The IFACAINS International Foundation (IIF/IFACA Bhutan) said it has established a fine arts school in rural province of Svay Rieng of Cambodia.
The Svay Rieng Fine Arts School is the Foundation’s fourth fine arts institute funded and operated outside Nepal. The Foundation currently runs three arts schools in the Bhutanese refugee camps in Nepal, informed its Co-Founder Pralhad Gurung.
“We generously started supporting the local artists and children, running an art class at a small home in rural Svay Rieng in Cambodia from December 25, 2012 as a new program of our 18th anniversary,” said Gurung.
According to Gurung, hardship the Bhutanese refugee artists underwent in refugee camps in Nepal has always inspired them to help poor and needy ones around the globe.
“The Foundation aims to help poor and needy children around the world to restart their new life through the medium of fine arts,” he clarified.
Svay Rieng is in the far east of Cambodia, near the border with Vietnam. During the Vietnam war, this area was carpet bombed heavily in secret by the US military in hopes that the North Vietnamese would not infiltrate the country.
Today, Svay Rieng province is one of the poorest provinces and is home to mostly subsistence rice farmers. Most children are required to work during the day in the rice fields and doing other agricultural tasks and have little or no time and money to afford their studies.
He further added, “Together with the Khmer Foundation inside the country, we spread the word about an arts class, which is free and open to all interested children for enrollment.”
“In last December each child took part the course designed by the Foundation that included sketching, drawing and coloring activities with crayons, markers, pens, and pencils on paper and coloring books. It was a great community activity and was fun for the children and adults alike.
“Upon leaving the event, each child was given a lined notebook, several coloring implements, a ball-point pen, and extra pages to color on later at home. This arts class was specially design for 18 year of age and below, mostly with poor and needy family background.”
The Foundation was established in 1994, and has over one hundred of artists associated with it.
The Refugee Challenge Cup 2013, a soccer tournament of the Fans Club kicked off from Monday amidst an inauguration program in Beldangi.
Players of Fans Club C Team and Active Youth Sporting Club in the field/Tilak Niroula
According to Tika Ram Rai, Coordinator of the tournament , there are 11 boys team and four girls teams from all camps.
The winner from boys team will be awarded with Cash Rs 40,000 and runner up with Cash Rs 30,000 and winner from girls team will be awarded with 25000 and runner up with 15000, certificates and tropy, informed organiser.
The final of the tournament will be held on April 5, 2013.
According to Yuba Raj Sampang, President of the Fans Club, the tournament is expected to create a mutual co-operation and cordination among the youths of the camps.
He too expressed his gratitude for those who have actively supported for the tournament.
“Gross National Happiness: A gift from Bhutan to the world”, is a chapter written by George W. Burns in the book titled “Positive Psychology as Social Change”. The author has profusely accredited the principle of the Gross National Happiness (GNH) as initiated by fourth king of Bhutan in 1972. Burns has put lot of efforts to highlight the policy (concept) of gross national happiness as presented by government of Bhutan to the outside world. The author has also laid emphasis to describe the natural environment of Bhutan contributing to GNH policy but significantly omitted the social and political environment which actually plays the major role in GNH (Burns). The goal of the author is based on explaining the meaning and possibilities of GNH in Bhutan’s perspective. The author also introduces the Bhutanese history, culture, religion, people and government with reference to the statistics developed by absolute monarchy of Bhutan. “The nation-state of Bhutan, which is often mentioned by certain authors for its effort to maximize Gross National Happiness rather than gross national product, is not a relevant example, because that country is not a developed democracy” (Frey). This clarifies that GNH is wonderful idea but its implication is yet to bear fruit in the kingdom of Bhutan. The book is wonderfully written but it is very far away from the reality of happiness in Bhutan. The author’s positive view towards GNH as introduced in the chapter is very inspiring subject to the readers. However, the content represents certain elite class of people who are closely related to the monarch. The selection of the subject and opening of the Bhutan’s view towards GNH can be rewarded to the writer as it provides the readers the road to research about the true GNH in Bhutan.
Front cover of the reviewed book
Every individual in this world are struggling for happiness and healthy life. There is no evidence presented by the author as a foolproof that countries like Bhutan ranked at 170 in terms of development should have highest GNH (CIA, 2012). The author has also acknowledged the major changes in Bhutan becoming the newest democratic country in the world.
Human rights and democracy were the two key institutional frameworks for governance demanded by the people of Bhutan in 1990. But the government turned deaf ear to this and embarked on mass eviction of people particularly in Southern Bhutan and expelled more than one hundred thousand people from the country (CIA, 2012). The author also mentions that king of Bhutan forced democracy to its people who have little or no education. This is absolutely true because the leaders and people with more democratic mind-set have spent two decades in the refugee camp in Nepal.
Still the king is supreme power of the country and therefore question arises about the true meaning of democracy in Bhutan.
In 1640, the religious ruler of Bhutan, Zhabdrung Ngawang Namgyal established a treaty with Ram Shah, the King of Gorkha (Nepal) and took 41 skillful Nepalese families to Bhutan for construction of monasteries, roads and introduced agriculture in Bhutan. Nepali origin Bhutanese lived in Bhutan for more than two centuries before the present ruler established the hereditary monarchy in 1907. The real sense of gross national happiness comes from Southern Bhutanese who actually developed that country, the way it is today (History).
The fourth king candidly mentioned the happiness as his philosophical goal for development, later to be carried to outside world in a chimerical attempt to bring mono-ethnic and mono-culture in that country. “The 1958 Citizenship Act was followed by the enactment of the new Citizenship Act in 1985 that was implemented in 1988. The national census was held in 1985, particularly to identify the southern Bhutanese. According to the census, out of Bhutan’s total population of 1,370,000, nearly 45 per cent were of Nepali origin by their ethnicity (Ikram). It can be said thus, the GNH has become propaganda and a grand design to purify the perpetrators of their ethnic cleansing ego, lest it bring happiness to the very common citizens of Bhutan. The author has not touched down to this complexity of helm of affairs which the advocates of GNH are manipulating and trumpeting the happiness mantra. The reality is something different if we immerse in the Bhutanese folks living in hamlets.
It is mentioned in the good governance section of the book, that king has advocated the democracy for the people in 1998, but this is simply a theory and there are no evidences that chapter of democracy was included in curriculum of Bhutanese Education. United Nation Education and Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), fortunately one of the few UN programs which operate in Bhutan also does not mention that the country had pre-democratic education in the schools and points out the need of reframing Bhutanese school curriculum (World). Bhutan is an isolated country from rest of the world and seek advice from India in its foreign policy due to 1949 Indo-Bhutan treaty. However, it is mentioned that Bhutan can make some decision by itself since 1998 after discussing with its Indian counterpart. It is another surprising fact that Bhutan did not have TV and internet until 1999 (BBC, UK). Gross National Happiness cannot be obtained by any country over night; it is achieved through the period of time when the country become successful in addressing needs of its individual citizen.
Happiness cannot be gifted by any government, organization or entrepreneurs. It is an abstract feeling of self-motivation which is generated in the mind of an individual. Thus, happiness is feeling like love which originates from heart of an individual and passes through family, society, country and the global human kind.
In this book, the author has used golden words in highlighting the happiness expressed by individual rulers of the monarchy and it is true because they are successful in taking away its citizens’ happiness. In my perception, Gross National Happiness is the sum of happiness achieved by all the citizens of the country, irrespective of ethnicity, color, religion, sex, disability, rich and poor and promotes the global happiness. Internationally, if a country claims happiness, it should have crystal clear reputation in regards to democratic values, civil liberties, life free of fear and hatred with fundamental tenets of human rights.
There is profound praise for the nature and natural environment of Bhutan described by the author. The author has clearly mentioned that Bhutan is a tiny Himalayan country whose health, happiness and wealth are nature. The snow clad mountains and swift flowing rivers are the centers for tourist attraction and income. Landlocked country Bhutan is far away from pollution emitting factories, industries and machineries which are adversely affecting rest of the world. Bhutan can take its pride in contribution of natural environment to reduce global warming. Natural environment has greatly contributed to its GNH rather than good governance.
The author has selected the magnificent topic of gross national happiness; however, Bhutan is the wrong country to give credit on happiness as United Nation is taking care of thousands of Bhutanese refugees evicted from the same happy-savvy country, for twenty years. In my point of view, it is a great fortune that Bhutan is seeking gross national happiness and to complement this, the country must welcome its expelled citizens with justice delivered back to their homes. Otherwise, the type of happiness the author has mentioned generates various questions: is it a gross national happiness when the absolute rulers are enjoying and a section of people are starving in refugee camps in another country? Or is it an excellent philosophy to follow by world rulers to establish mono-ethnic society and promote GNH? Or correct the manipulation of GNH and establish the real principle of happiness? Thus, Gross National Happiness is a great challenge to Bhutan and it is not a gift to rest of the world.
[Born in Burichhu, Chirang, Bhutan, the author graduated from North Bengal University in B.S degree in 2008 and moved to US. He is working as Case Manager/ Coordinator in post- resettlement agency as an advocate and non-licensed clinician for Bhutanese community since Dec. 2008 in Boston, Massachusetts, and is studying Chemistry measure in final year to obtain second B.S degree in US. He can be reached at [email protected]]
मोरङ शनिश्चरेमा एक प्रहरीले भुटानी शरणार्थी शिविरका सोमनाथ अधिकारी र उनकी छोरीलाई ८ चैत साँझ कुटपिट गरी उनीहरुका साथमा रहेको नगद लुटेको खुलेको छ ।
शनिश्चरे शरणार्थी शिबिर सेक्टर सि ३ छाप्रो नम्बर ७ का सोमनाथ अधिकारी र उनकी ११ बर्षे छोरी खिनमायालाई पथरी बजारबाट शिविर फर्कंदै गर्दा प्रहरी जवान दिलिप यादवले बाटोछेकी कुटपिट गरी साथमा भएको नगद दुईहजार लुटेका थिए ।
अहिले यादवलाई पथरी प्रहरीले नियन्त्रणमा लिई कार्वाही अघि बढाएको छ । यादवले लुटेको नगद दुइहजार पीडित अधिकारीलाई फिर्ता दिलाइएको शनिश्चरे शिबिरस्थित शरणार्थी समन्वय एकाईले जनाएको छ ।
Whether it be the story of young entrepreneur Larry Page or the popularity of all time Forbes’s headliner Bill Gates; the skyrocketing success of Mark Zuckerberg or the blooming happiness of Jack Dorsey; computer technology has played a great role in each one of these celebrities’ lives.
It is not unusual for any young mind to dream about the fantasy of these prosperous achievers. And it is not impossible either to achieve it, when one has an earnest endeavor. However, the truth is it takes a good bit of time for anyone to succeed. Rome is not built in a day. Every success story has countless hurdles, endless patience and enormous dedication put forth with persistent hard work.
The relocation of the Bhutanese in the very developed countries of the world has plausibly pushed them towards easy ways of achieving any type of dream. Even their existing financial scrutiny reveals that they do not need to compromise their lives with meager aims anymore. But the fundamental question lingering in and around everyone’s mind is if they have been truly heading towards this exuberant future.
In the past few years I have made keen observations on happenings surrounding the world of technology. How the technology could be a boon and a curse depending on its pursuit. I have been pondering over and again on the impact it could have on me and my community folks in short and long run. My worry gets more fuel when I find hundreds and thousands of dollars, earned by our innocent labor, get invested in the unnecessary purchases made on the online stores via internet. I always have had a great swain of the new technology. I strive to dig into the ins and outs of the latest technology but at the end of the day, I just throw myself out with the same frustration, “the one in my hand has gone obsolete”.
The other side of the story is far gut-wrenching. The social media was definitely not meant to spoil the people nor it was created to cause chaos in the life of any one. But, the abuse of these means has devastating impact in our lives.
People get up by logging into the facebook and the last thing they will remember before going to bed is to check the facebook status. A select few buy a new smart phones for hundreds of dollars just to get the facebook updates even when they are on the toilet pan. There are a lot of instances where one gets fired from the job for using this social media in excess. Parents can not control their child from using it. Even the law that forbids the child under 18 years of age from creating the social networking account is not in effect since they lie their age. A two years old boy has a facebook account and not sure if he speaks a word; but constantly updates his pictures in the wall and replies the comments of hundreds of friends and followers.
Social networking media are always good means for expressing oneself. They could be utilized properly to know whereabouts of friends and family irrespective of their geo-location. Raising awareness in some social cause and welfare is another best and the most important aspect of their kind. Nonetheless, with these few enumerated pros, there are hundreds of cons.
Parents are frustrated because their child does not have time to listen to their concerns. Students fail in their exams for they do not have sufficient time to devote for their studies. A couple gets divorce because someone posted some unbearable comments on the facebook wall. A girl is left with nothing except committing suicide since she is exposed by some unknown folks with the fake facebook account with some illicit pictures and private disclosures. Needless to mention, there are thousands of other instances which is just sparing no one nowhere.
Computer games on the other hand certainly count thousands of votes for this discussion. Children do not give a heed to show greetings to their elders since lifting hand from the playstation would significantly drop down their game scores. For them, this turns out to be one of the major contributing factors of distraction, and thus pushes them towards the losing end. Majority of the gaming software manufactures understand the behavior, likes and interests of the child. People relate the mushrooming of gun violence with the video games, and it does make a complete sense to me. The content in the game always leaves a child in the mood of killing and firing bullets to the opponent. This would not implant better and positive thoughts in the child, which down the road could very easily lead to the incidents like the Connecticut Massacre or the Colorado theater shooting in the yesteryears in the USA.
Equally, computer games are the biggest sources for computer viruses. Most of the freewares downloaded from some untrusted sites are always prone to virus attack.
Sometimes, I am taken aback when I listen to comments generated from the parents. “My six years old knows everything about computer”. Definitely, unlike the older generations, the present ones are far ahead due to accessibilities of modern technological opportunities. But, it does not mean they know everything. It may be wise on part of parents to keep their vigilance to what the children around you are doing, or what content they have been watching on the internet. Also, if they are really learning from the computer or they are just killing their valuable time.
What I have learnt in these few years seem worthy to mention here. I have a strong opinion that some of these tips could keep a lot of things under control.
Many of us may not know that we should not expose our social security numbers, phone numbers or any other private information in any of the social networking sites while creating a new account or while updating one’s profile information. Leaving these information on such sites would risk one’s life to the larger extent, since these pages are easily accessible by anyone who is not even in the friend circle.
To add, purchasing stuffs from online store is not a bad idea at all unless you trust the credentials of the website on hand. Internet definitely is not a secure place to enter sensitive information like a credit card number. There are thousands of malicious softwares (malwares) automatically installed and stored in one’s computer while surfing some webpages knowingly or unknowingly. These malwares would easily sniff around your sensitive information leading you to bankruptcy.
Identity theft is another major issue in the internet world. There are thousands of terrorists who are constantly trying to get hold of someone’s identity to misuse it for some mass destruction. One could be the victim of such act if the credential are not secured and exposed to the untrusted internet sites. Hunting jobs via internet could risk your identity because most of the hiring companies need social security number and other personal information for verification. It is always wise on your part to verify the legitimacy of the webpage you are viewing. I have on numerous occasions received some scams from “www.bestbuy.youwin.com”. It is fine to trust “www.bestbuy.com”, as the technology giant but the former could be the scammers website which is trying to get your personal information.
A Windows user may secure the computer with some trusted antivirus programs, which would cost less than a hundred bucks. Truly, it brings you smile as it saves your several hundred dollars that you would spend incase your computer is infected with some viruses.
It is equally wise not to download all the tempting stuffs from internet. Surprisingly, all fairies are physically very weak. Most of the antiviruses come with some parental control system which commissions parents from blacklisting harmful contents in the internet.
Using a very secure password for bank account and any other accounts created online always gets rewarded. Be it a facebook, twitter or any other google accounts, simple passwords are very easy to hack. Secure password is the amalgamation of upper and lower case alphabets, numbers and some other characters like $#*! etc. This characters make the sniffers work a little bit difficult than the simple passwords like “abcde”. Changing your password frequently and not storing it in your wallets or purses or anywhere makes one secure.
Most of the smartphone applications relies on location and/or contact information. If one downloads any apps and if the app is asking for using contacts list and location information, we got to make sure we trust the app manufacturer. In a sense, you are giving it access to view your entire mobile device which contains sensitive information about you.
I personally prefer to use chrome or firefox as my internet browser. The never-ending confrontation amongst browsers always leave Internet explorer with the heap of issues. From my experience, I would recommend a regular update of the software you have in your system. The latest version always will have some bug fixes and the loopholes resolved.
Most importantly, it is always good to clear the cookies (extra piece of information stored in your computer by some website, which may contain your password) from your browser and pay especial attention when logging into any account. Leaving the “Remember my username/password” checkbox unchecked and always logging out of any account after you are done with it is very crucial to be safe. In this way, anyone visiting the same site after you left would not get into your account easily.
A skeptical thought on all occasions towards the progressing technology would undoubtedly isolate anyone from its ravishing charm. I would always join the venture and feel the thrill and give an unprecedented explication for what is good and what is not after using it. Try everything before it is too old. Happy surfing and good luck with new technological advancements.
[Mr. Dhakal is a Web Developer at Boxcar Press based in Syracuse, NY. The views expressed in this write up are solely of the writer who can be reached at [email protected].]
Shortly after Paris-Based Reporter sans Frontier (RSF) published the Press Freedom Index in which Bhutan’s press freedom index is shown to be dropped by 12 positions in 2012, Royal Government of Bhutan completely blocked one of the popular websites, Bhutanomics.com on 15th of March.
Screen shot of the Bhutanomics website
It is claimed that earlier this year Information and Communication Minister Nandalal Rai ordered all Internet Service Providers (ISPs) in the country to block this site. One of the ISPs, Druknet had blocked this site right away. But other privately run ISPs, Tashi and Samden, simply ignored the Minister’s order. Recently held cabinet meeting criticized those ISPs for not supporting government and decided to ask Phuntsholing Court to pass an order to block Bhutanomics by all the existing ISPs in the country. As a response to Government decision Pheuntsholing Court issued an order to Bhutan InfoCom and Media Authority (BICMA) to block this site completely in the nation. However, the reason for Pheuntsholing court to take up the matter was cited as a ‘complaint filed by an individual for defamation’ charged against Bhutanomics.
The satirical site was in existence since March 17th 2012. Lately, the site became the topic of debate in the country for it continuously prioritized Gyalpozhing Land Scam for its content.Consequently, Mongar District Court on 8th Of March declared the verdict labeling Home Minister Minjur Dorji and the Speaker of National Assembly, Jigme Tshultim, being the main culprits.
Since then, public were asking Bhutannomics to update the nation on Bhutan Lottery Scam and dozens of corruption cases linked to the high ranking government officials and their families. Under its sub-heading Bhutan Anonymous Forum, Bhutanomics has published list of the most corrupt people in politics ranking higher to lower: Jigme Tshulthrim, Karma Rangdol, JYT, Minjur Dorji, Pasang Thinley, Zangley Dukpa, Ugyen Tenzin and Dr. Gado.
The Bhutanomics team stated on 17th March that even after the site is made completely unviable in Bhutan, all new posts are always available in their Facebook page for the readers inside Bhutan and the main site shall run as it is for the readers outside.
The Sanischare camp of Pathri Morang saw yet another fire at 12:05 am Saturday destroying three buildings and machineries at the Bhutanese Refugee Women Forum (BRWF).
A school boy carrying a handmade bag, a product of BRWF (Picture courtesy: BRWF)
Meanwhile, 35-years-old Kamal Khanal, who was sleeping inside the BRWF complex, has sustained serious burns, according to Camp Secretary, Pratap Subba.
Khanal, who was immediately rushed to Dharan based BP Koirala Institute of Health and Science, was today brought to Kathmandu for his treatment.
The destruction has been estimated to worth around one million rupees.
According to the Secretary, over half of dozen of sewing machines, and raw materials have been burnt by the night inferno.
The election commission of Bhutan has announced the date for National Council election for 23 April and it has been decreed by the king.
The National Council serving as the upper house of bhutanese parliament is an apolitical body having five members as appointee of the king. Rest are elected through electoral ballots that are not based on the political exercise but on the merit of party who fielded them.
It is quite a surpassing phenomenon that most aspiring candidates are too young to contest the election and win a seat in such important constitutional body, ultimately to contribute to the legislative process.
Sarpang has three aspirants, two in thirty and one just twenty-seven. Raghu Pati Suberi should have been In Paro, Sonam Wangchuk is merely 25, right age for pursuing degrees in college. The other contestant, 57, is likely to be the constitutional post holder.
Tshering Wangchen and Sonam Wangchuk from Mongar are young and probably energetic for their age, but can have less energy to spend for the constitutional processes and law-making discourses.
Haa has just two candidates with Tenzin Norbu,28, added to the field having a background of tour guide.
In the east, Samdrupjongkhar is not just the border district but also place for diverse potential and quite known for the educated manpower. Yet development has slowed down and there is poor performance in the key areas with urban-focused development. Sangay Lhendup, 31 from Dewathang might want to reflect the issues plaguing the district.
Tsirang’s Novin Darlami and Sangay Tamang are fit to represent the youth voice but not to take the pride of being a representative to parliament. Yet, their courage to contest against more matured ones, should be applauded.
The Royal Education Council (REC), Ministry of Education, Bhutan has sought a partnership with the Asian Institute of Technology (AIT). A delegation from REC, led by its Director, Dr. Sonam Wangyel, while expressing admiration for AIT, stated that AIT enjoys enormous goodwill in Bhutan.
Dr. Wangyel (Picture courtesy: AIT)
Dr. Wangyel stated that REC is interested in teacher’s training, enhancing ICT skills, developing agriculture business programs, and participation in joint projects. Bhutan is trying to capitalize on the concept of Gross National Happiness, while at the same time focusing on capacity development.
The delegation informed AIT that the King of Bhutan established REC in 2007, but since then it has been transferred to the office of the Prime Minister. The mandate of REC is a focus on innovation, and introduction of reforms in the education sector.
Welcoming the delegation, Dr. Jonathan Shaw, Executive Director, AIT Extension stated that AIT has considerable expertise in the field of education training and development in Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Thailand, and particularly AIT has a lot to offer to Bhutan, and AIT can create customized programs depending on the needs of REC, he said. He remarked that REC could also engage with the Yunus Center at AIT, which is dealing with issues related to social business and microfinance.
Dr. Rajendra Shrestha of AIT’s School of Environment, Resources and Development (SERD) mentioned AIT’s contribution to Bhutan and the role played by AIT alumni in the field of environment, forestry and natural resource management. He expressed interest in REC’s Teachers Needs Assessment program. Dr. Sangam Shrestha of AIT’s School of Engineering and Technology (SET) stated that AIT could collaborate in contributing towards the development of ICT in Bhutan. He suggested student and faculty mobility, along with short
Five years ago, Megnath Neupane was one of 17,000 Bhutanese living in an overcrowded refugee camp in eastern Nepal. He and his family were holed up in a tiny shack with a leaky plastic roof and no electricity or indoor plumbing.
Prinsha, Megnath, Praveen, and Chhali Maya Neupane (Picture courtesy: Matthew Thorsen)
Today, you could say 35-year-old Neupane is living the American dream. He owns a $353,000 duplex in Winooski with his wife, Chhali Maya, 8-year-old daughter, Prinsha, and 18-month-old son, Praveen. The rent he gets from the second unit, which houses 11 more Bhutanese refugees, covers the mortgage and property taxes for the entire building.
The Neupanes closed on their home on April 14, 2011, and have already paid down nearly half the $225,000 mortgage.
What’s the secret to their real-estate success?
“I strongly believe in sincerity, hard work, dedication, punctuality,” says Neupane, who works afternoon and evening shifts as a pharmacy technician at Fletcher Allen Health Care in Burlington. Being “friendly to everybody, especially our new culture.”
Neupane smiles often, and it’s easy to see why. He’s part of a growing population of Bhutanese in Vermont who are transitioning from being renters to being homeowners. Some, like Neupane, are even starting to buy investment properties. More income is only part of the motivation; Neupane wants to be in a position to help more recent immigrants get established.
“Typically, when people are forced to flee their homeland, they lose their homes and virtually all their possessions,” says Judy Scott, executive director of the Vermont Refugee Resettlement Program. “This instills a great respect for the value and security of owning a home in a democracy, where the right to own property cannot be abrogated.”
Neither VRRP nor its parent organization, the U.S. Committee on Refugees and Immigrants, keep statistics on home-ownership rates among the immigrants they resettle. But while all refugee groups work hard to assimilate into American culture and put down roots, anecdotal evidence suggests the Bhutanese have proven especially successful in real-estate endeavors. They’ve accomplished this, she explains, by pooling their resources, keeping extended families under one roof and practicing extreme frugality.
On a recent visit to the Neupane home, we sat in their living room drinking chai tea and eating bowls of spicy Bhutanese soup made using instant Ramen noodles. On this particular afternoon, both Megnath and Chhali Maya were home, which they noted is unusual. On most days, the couple works at their respective jobs outside the home while a parent watches their toddler son.
Neupane, who’s one of four brothers, isn’t the only member of his family to own a home. In the last year, a younger brother built a new house in Colchester.
“We don’t work for seven days and spend for a night,” Neupane says, referring to the family’s fiscal discipline. They always eat home-cooked meals, never buy alcohol and don’t spend “a penny” on “unnecessary things.”
As Neupane conducted a tour of his home, he explained that his immediate family occupies the much smaller side of the duplex. Built in 2007, the house is cozy and modern, with an unfinished basement, an eat-in kitchen and three bedrooms on the second floor. Neupane’s daughter has her own room, but the baby sleeps in the master bedroom. A third bedroom is a guest room, where the Neupanes occasionally host newly arrived refugees, both Bhutanese and Iraqi, until they find permanent housing.
Next door, Neupane showed the other half of the duplex — a two-story unit that seems palatial in comparison to his own. It includes a huge eat-in kitchen, three bathrooms and a spacious living room. Upstairs, five large bedrooms with high ceilings are shared by 11 members of an extended Bhutanese family. Most were at work, except for a set of grandparents, their daughter and an infant grandson. Unable to communicate in English, they were seated in front of a large TV watching a VCR tape of a traditional Bhutanese dance.
Neupane was 11 — and had learned English in kindergarten — when his family was kicked out of Bhutan. He spent 19 years in a refugee camp but still managed to earn bachelor’s degrees in both chemistry and education at a nearby university in Nepal.
Prepared as he was, Neupane knew he’d have to remake himself in America.
“I came to United States with hope I can do a lot better,” he says. “Even back in Nepal, I knew USA doesn’t just mean ‘United States of America,’ but ‘U Start Again.’”
Immediately after their arrival, the Neupanes lived with a Vermont family for about a week before moving into an apartment in Burlington’s Old North End. Despite two decades of refugee camp living, the condition of the property came as a shock.
“I cannot forget that apartment for my life. It was so nasty,” Neupane recalls, referring to the bedbugs, mice and cockroaches that infested the place. “It was totally opposite of my imagination of what America would be.”
Was it better or worse than the refugee camp? “Both have pros and cons,” he says.
Despite a popular misconception, resettled refugees receive housing assistance for only a few months. For those who want to buy their own homes, there are no preferential deals or federal-assistance programs that help them obtain mortgages at a lower-than-market rate.
Like most new Americans, Neupane didn’t have a credit history. Early on, however, he heeded the advice of friends and advisers at VRRP and applied for a credit card — his first-ever form of personal identification.
“I really worked hard building up the credit,” Neupane explains. Today, he says, he urges his own tenants to do the same. As each tenant pays just a small portion of their income in rent, they, too, are able to put away money.
Several miles away, Lalit Adhikari, 32, welcomes a visitor into his large house in Burlington’s New North End. Adhikari, 32, was born in Bhutan in the same village as Neupane. The oldest of five children, he lived there for seven years until the government imprisoned his father, a lawyer, for being a Hindu.
“I had to take care of everything when my dad was put in prison,” Adhikari recalls. “The government wouldn’t release him until we say we’re happy to leave the country.”
Adhikari spent 19 years in a refugee camp in Nepal before moving to the United States. He arrived on June 2, 2008, with little more than the clothes on his back and 50 Nepalese rupees in his pocket — about one dollar.
Four years later, on June 6, 2012, Adhikari closed on a spacious house on almost a quarter acre, where he lives with six other family members: his wife, parents, brother, sister and 2-year-old son. The family bought the house by pooling their resources. His mother is the only family member who doesn’t work outside the home; she stays home to watch her grandson.
“The Bhutanese have their heritage of families living together and finding the resources to help each other,” says Adhikari, who paid $299,000 for the house. “That helps us a little bit, with all of us working together to buy a house.”
Back in Nepal, Adhikari was a mathematics and science teacher. But because his college degree isn’t recognized in the United States, his first job in Vermont was washing dishes at Tiny Thai restaurant in Winooski. One day his brother and sister stopped by to visit him at his new job.
“When they saw me, they started crying,” he recalls. “I had a good job in my country, so they thought I’d get the same kind of job over here.” Adhikari quit after one week and found another job at IBM. Later, with his family’s help, he bought an Indian grocery in Winooski, which he sold after two years to help pay for this house. Today he works at the Rhino Foods factory in Burlington with several other family members. While the work isn’t what he trained for in Nepal, Adhikari says, “It’s better than before.”
Janice Battaline, a real estate agent with REMAX North in Colchester, has helped nearly a dozen Bhutanese families buy their first homes. Battaline didn’t represent either the Neupanes or the Adhikaris but says their stories are consistent with other Bhutanese clients she’s had, who have purchased property in Essex Junction, Burlington, Winooski and Colchester.
“They’re such hard workers — oh, my gosh!” she says. “They’ll each work two or three jobs, whatever it takes, to save up to get their own home.”
Battaline, who first connected with the Bhutanese community about five years ago when she and her husband became VRRP volunteers, notes that these families are providing an invaluable service to Chittenden County’s housing market by moving up the real-estate chain, thereby making more rentals available to immigrants who have arrived more recently.
Indeed, while Neupane was showing off his Winooski duplex, he received a cellphone call from his real estate agent about an investment property, which he planned to visit later that afternoon. Ultimately, he said, he hopes to become a full-time property manager.
His goal isn’t to be rich, Neupane said, but “prestigious” within his community.
“I don’t want to be a ‘landlord,’” he added emphatically. “I just want to be someone who helps my community.”
The Svay Rieng Fine Arts School is the Foundation’s fourth fine arts institute funded and operated outside Nepal. The Foundation currently runs three arts schools in the Bhutanese refugee camps in Nepal, informed its Co-Founder Pralhad Gurung.
