Studio One features interviews on refugee support and community playground

Find out how an organization is helping refugees transition to a new life on the next edition of Studio One.

The Global Friends Coalition is a non-profit organization which helps displaced refugees adapt to a new environment. Programming Director Cynthia Shabb will discuss the difficulties this group faces when adjusting to a different lifestyle and how Global Friends helps. Shabb says, “it’s overwhelming if you think about it, coming from a refugee camp to a modern city.” This organization uses local volunteers to help each migrant acclimate into their new home. The goal, “is to get [the refugees] to be a part of the community.”

Also on the show, for most, parks bring memories of a carefree childhood. But for one community, the local playground has more meaning. When Sherlock Park was destroyed in a fire, community members rallied to make it bigger and better. Penny Pape and her daughter, Katie, say that the playground is more than a warm reminder of years past. To them it’s a place where members of a city became friends and family. Tune into Studio One this week to see how a symbol of unity and friendship was built, one colorful stroke of paint at a time.

Studio One is an award-winning news and information program produced at the University of North Dakota Television Center. The program airs live on UND Channel 3 on Thursdays at 5 p.m. Re-broadcasts can be seen at 7 a.m., noon, 7 p.m. and 11 p.m. daily and on Saturdays at 10 a.m. Prairie Public Television airs Studio One on Saturday at 6 a.m. The program can also be seen by viewers in Bismarck-Mandan, Dickinson, Fargo, Jamestown, Minot, Ray and Steele, N.D.; Minneapolis, Minn.; Denver and Colorado Springs, Colo.; Winnipeg and Brandon, Manitoba and online at www.studio1.und.edu.