I'm Charity Nebbe And this is Greetings from Iowa.

The cultures of our state, like anywhere else, are a complex mix of people.

Stories backgrounds and heritage as our state has grown and evolved.

So to have the people and traditions.

On this episode, we'll head to Dennison to meet a journalist who's built a Spanish language newspaper that serves several Iowa communities will visit a stunning Hindu temple that skirts the Des Moines River and will cook with high and low tea, who came to Iowa along with thousands of others, as part of Governor Robert Rae's refugee initiative.

In the 1970s.

Join me as we explore the stories that shape our state.

It's all coming up next on Greetings from Iowa.

Funding for Greetings from Iowa is provided by: With our Iowa roots and Midwestern values.

Farmers Mutual Hail is committed to offering innovative farm insurance for America's farmers, just as we have for six generations.

Farmers Mutual Hail America's crop insurance company the Pella Roll Screen Foundation is a proud supporter of Iowa PBS Pella Windows and Doors strives to better our communities and build a better tomorrow [music] immigrated to America in the 19th century, where many people still follow the teachings and traditions.

Several groups live in and around Iowa communities.

And you don't have to go far to see a horse and buggy crossing the road My name is Daniel Nisly and welcome to Kalona, Iowa.

Today, Kalona is home to a wide array of locally owned shops, restaurants and the Mennonite and Amish people.

But what draws tourists here each year is its striking connection to what Iowa was like in the past when pioneers first settled the rolling prairies.

This is Kalona depot, and it was built here in 1879 and was used here for close to 100 years.

That town of Kalona, people felt like we needed to save this one.

And so it was moved to this spot and is refurbished to the way it used to be.

I was born and raised in this community and still living here.

It's a quiet place, and it's very enjoyable.

I like I can't think of any other place I'd rather live.

Also, people are interested in seeing the more simple life that the Amish have.

This is of some of the type of clothing that the Amish wear.

The Amish way of life was mainly agriculture is rooted in farming.

You won't find an Amish family living 50 miles away from from a community and beyond their own.

There's they're always interacting with each other.

I have done tours since 1996.

Probably 95% of the people they meet are very friendly and just very accommodating and and people just really like the experience of coming into Kalona.

Papers have to continue.

Newspapers have to continue.

Newspapers invest time to investigate, to have that interaction, eye to eye, face to face with people.

And able to express it in the th Its what the news is about.

Its not the same to read it, to hear it.

To have somebody who can translate it.

Because in translation, there is something very imporant, also.

In translation, the message many of the times, most of the times, gets lost.

We Latinos need that information We need La Prensa.

And Im going to continue.

In all of Latin America we have “la prensa.

” Especially in Central America.

So La Prensa in English means “The Press.

” We are in Denison, Iowa.

And Denison, Iowa is a beautiful community.

Its a mix of cultures.

Because in Denison we have Latinos.

We have Sudanese.

We have Asian people.

And, of course, the Caucasian co And it changed alot.

In the 90s, the early 90s, There was not too many stores.

The businesses were not dominate by Latinos.

And now every street, that you go in Denison you can find restaurants and sto Every kind of Latino business.

I am from the north.

That is the rural area from Nicaragua.

Esteli is my home town.

I already knew it.

I want to be a journalist.

we started on May 3, 2006 We started with Carrol and Denis Two years later we extended to Spencer, Cherokee, Storm Lake, Perry, and Des Moines.

My big challenge right now is that its just me.

For 14 years, I have been doing La Prensa by myself.

I do the sales.

I do the interviews.

I write the stories.

I dont like to say this, but I think age is starting to hit me.

I see a journalist as not just a career.

I see journalists as something, humanity.

Its something that is going to make people not just to be informed but also smile in knowing the neighbor.

That is very, very important that we know our neighbor.

Newspapers need to survive.

Because its not just a business You know what La Presna is?

Its the only way the Latinos have in these small communities to receive the information.

The true information.

Truthfully.

I feel I am giving voice to people.

I like that.

I do like it.

I dont like it like arrogance.

You know how I like it?

I feel I have a mission in life.

Yeah, I feel proud of that.

I am very, very appreciative with God to give me that ability to help others this way.

Manjunath Lakshmipathy: Hinduism is the most open-ended beautiful religion that has no restrictions on how you worship and what you worship.

The practices and rituals can be as easy as a meditation or a yoga.

And you meditate and pray for the abstract Supreme Brahman or you participate in a ritual such as the abhishekam or other things.

You can do both and you can achieve the same success.

That is the beauty of Hinduism.

♪♪ Manjunath Lakshmipathy: This temple was built in 2005 with the thought of having a place of worship for the Hindus living in Central Iowa.

♪♪ Manjunath Lakshmipathy: And when we were looking around for a spot, one of the significance of this place is because it has a river around it behind the temple.

All temples that are constructed in India have a river or a lake or a pond around them.

And all temples also face east as the sun comes up and the source of energy is received directly into the temple.

♪♪ Manjunath Lakshmipathy: And when you come into the temple, you see the tower that is located on top of the building.

Each tier is an elevation of our spiritual journey, starting with the lowest tier explaining about how we mortals look up to the God as our savior.

Manjunath Lakshmipathy: And then as you go up the tiers, there are the Gods that are set up in the front, as you seek their permission to go to the next level.

In the spiritual journey, Hinduism advocates the God to be both abstract as well as manifested in the divine form as well as the human form.

There are several manifestations of God in Hinduism and those manifestations are what you see in our temple as deities.

(chanting) (chanting) Janakiram Akella: So tonight is a very special day.

It is called Maha Shivaratri.

Maha means grand, shiva is Shiva, ratri means night.

So the belief is that at the stroke of midnight, Shiva appeared in front of the world as a force of energy, not that he got created out of anything, he just appeared.

And we are celebrating that.

(chanting) Janakiram Akella: And usually we follow all night chanting and people fast for the occasion.

I am fasting today.

I haven't eaten anything from morning.

And Shiva, we feel, likes water, bathing.

So all night long they are going to cool him down, calm him down with water and then do bhajans, meaning meditation chanting, of our sculptures and it's very powerful and vibrant.

(chanting) Manjunath Lakshmipathy: And we are going to do a showering process called abhishekam today.

The abhishekam involves materials such as milk, yogurt, honey, sugar and ghee.

Most of these products come from the cow.

The cow is a sacred animal in Hinduism.

The way we use this abhishekam, we do use the divine energy, preserve the divine energy.

And that energy comes out as a positive energy to the visiting devotees.

Om Shanti Shanti Shanti.

♪♪ (temple visitors speaking to each other) Viren Amin: The community is the reason we exist here.

We have many celebrations, celebrations of festivals and special days.

India especially it's a very amazingly diverse community.

Every state has its own native language and its own native rituals and customs.

But that brings strength in diversity.

That is what we all believe in.

Viren Amin: Holi is celebrated in different parts of the country and in slightly different ways.

Some parts in the north it's welcoming the spring.

And in some places it's just spraying colors, colored water and colored powder just for a lot of community fun.

Viren Amin: When I was little I was very surprised to read that the founding reason for that is for that one day everybody forgets about different socioeconomic status, color of the skin, all the differences people have and they all merge and with the different colors on them nobody would recognize the differences in the skin color or how they look, where they come from, they are poor or rich.

So that is the biggest part that I like about Holi.

♪ (music and chanting) Janakiram Akella: Everyone is equal and that is the most important philosophy of Hinduism, oneness of the world.

The slogan you actually see when you are coming in, you see, I see God in you.

That is what it means pretty much, if I can see God in you and you see God in me, pretty much we can't fight because you are the same as me.

So that is the oneness that we strongly believe in.

(chanting) Om Shanti Shanti Shanti.

Janakiram Akella: There were so many times when I came to this country about 20 plus years ago, I was alone.

Back then there weren't many Indians around.

So during that time I had a lot of times of loneliness.

And when I came here a lot of people were like that.

And so I always tell people, religion is not to solve your problems.

Actually religion and the temple is a place where you can feel home in a way someone is listening to you whether it's God or your friends.

And I think that is what this temple gives me, that hope that tomorrow is going to be a better day than today.

That hope is what drives me to this temple.

♪♪ ♪♪ I am here with Hien Lothi, a member of the Tai Dam community in Des Moines.

Thank you so much for talking with me.

You are welcome and glad to be here and you are going to cook for us in a little while, which I'm very excited about.

But let's go back in time your family came to the United States in 1979 before you came to the United States.

You spent three years in a refugee camp.

Can you tell me a little bit about what that was like?

We lived in a row house.

that is about two feet high and the floor is all made out from bamboo.

You know, the living condition is not perfect.

It is hard.

Yeah.

Because you have to get the water is not running water.

You know, we have to dig our own well to some people dig, you know, like we have a row house They dig a well right in their room.

Wow.

So you were in the refugee camp for about three years before you finally were able to come to the United States.

You were 16 years old when you came to the United States.

How how many members of your family were able to come?

All 13 of us.

So this was, you know, three years.

That's a long time.

People, I think we accept my family set the record because nobody stay that long.

Nobody stayed at long except family.

Yeah.

Because we don't have money.

We not socialize with other people.

We talked to them.

You know, my dad helped to go sparrow boots.

And then Thai people are Laotian people.

They believe when you buy boots in the office, you know, turtles and you release and when you release bad luck, you know, And then people the Tai people they might so and if that's what they want, money yet that's actual money.

Yeah.

So you just found any way that you could to have money because the food that they passed to us and that's not enough Hien,you're going to make some traditional Thai stuffed fried fish.

Tell me a little bit more about it.

Now, this one is tilapia.

I bought it yesterday.

Yeah, you can you can buy it.

Read a store then my you know, I cut off the head and then I clean and I leave the bone in there.

So I seasoning with, you know, salt and MSG that's what Salt MSG.

All right.

No, no recipe.

Just guessing.

Yeah.

You know what?

Yeah.

And this one is.

My sister and I'm caught off with went fishing, and then they caugh white bass I got this from Red Rock.

Great.

So, yeah, Would that be normally how you would eat it?

Yeah.

Oh, yeah, yeah, I yeah, I eat the cheekbone.

I eat the brain.

They eat.

I know it's a lot.

I yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

So anyway, they're stuffing.

Yes.

Lemongrass from my yard.

And big onions, and I bought the dill from the store from the store, and then chili chilies is from my garden and ginger is from the store.

It just smells so good.

And then the main thing was that salt and then MSG.

Okay, so the MSG the brand that I got is made from Iowa corn.

Oh, really?

Yeah.

And do you do you like to leave them together for a while?

So that's the flavor.

Yeah, yeah.

marinate, you know, for bit.

And after I stop the fish in a tie up with the string from my yard.

Right, right, right.

Yes.

Yeah.

Okay.

[music] And did your mother teach you how to do this?

I watched my mom, and then I learned from watching her so you just wrap the string around, is it time to fry these fish?

Okay.

So now we're just watching part of what makes this story unique is that Governor Robert Ray petitioned President Ford to allow the Tai Dam people to stay together.

So there were 2400 Tai Dam people who ended up settling in Iowa to create a community and to keep your culture alive.

I know that you came as a teenager and things were hard, but tell me a little bit about that community, the Tai Dam people coming together in Iowa.

What was that like about a, you know, back home, like the when we escape from North Vietnam to Laos, they settle in the capital of Lao and like people live in different city they want to be together like, you know, they want to be close to family because they got that that in our Asian culture stick together, especially family so how do you know when it's time to flip when you can see the edge of the fish is kind of like caramlized and browned.

The caramelization.

so while the fish is finishing, we also started steaming some rice.

Yeah.

And you brought a traditional, bamboo rice steamer.

Yeah.

Yeah.

On with the rice.

Ready to go to steam.

This one, right.

So you just grab a handful and that's great for him.

Yeah.

And you have to make a small piece like that if it, you know, cook faster, you know?

Yeah, I reheat faster.

Yeah, but my mom said nonetheless, the way my mom said, I I'm starting to get to know your mom.

I feel like mom, she's a very particular So another word for Tai Dam You know, like, neatly.

That's what the word is.

Yeah.

Beautiful.

this purple rice is so beautiful.

And this is very special to the Tai Dam people, right?

Yes.

For the old folks, They do.

I think young generation that likes it too now.

Well, it's beautiful.

I can't imagine anybody not liking it.

Everything is ready.

So show me how you would put your plate together at home.

We get some chopstick All right, yeah.

You just break up fish.

Yep.

Wonderful.

I'm going to start with the sauce.

Is it going to burn my mouth, Might be a little bit.

All right, give it a try.

Yeah.

It is spicy and garlicky.

Garlic and delicious.

Yeah.

And thank you so much for making this beautiful meal for us.

You are very welcome for sharing your story.

I think probably the first time I see something like this.

Yeah.

Is very traditional.

My dad favorite or my whole family, I shouldn't say, oh, Well, thank you so much.

Welcome As we look in on the people, cultures and communities of our state, we'll see you next time for another episode of Greetings from Iowa.

Funding for Greetings from Iowa is provided by: With our Iowa roots and Midwestern values Farmers Mutual Hail is committed to offering innovative farm insurance for America's farmers, just as we have for six generations.

Farmers Mutual Hail America's Crop Insurance Company The Pella Roll Screen Foundation is a proud supporter of Iowa PBS, Pella Windows and Doors drives to better our communities and build a better tomorrow