Nepali Refugee Camps

I am trying to update you all at once since I have been busy....so after Darjeeling Nepal.

So far the most frustrating moment of the trip and what ended up being one of the most redemptive moments as well came on the day we were planning on leaving Darjeeling. Part of our time spent in Darjeeling was waiting on the director of the non-profit called IOM (International Office of Migration), who assist the refugees in resettling in the States, to inform me about how I can gain access to the camps now that we can not volunteer but merely visit. On our last day in Darjeeling after I had emailed her a few times she tells me that in order to get into the camps I have to ask permission from the government of Nepal or the UNHCR (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees). Mind you I do NOT have contacts to either one of these entities since I was assuming that she would give us access AND she gladly leaves out any contact information to either one of them and tells me she is leaving the next day for the U.S. I was thinking, "How the hell am I going to get access, do I call the government of Nepal? Do I send an email to the UN headquarters in Switzerland?" ARG! I was hoping for a little more direction!....After failed attempts to contacting both places, and no time to wait around, we all decided to just go for it leave for Nepal and figure things out along the way and trust that it will happen.

We head out a little later than we wanted from Darjeeling which would put us in the border town of Nepal after dark, not our favorite, but at least we would be at the starting point to reach the camps since they are close to the border. It was easy sailing into Nepal and literly crossed the border on foot in the dark. We got our visas and were ready to find a hotel from the many scouts waiting for us to leave the Nepalese immigration. There was only one left afterward and sometimes those scouts do come in handy when you have no idea where you are and it is dark. I go with my gut and trust this guy who leads us to his hotel which ended up being our link to the refugee camps. I was reluctant to tell anyone about our true purpose in Nepal because I could get in trouble if officials found out we visited the camps without permission but these hotel owners I felt comfortable with and told them our goal of entering the camps for visiting. The elder brother was like no problem! I can help you get into the camps I assisted another foreigner who wanted to go and anyone can enter. What! He arranged a taxi for us the next day and came as our guide/translator when we first entered the camp. Fortunately I had contacts in the camp so I was able to ring them and let them know we were coming so we had people waiting for us when we first arrived. I love these redemptive serendipatious moments!

Being in the camps made me feel at home and right back in the office in Oakland. Soooo many people were interested in who we were, what we were doing, and once they found out about my work in the States had a slew of questions for me about resettlement in the US, since most of the people in the camps are applying to relocate. It was our first taste of the Nepalese hospitality. Friends and old clients of mine from back home told their family in the camps that we were coming, and all the family and friends in the camp wanted us to visit their home and feed us. The next thing we know we had visited several different bamboo huts and ate all different kinds of delicacies.....warm goats milk, red bull - yes really, oranges, crunchy noodles, and hot tea....! And this was just the beginning!

The Bhutanese refugees have an unique story. Another history lesson I do apologize, I just can't help it I AM my father's daughter. About 18 years ago the government of Bhutan which really was a monarchy with a king categorized everyone in the country into different ethnic groups, placing the Lhomstapa (spelling is probably wrong) in the last and most hated category meaning they had to leave or else. The ethnic background of these people come from Nepal, speaking Nepali and living a culture close to that of Nepal unlike the very Buddhist nation that speaks Ghongka and who's heritage and ancestors come from Tibet. Therefore, they were forceably removed from the country and set up camp in Nepal and have been waiting for 18 years to either return back to Bhutan (which won't let them back in) or naturalize into the local community and become citizens of Nepal (which the government has refused to grant). The third and final option for these refugees, like many other in the world, is to resettle to a third country permanently, and this is why so many Bhutanese people have been coming to the States. Ok finished!

I have to run...but I will talk more later about the camps later........!!!