Bhutanese community of Iowa just held an educational interactive program on drug abuse, alcoholism and drunk driving that has become very serious issue of health and safety concern to Bhutanese in Iowa. The program was held Saturday, March 22, 2014. ‘This was one of the first program held after the formation of community organization’, said one of the board members of BCI.

According to SB Gurung, the chair of Educational committee, many young people in Iowa have taken to drug abuse and alcoholism, leading to severe accidents or ending up in jail caught up for drunk driving. So it has been felt as crucial to bring awareness to the public, the effects of drug and narcotic abuse or alcoholism as a measure of preventive action.

The guest speaker was officer Doua Lor of De Moines Police Department who also oversees the Asian Outreach Neighborhood base services delivery. With a power point presentation, he spoke for about two hours on the various aspects of using or misusing drugs and alcohol, existing legal frameworks in place to control or punish the offenders.  He gave detail instructions to the community as to how one can be safe from the various level of substance abuse. The interpretation was provided by Chida Dahal, the general secretary of BCI.

“The awareness program would not have been so successful without the support of Mrs. Sanjita Pradhan, Executive Officer at Office of Asian and Pacific Islander Affairs and Iowa Department of Human Rights”, said SB Gurung to BNS over the telephone. “It was also the hard work and guidance of the board members and volunteers of community that helped to make this program productive and worth considering in future”, said Gurung.

The educational program was initiated and geared to success under the leadership of Sha Bahadur  Gurung, who heads the sub-committee of education for BCI. “We hope to conduct such awareness and educational program in the future too”, he expressed optimism.

A resettled Bhutanese was killed in hit-and-run accident Saturday night in the 6000 block of East Northwest Highway in northeast Dalla, Taxas.

Dallas police identified the deceased as 55-year-old Amber Bahadur Pokhrel, who was resettled from Beldangi-II refugee camp, Jhapa, Nepal.

According to the police report, late Pokhrel didn’t yield the right of way, and was hit by a passing car.

The front right part of the vehicle hit the man and appeared to have dragged him underneath the car. The man was pronounced dead around 8:45 p.m. by Dallas Fire-Rescue, reported CBSDFW.

The Dumse drinking water project and the Beldangi police station, both funded by the European Union (EU), were inaugurated in the Damak Municipality, Tuesday.

A joint statement from UNHCR and EU said both projects are part of the overall EU funding of € 2,950,000 (404,863,893 Nepalese rupees) to UNHCR for the period 2011 to 2014. High level government and security officials, civil society, local communities, refugees, media, and organizations working for the refugees attended the inauguration event.

The Dumse water project, inaugurated jointly by the Ambassador of the European Union in Nepal Rensje Teerink and UNHCR Head of Sub-Office in Damak, Shinji Kubo, is expected to benefit almost 20,000 people, both from the refugee and neighboring communities.

“These EU-funded projects are so important because they aim to support vulnerable communities within the refugees from Bhutan in their basic rights and needs. The EU is working in a number of projects to improve the living conditions of refugees, and we will continue doing so in Nepal,” stated Ambassador Rensje Teerink.

The water is sourced from the nearby Mawa river to a 100 cubic meters capacity reservoir, where it is treated and then supplied through the community water taps in Beldangi camp and nearby villages. The local communities are happy with this project as they will no longer have to travel for nearly an hour to fetch drinking water from the river.

The project received great support from the Dumse drinking water and sanitation users committee (a community based organization), Humse Dumse community forest users group, and the local communities, said the statement.

It was constructed by UNHCR through its partner agency Lutheran World Federation. The Beldangi police station was jointly inaugurated by 
Shankar Prasad Adhikari, Regional Administrator of the eastern region, Ambassador H.E. Teerink and Kubo.
This project is part of UNHCR’s continued support for projects that would also benefit the local communities in the eastern region. Refugees and neighboring communities in the vicinity of the police station will now have easy access to police services, as the next police station is located in Damak, which is some eight kilometers away.

“We are very grateful to the Government and people of Nepal for hosting the refugees from Bhutan for over two decades and as our appreciation to this generosity, we would continue to support some projects that would benefit the local communities,” said Kubo, UNHCR Head of Sub-Office in Damak.

Constructed by UNHCR through LWF within six months’ time, the Nepal Police extended its full cooperation to this project. The land was generously donated by the local community.

The premises have been well design under Nepal Police standards with separate barracks for female and male police officers, a spacious waiting area, comfortable offices, canteen and toilets. The facility is well equipped with furniture and computers donated by UNHCR, including a vehicle.

The EU has provided continuous support to UNHCR’s activities in Nepal since the beginning of the programme for the refugees from Bhutan. The 2011-14 contribution is being used for meeting the ongoing protection and material needs of the refugees living in camps in eastern Nepal, including health and nutrition, education, legal assistance, sanitation, shelter and water, according to the statement.

The European Union is one of UNHCR’s most important donors. The EU is a major provider of humanitarian and development aid, and a key player in the international effort to develop policies to improve aid effectiveness and coordination at the global level, added the statement.

A major resettlement programme is underway for the refugees from Bhutan. So far, more than 86,000 exiled Bhutanese have left their camps in Nepal to begin a new life in third