Deepak and Sita Rai put down their hoe and marveled at the tender shoots of vegetables and spices rising tentatively from the soggy garden they've helped build on a corner lot in southeastern Lancaster.

For 20 years, since they were children, the couple lived in a refugee camp in Nepal after being exiled from their native Bhutan for being Christian. Deepak Rai is 25 and his wife is 23.

Small mounds of mud fertilized with cow dung yielded a few treats for the couple when they lived in the refugee camp. Now, they can grow the tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers and okra they savor.

They also can grow plants like oregano, kale and collard greens,  things they've never tried but have promised their new friends that they will.

For four refugee families from war-torn Burma and two families from Bhutan by way of Nepal, this community garden represents both a  way to reconnect with the foods of their homelands as well as a sort of meet-the-neighbors project.

"There are culturally rich and vibrant growing Burmese and Nepali communities in Lancaster city that have a lot to offer our neighborhoods. I hope that as more people get involved in the community garden and work side by side, we can learn even more from one another," said Megan Heinly, a 25-year-old Lancaster college student who helped launch the garden experiment as a class project and has seen it turn into much more.

A few months ago, Heinly and two fellow graduate students, Dana Robertson of Millersville and Joelle Jones of Harrisburg, all studying social work at Temple University's Harrisburg campus  were instructed by a professor to find a social need in their community and do something about it.

Heinly, who also served as an intern for Church World Service, knew there were a lot of refugee families in Lancaster. And Robertson had connections with the folks who last year created a successful community garden called The Alley Garden in that part of the city.

The neighborhood garden was full, but the three students were directed to Tim and Sonya Charles, who attended In the Light Ministries church at Locust and South Shippen streets, a half-block away.

The church owned a vacant lot across the street. Might the church be willing to allow a garden for the many refugee families who lived within walking distance?

Have at it, was the blessing from Pastor Phil Hernandez.

Church World Service, a nonprofit refugee assistance agency that has brought many of the refugees here, contacted families, most of whom had faced violence and persecution for their religion or ethnicity.

Would they be interested in growing some of their own food?

Were they ever.

Within weeks, the trio of college students, the Charleses and others had the necessary building materials.

Lumber for the raised beds was donated by neighbors. The city delivered a truckload of mulch. In the Light Ministries and Community Mennonite Church of Lancaster each donated $200 for tools and seeds.

In recent weeks, in the brief lulls between rains, the refugees and project coordinators rolled up their sleeves and got dirty.

The Rais have found gardening a humbling experience. Both their families come from farming backgrounds and Deepak Rai said working in the garden is a way to remember their families.

For Sah Klu, 24, this will be the first time she has grown her own food since fleeing violence in Burma and spending 11 years in a refugee camp in Thailand.

With her 3-year-old-son at her side, the 24-year-old woman works an oregano plant from a pot and eases it into the ground. She looks forward to cooking fresh peppers and cucumbers with rice.

Through an interpreter, Ka Te Zar, 22, another refugee from Burma, is working her first garden and relishes a crop of potatoes.

Like most of the other families, she said the women and children intend to cultivate the garden while the men are at work. Each family will be assigned a day to tend to the communal garden and, if needed, carry buckets of water from across the street.

One of the perceived benefits of the garden is to draw refugee families out into their new community and to keep them from being isolated.

Everyone seems grateful for the exposure to each other.

"My guess is that as the growing season continues, we'll continue to see the community form and flourish,"  Robertson said.

"In a time and place in our community with so much uncertainty — economic downturn, disasters and the chaos we sometimes hear about in the news — I feel that what we need most is each other, and I feel that this project has spoken loud and clear to all of us who have been involved."

Tim Charles, who helped plan and organize the garden, said, "This is the kind of project followers of Jesus are called to get involved in."

Heinly is humbled by "the power of collaboration" and what she has learned from her new friends.

"I really hope that it brings more attention to the wonderful communities of the Burmese and Bhutanese/Nepali people in Lancaster city. I hope that other people can see them as neighbors and friends as well."

acrable@lnpnews.com