Friends of Nepal

Thanks to Doug Hall for getting this information. Here is the most up to date data regarding where the Bhutanese Refugees are arriving in the United States and in what numbers.

Doug also writes:
I recently requested and received an update to the number of Bhutanese
refugees who have been resettled in various cities and communities
around the US. The US State Department provided this data, current
through June 7, 2010.

Note that there is a total column and a column for each federal fiscal
year (October 1 – September 30).

I should point out that these locations are the community where the
State Department records indicated the refugees were first to be
settled. Sometimes resettlement agencies cannot find housing in that
city or town and actually locate the refugees in a neighboring town.
Also, some refugees who arrived in 2008 may have moved from one city to
another to be closer to other family members, etc. So these figures
should be taken only as strong indication of current location, but it is
NOT a census of where people are actually living today.

Note that 27,580 have been admitted, not quite half of the total of
60,000 that the US has committed to bring into the country.

The largest single number is Denver with 991.

While Hartford CT has received only 21 and Boston only 120, tiny Concord
NH has received 553.

Some states have received none: Alabama, Maine, Mississippi, Wyoming,
for example.

This may be helpful for recruting volunteers who would like to help in
the resettlement process.

Thanks again to Tamara Bandhari for this amazing digital publication! In case you missed the last memo, all but the final of the year’s newsletters will be published online only. Read the latest issue here:

http://www.friendsofnepal.com/info/newsletters/FON_Newsletter_June2010.pdf

From Rob Buckley, Himalayan Healers

Everyone in Peace Corps must remember Dil Krishna, owner of Ringmos restaurant in Lajimpat. It’s where most of us would meet for breakfast or momos when in Kathmandu. Peace Corps volunteers have been going to his restaurant for 30+ years, and have fond memories of him.

His son is studying in Boston, and is in need of a paid internship (best way to gain experience, contacts, and possibility of employmentin America after he graduates).
Dil Krishna has helped so many PCVs over the years, it would be an absolute shame not to him his family out.

Thanks,

Rob

himalayanhealers@yahoo.com

(Contact Rob DIRECTLY at that email address to help).

Here are some posts to update on Indra Dai – one from Indra and one from Darlene Foote (N’171).

Indra writes:

On Friday I forwarded a request to our members from Indra Dai to ask for donations for his continued medical treatment. He is doing well, but had needed $1000 immediately to cover costs of test in India. I am happy to report that our members have raised $700 in just 3 days and the FPCNE group in Nepal has also raised $300. So together we have reached this goal. Indra Dai is touched by the kindness and generosity and asked me to forward his message.

– Aaron

Anyone helping Bhutanese refugees in any manner should watch the 25
minute video at:

www.refugeesyndrome.com

The video is a very honest and moving portrayal of the situation faced
by some of the Bhutanese who have been resettled in the Bronx, NYC. It
was made by 2 graduate students at the Columbia School of Journalism.
The content and the production qualities are outstanding.

One of the people interviewed in the video is TP Mishra who came from
the camps recently. He is an editor of Bhutan News Service and has his
own personal website of very high quality with some interesting videos
as well as a PDF version of his book “Becoming a Journalist in Exile.”

www.tpmishra.com

I have been in touch with TP recently and will be advertising the Nepali
dictionary on his website and maybe Bhutan News Service’s website as
well. If nothing else it will give him a little income toward what is
currently completely volunteer work on his part – journalism and
documenting the refugees’ lives.

Please check out both websites. The movie is very important.

Doug Hall

No, that is not a typo, one hundred and ten!! This is a re-post from Doug Hall, Friends of Nepal member in New Hampshire…

The Bhutanese community here in New Hampshire, along with the small resident Nepali community, celebrated the 110th birthday of Kashi Ram Rai in Manchester NH in January.

He is New Hampshire’s oldest resident and, as far as anyone knows, the oldest Nepali in the world. We had a 4 hour celebration and culture show and Kashi Ram got up and danced!

A few months earlier the New York Times had published an article noting that the last veteran of World War I had died. When I was talking with Kashi Ram, he surprised me by telling me that he had been in a British/India Gurkha regiment sent to France and had fought there in the war, returning home to Nepal in 1920. He emigrated to Bhutan in 1928. So the NYT was wrong.

Here are two links to photos taken at the event
http://www.flickr.com/photos/7174771@N07/sets/72157622992904375/with/4235719132/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/7174771@N07/4235814030/in/set-72157622992904375/

You will note in the photos that the culture show included some very traditional Nepali dances as well as some Nepali hip-hop and a Nepali Michael Jackson routine!

This event was videotaped as well. The cameramen were two refugees who had been given training by the local cable TV station. Eventually the tape will be integrated with other material that is being developed to create a professional movie about the history of the Bhutanese who are now being integrated into New Hampshire. The project planning is being funded by the NH Humanities Council. The organizers of the project are our local non-profit movie theater, the public library, and the cable station.

KATHMANDU SUSTAINABLE URBAN TRANSPORT STUDY

A presentation by Team leader David Irwin

AT:                Indigo Gallery

WHEN:           Friday February 5th

TIME:             6:30pm

ADMISSION:  FREE

The number of vehicles in Kathmandu Valley has increased dramatically in the last 10 years. In 1990 it was 150,000. Today it is 3 times more, at 450,000, of which 74% are motorcycles.

Continue Reading »

Edwon is a wonderful organization that we have support through our grants program for several years.

Path way to Empowerment

The prime goal of Association for Dalit Women Advancement of Nepal (ADWAN) is the empowerment of Dalit women of rural parts of Nepal. ADWAN aims to empower Dalit women through education, business initiatives and awareness.  ADWAN tirelessly worked for ten year launching continuous programs and activities related to these themes. Since the process of social transformation is slow, it took longer time to get the achievements and outputs of so much devotion and effort.

The impacts of the programs, in the initial years, were not visible, measurable and remarkable. Gradually the impacts of ADWAN’s work are coming into the limelight. 71 women groups from different part of Nepal are working and struggling independently for their economic, political, social, educational and livelihood betterments. After a long course of time the pre-school program, scholarship, sponsorship, loan program, gender and caste awareness trainings, human rights workshops, group meetings and discussions, inter-group sharing program, motivation and mobilization of groups for community development works have evolved the individual Dalit women and children to have become empowered. There are numerous examples of women and girls leading progressive and transformed way of life in ADWAN’s project areas these days.

Continue Reading »