Bhutanese Refugees in Nepal: Monologues
Kamal | 35 | Sanischare (Narrated by Christine Delp)
I am the guardian of my family. I have two sons, one 4 years old and one 7 months. My older son is very clever and very brave. He’s never afraid of anything. Although he is only a baby, my smaller son is also very clever and active. He loves to laugh and call to us. I am married to a local lady, she is 30 years old, and she stays at home to take care of our children. We met six years ago when we were both teaching in one of the local schools. We married four months after we met.
Friends? Actually my closest friends are not here. Actually most of my friends are in Baltimore. Pennsylvania. Kentucky. Texas. Sometimes they call me and tell me to come, and I tell them, I am very willing to come—but what to do. The process is not in my hands.
I applied for resettlement four years ago. I was called into the UNHCR office one time, in August 2010, but since then I have not been called back into the office. It gives us mental trauma. I used to inquire time and again. Time and again. And they reply: “you need to wait for a while.” And after I have asked time and again, now I am really tired. Now I don’t like to see the UNHCR office.
Nobody is here. No relatives. My brother, all of my friends and family, they have already been resettled. Except my wife and two babies, if I die here, I will be alone here. It is very difficult to stay here with no relatives. We have no support. If we got sick, there would be no family to take care of us, no one to take us to the hospital. It is very painful. Every night we dream of our siblings in the United States. And they call us and say try more, and we say we are trying. What to do? My wife is Nepali, which slows down the process.
While we wait to be resettled, I work here as the director of the 4C. Children in the camp whose parents do not provide care for them are brought here to live. We collect their rations, cook for them, read to them, play with them. I came here to help these vulnerable children because I was once like them, with no parents to care of me. I think maybe I have helped these children to have happy lives here.
I want to resettle for my children so that they can live a good life and get a better education but while I remain here, I think it is important to develop good qualities in this community.
If my life were a book, the title would be Sincere.
Kamal | 35 | Sanischare (Narrated by Christine Delp)
I am the guardian of my family. I have two sons, one 4 years old and one 7 months. My older son is very clever and very brave. He’s never afraid of anything. Although he is only a baby, my smaller son is also very clever and active. He loves to laugh and call to us. I am married to a local lady, she is 30 years old, and she stays at home to take care of our children. We met six years ago when we were both teaching in one of the local schools. We married four months after we met.
Friends? Actually my closest friends are not here. Actually most of my friends are in Baltimore. Pennsylvania. Kentucky. Texas. Sometimes they call me and tell me to come, and I tell them, I am very willing to come—but what to do. The process is not in my hands.
I applied for resettlement four years ago. I was called into the UNHCR office one time, in August 2010, but since then I have not been called back into the office. It gives us mental trauma. I used to inquire time and again. Time and again. And they reply: “you need to wait for a while.” And after I have asked time and again, now I am really tired. Now I don’t like to see the UNHCR office.
Nobody is here. No relatives. My brother, all of my friends and family, they have already been resettled. Except my wife and two babies, if I die here, I will be alone here. It is very difficult to stay here with no relatives. We have no support. If we got sick, there would be no family to take care of us, no one to take us to the hospital. It is very painful. Every night we dream of our siblings in the United States. And they call us and say try more, and we say we are trying. What to do? My wife is Nepali, which slows down the process.
While we wait to be resettled, I work here as the director of the 4C. Children in the camp whose parents do not provide care for them are brought here to live. We collect their rations, cook for them, read to them, play with them. I came here to help these vulnerable children because I was once like them, with no parents to care of me. I think maybe I have helped these children to have happy lives here.
I want to resettle for my children so that they can live a good life and get a better education but while I remain here, I think it is important to develop good qualities in this community.
If my life were a book, the title would be Sincere.
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