The next King of Pop?

The Bhutanese Timsina family - five year-old Kushal, his father, Chet Nath, and his mother, Uma -  arrived in the U.S. following 17 years of exile in Nepal. Freelance photographer and IRC volunteer Misha Cohen has been telling their story in pictures. Misha took this photo of Kushal showing off his Michael Jackson dance moves, which he learned in Nepal. He and his uncle, Om Kanta, would spend hours watching Jackson’s music videos and studying his style. While preparing to leave for the U.S., Uma comforted Kushal by saying, “In America you can meet Michael Jackson, he is there.” When Uma learned that Michael Jackson died, one year ago today, she brought home a newspaper clipping of the star for Kushal to keep. She is sad that her son will never be able to see Michael Jackson perform live. When Chet Nath tried to explain Jackson’s death to Kushal, he didn’t understand and responded, “He will throw up his medicine and wake up.” Stay tuned for the next installment in Misha’s blog series about the Timsinas, and if you missed it, you can catch up on Kushal’s adventures at the IRC’s New York Refugee Summer Youth Academy.