Kamal Basnet was at the tender age of eight when his family left Bhutan in 1993. His journey to an unknown destination began at this novice age when the Basnet family decided to leave their home country for fear of being persecuted after the pro-democratic movement in 1990.
Kamal began his primary education in Khudunabari camp which was an open sky school, classes taken under the trees and children sitting on the dusty floor, barely on a jute mat. When he left Bhutan for good, he was in grade four at Kanglung Primary School in eastern Bhutan.
Kamal says,”though it was a journey to nowhere, I could harbor a hope for some good days ahead, after being able to continue education in camp school.” He passed grade ten from Sunrise Academy of Khudunabari camp in 2001. Kamal does not forget those school days in camp where students like him had no light to study at night thanks to the low supply of kerosene by UNHCR. “There was no way to study until late night even while preparing for the external exams”, Kamal remembers those hard days.
Resettlement, initially a journey to another unknown land, finally brought a peace of mind and stabilize the family economy.
The Union Leader of New Hampshire featured Kamal’s success in becoming an emerging leader of the community. Full text can be read in http://www.unionleader.com/article/20150126/NEWS0202/150129326
