’s experience growing up as an intercountry, interracial adoptee, her current work in raising awareness in the intercountry adoptee community, and her upcoming second book. In 2018, Liz received the Teaching Tolerance Award for Excellence in Teaching, and in 2019 delivered her TED Talk, “How to teach kids to talk about taboo topics." In the spring of 2021, Liz released her first book, “Start Here, Start Now: A Guide to Antibias and Antiracist Work in Your School Community.”

Adoption and Identity with Liz Kleinrock

Follow Stella's "love journey" from Armenia to the U.S., where she opened Yerevan Cafe in the heart of Adam’s Morgan with her husband in 2021. In this episode, Stella shares her perspective on approaching cultural diversity with curiosity, bringing a slice of Armenian life to DC, and the meaning behind Armenian apricots' unique flavor. 

Music: Ketsa - Acid Road

Exploring New Cultures with Stella Grigoryan

Journeys is a bite-sized podcast series featuring immigrants and refugees living in the DC-Maryland-Virginia area. Our mission is to center the voices of immigrants in our community while providing a platform for storytelling, cultural connection and unity. 

If you’re interested in participating in the podcast, please email kamawashingtondc@gmail.com with your name and contact information.

Journeys Podcast

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