They were teacher and student in exile. Now this Democrat and Republican face off in Ohio

Bhuwan Pyakurel and Kamal Subedi's story charts a Bhutanese refugee community's rise - and its growing political divide

Almost 32 years ago, in a refugee camp in eastern Nepal, children sat cross-legged around a small blackboard propped on the dirt, repeating the alphabet in sing-song rhythm. Among them was Bhuwan Pyakurel, a fourth-grader, and his teacher, Kamal Subedi, barely 18.

He was tall, thin, and very talkative," Subedi said, now 52. We didn't know what would happen tomorrow. So we went hut to hut, gathering kids to learn." In the early 1990s, thousands of Bhutanese refugees had arrived across seven camps in the region, each day bringing more families, more children, and more uncertainty.