I am a tenth-grade student from Tri-Ratna Secondary School located at Beldangi-II, Bhutanese refugee camp in Nepal. In Bhutan, we are from Sarbang. My grandmother became widow at the age of 40. Then my father was 2 years. Due to the political problems in Bhutan, she had to flee the country in 1992.
- Baliram Mongar/Picture courtesy : Roshan Shankar
Born and reared up in the refugee camps, at age of 17, I function as a head of my family. Not because, I don’t have parents. But both of them are disabled – they are deaf and incapable to make decisions. My grandmother is 80 years. She was responsible for taking care of our family matters. However, she is becoming bed ridden due to her old age. Currently, we are registered refugees in Beldangi-II Extension, sector A-1, hut number 91. Though living among odds, I am proud of my parents and what I am today. Next to me, I have a brother, Vikram. He is 10 years old and studying in fourth-grade. He is performing very well.
Apart from the basic subsistence provided by the international agencies, my family has no other regular source of income. As other disabled and people of lower caste; occasionally, my father Phauda Singh Mongar, 42, works to dig-out latrines in the camp. However, his disability is taken advantage; he cannot figure out currency notes and mostly he is paid just a few rupees. My mother, Sun Maya is a housewife. Her cognitive function is poor, often requiring instructions and guidance to execute daily activities like cleaning and taking personal care.
I am not a grown intelligent student. In my family, education had never been a priority. In my early schooling days, I even failed. As I grew up, I started realizing the value of education. These days, I am putting a lot of efforts in my studies. I passed grade nine with satisfactory grades. It is an intrinsic problem, a structural issue where I need to struggle to create an academic environment in my home. When I compare myself with friends of my circle, I feel inferior. I regard that their parents are able to afford their further studies, manage their basic needs and even fulfill their extra demands. However, as I compare my study, I feel that I have several equations in my life to satisfy with what I have.
During school vacation, I go outside the camps and do some labour work. With the money earned, I buy clothes, slippers and other basic utilities for my parents, grandma and brother. I also use this money to buy stationery for my brother and me. I am determined to complete my School Leaving Certificate examinations next year securing good grade. After that I need to make a choice to study or to support my family and brother. Also because I am an average student, I won’t be able to combine my education and work simultaneously. Helpless, I feel if there would be people who know poor and who understand their incapacitation. I wonder if I would get support for education. My grandmother says, there is god to help me.
I know that the third country resettlement would be an appropriate choice to my family as well. However, I am a failure in this regard. I could not convince my parents and octogenarian grandmother. My grandmother wishes to die in Nepal and tells we can opt for third countries. While my parents are unaware of what is going on in the camp. The situation in my family is challenging my dreams; my primitive dreams.
Hearing that Punya Foundation is initiating scholarship program targeting vulnerable ones, it is giving me a hope. It is encouraging us. I hope helpless people like me, though punished by faith, will get a chance to study and craft our future.
(This profile story contributed to the Punya Foundation is based on the conversation with Vidhyapati Mishra of Bhutan News Service and Basudev Khanal of the Bhutanese Refugees Association of Intelligent Novas – BRIAN)
