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  • Welcome, everybody.
  • Just going to wait one moment while everybody files in.
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  • It's good to see you all today.
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  • Hi, it's good to see you all.
  • Welcome.
  • My name is Athena.
  • And I'm going to be your host today.
  • And it's a pleasure to welcome you
  • to this session of Western C.A.R.E.S.
  • A little bit about Western C.A.R.E.S.
  • We started this as a resource for us
  • to connect and share and maintain
  • our sense of community and engagement during these days
  • when we're trying to stay home and stay healthy.
  • These are online interactive sessions
  • that are put on by your colleagues and peers who
  • have volunteered their time so generously to share
  • these interests and experience with you.
  • As your host, I'll just be here to introduce
  • your other host who's going to be doing the interview.
  • And then I'll provide tech support and anything
  • that you may need.
  • [AUDIO OUT] that you did come in today
  • with your sound muted and your video
  • off because we are recording these.
  • These interviews are being recorded today
  • and will be interviewed and archived
  • for the Center for Pacific Northwest Studies and the South
  • Asian-American Digital Archives.
  • And they will be made available for the public for teaching
  • and research and education.
  • So do know that today, too, if you are here with us,
  • that these are being recorded.
  • There will be a moment at the end
  • where we can turn the sound on if you'd like
  • to ask any questions to us.
  • And also know that there is a chat feature
  • available on the site if you'd feel more comfortable
  • asking a question there.
  • So thank you so much for joining us today.
  • The audience is very important to us.
  • And now I'm going to hand it over to your wonderful host.
  • Thank you.
  • Welcome, everyone.
  • This is "Stories To Tell."
  • And I am Dharitri Bhattacharjee.
  • I teach history at Western Washington University.
  • In this oral history series, our goal
  • is to present before you a diversity of South
  • Asian perspectives on COVID-19.
  • The South Asian countries are India, Bangladesh,
  • Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan, Maldives,
  • and Afghanistan.
  • For the next four weeks, we will be bringing before you
  • on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 2:00 PM Pacific Standard Time
  • a new voice.
  • I will ask questions and seek responses for the next 30
  • minutes.
  • And after that, I encourage you to ask questions
  • to Yug Dabadi, who is our guest today.
  • I am the one who's going to be conducting the interviews.
  • But a lot of people are responsible for putting this
  • together.
  • I want to especially acknowledge our program specialist
  • at Western C.A.R.E.S., Athena Roth, who you just heard from.
  • and our archivist at Center for Pacific and Northwest Studies,
  • Ruth Steele.
  • And finally, welcome, Yug Dabadi, our guest today.
  • Yug is from Bhutan and right now lives in the Seattle region.
  • He's a microbiologist by training
  • and right now works as a blood banker and virologist
  • at University of Washington.
  • He's a community leader to the Bhutanese community
  • here in Seattle, as well.
  • So Yug, you are from Bhutan.
  • But when you came to the US in 2008, you came from Nepal.
  • Can you tell us a little bit about your life,
  • a political biography of sorts, before you came to the US?
  • Sure.
  • Hi, everybody.
  • My name is Yug Dabadi.
  • I was born in Bhutan.
  • And I went to elementary school back in Bhutan.
  • Then in 1992, my family got evicted
  • because of the ethnic cleansing movement happening inside Bhutan.
  • And then we came to Nepal to be a refugee.
  • And I spent 17 years in the refugee camps in Nepal
  • where I went all my education in Nepal
  • as a microbiologist with my bachelor's degree and master's
  • degree.
  • Bhutan is a very beautiful country, very small, teeny.
  • Now they claim it's the happiest country on this planet.
  • But the Bhutan does have some dark side of it,
  • which is they have a policy in 1980s--
  • one nation, one people policy, which
  • means that every citizen in this country
  • should follow the Drukpa traditions, wear their dress,
  • follow their languages, and everything.
  • So in 1985, Bhutan brought a policy citizenship act.
  • And they conducted a census, which
  • meant a lot of Southern Bhutanese, which are ethnically
  • Nepalese, to be stateless.
  • And they stripped off our citizenship.
  • And there was a human civic right movement in 1990
  • which was cracked down by the government with the military.
  • My father got arrested during that time.
  • And then he was given a choice to leave the country or die.
  • So my father choose to leave.
  • And then he decided, OK, I'm going to leave this country.
  • So we left the country all of a sudden.
  • And we came to a refugee camp in Nepal.
  • We were registered as Bhutanese refugees in Nepal.
  • And then the international agencies
  • like UNHCR here and all the donor agencies
  • stepped in to provide food and some medical help.
  • We established school in the refugee camp.
  • Our refugee elders taught us.
  • And there was a school up to grade 10.
  • I graduated that school and went to a nearby school
  • to get my grade 12 and then the bachelor's degree
  • and then the master's degree in Kathmandu.
  • In 2008, the UNHCR and the United States and all the donor
  • agencies, they were fatigued.
  • And they brought a program called the Refugee Resettlement
  • Program.
  • And my family applied to be resettled in the United States.
  • So this is our choice to be here in this country.
  • In 2008 in August, we came here.
  • And then I was in Everett in Washington.
  • And then life started beginning as an American way of life,
  • I guess.
  • So I will just like to add, the Drukpa tradition,
  • the imposition of that, it had also
  • to do with following the Buddhist religion.
  • And you are a Hindu, is that right, Yug?
  • Yes, majority of the people living in the Southern Bhutan,
  • they are from Nepalese descent.
  • And all of them, almost 98%, were Hindus.
  • However, there are some small community
  • that were Buddhist, as well.
  • I never heard of Christians and other religion
  • in Bhutan during the '90s.
  • But now people have more freedom to choose for their faith.
  • So now we have a lot, many people, like Christians and other faiths,
  • as well.
  • Mhm.
  • So are there similarities between Bhutan, Nepal?
  • Like, when I think of Bhutan and Nepal, they're hilly.
  • They're beautiful.
  • And you know, Seattle is sort of similar, the way I look at it.
  • How do you think?
  • Like, your memories of Bhutan, Nepal,
  • does it sort of come back with your living in Seattle?
  • Yes, it does.
  • That is the whole point I'm living
  • in this very expensive place.
  • Bhutan is very mountainous.
  • The landscapes are so beautiful.
  • Same with Nepal.
  • Nepal is also very mountainous.
  • And they have very big mountains and the landscape.
  • And the Pacific Northwest landscape
  • is kind of similar, although we don't
  • have bigger mountains here.
  • But still it reminds me of my home and Nepal.
  • So how was your initial first month, first year
  • after you came to the US?
  • Was there a culture shock?
  • Or how do you integrate into being an American,
  • living that life?
  • You know, I was pretty well-informed
  • about this country.
  • I do a lot of research and read, so I wasn't
  • really into cultural shock.
  • But before we came in here, the International Organization
  • for Migration, who arranged the travel and everything,
  • they gave us an orientation.
  • And they were talking about all this culture shock,
  • you know, were you're in the honeymoon phase
  • and you get a culture shock.
  • You're in the [?] phase and the [?] phase,
  • all kinds of things.
  • But there were other people with culture shock.
  • Our settlement was facilitated by the resettlement agencies.
  • They found a place to live in.
  • And then we were supported by the government welfare
  • system for eight months.
  • After that, you're on your own.
  • Some agencies help us find jobs.
  • Our community's very mixed.
  • So seniors and people with language barriers,
  • they had a tough time initially.
  • So they have a culture shock, as well.
  • And so I had to step up, and with my friends,
  • to organize some cultural activities,
  • some religious activities, that they
  • don't feel too sad about it.
  • So what happens when you get asylum in a country
  • and in the US specifically?
  • What is the path, because, I mean,
  • if you come here as an immigrant,
  • then there are visas, citizenship.
  • It's a very, very long way up.
  • But it is not the same case when you get asylum, is that right?
  • Oh, well, I think the Refugee Resettlement Program
  • is a very well-designed program, where
  • the Department of Homeland Security, they go in Nepal.
  • And they interview us for the visas and everything.
  • So once you're on this, you know whether I am processed,
  • all these processes, we were interviewed back in Nepal
  • for the green card and everything.
  • So once you enter in here, they gave us I-94.
  • And then a year later, you get a green card, although you
  • have to apply for it.
  • And after that, in five years you
  • have a right to citizenship.
  • There is a pathway that you can apply.
  • And then you can become a citizen.
  • But you have to pass the test which consists of a hundred
  • questions.
  • And you'll be asked at least 20 questions on that.
  • And you should have some language skills, as well.
  • All the questions are asked in English.
  • So for people attending school or colleges,
  • it's not a big deal.
  • You just have to read through, and then you just pass.
  • But for people with language barriers and seniors
  • who have never been in a school and never seen a school,
  • it's a very big challenge.
  • And all these seniors, they are learning the languages
  • through community colleges or with some other agencies.
  • Some of them are able to obtain citizenship.
  • But others are not.
  • So still it is a challenge for people.
  • We, as refugees, we come here.
  • We have these privileges, a very guided pathway
  • to citizenship.
  • But for immigrants, I think it is challenging because there
  • are some restrictions to it.
  • We, as refugees, we come without any money.
  • There is no money.
  • If you're talking about myself, I had only $50
  • when I entered this country.
  • But I think immigrants, they belong
  • to wealthy families and this.
  • They might have some money to bring
  • with them when they come in.
  • So they will not maybe feel financial challenges at first.
  • But refugees will feel the financial challenges
  • pretty hard.
  • Mhm, so once you came over here--
  • you came in August.
  • And you said around September, October--
  • I really found that story interesting,
  • if you would share with us--
  • that it was the time of this big festival, Dussehra.
  • And somehow it was through that moment that you
  • also, apart from doing a job-- and you got a job
  • fairly quickly in the US-- you also
  • evolved into becoming a community
  • leader for your community.
  • Will you talk about that?
  • Yeah, you know, it's very interesting
  • because when I came in August, there
  • was some other family that came in June and July.
  • And then they were kind of sitting inside their apartment
  • and not able to find ways to get out of that,
  • except for going to grocery stores.
  • So our big festival, Dussehra, or the Dashain,
  • is a very big festival for Nepalese and other Hindu
  • people.
  • So that came along.
  • And then they're all seniors sitting inside their apartment.
  • And they're pretty sad.
  • And they told me, we are not sure whether we
  • are allowed to do this festival, celebrate this festival,
  • or not.
  • And I told them, you know what?
  • This is the United States.
  • We can celebrate this.
  • So let's do it.
  • So I told them, let's have a potluck party in a park.
  • And then I asked people to cook some ethnic food
  • and then bring into the park.
  • And I call other people around that I knew,
  • other American families.
  • And then we gathered in the park.
  • And then we celebrated that first Dashain here
  • in the United States.
  • After that I started organizing more inside a hall
  • or in a hall, so it was a little more organized after that.
  • Then people had other problems, too.
  • I mean, they had medical appointments.
  • Nobody knew how to drive.
  • And we didn't have GPS or anything at that time.
  • So I had to look at the maps and have them drive to the places,
  • to the doctor's appointments.
  • Sometimes I interpreted for them.
  • And then other challenges, as well.
  • So when I started organizing all these things,
  • I started creating volunteers and started taking people
  • to the temples, also, you know?
  • I knew some people from India and Nepal,
  • so they helped me do this.
  • And then I started doing all these community gatherings
  • and all these community organizations and stuff
  • like that.
  • Mhm, so you stayed in Nepal as a refugee from 1992 to 2008.
  • And so it could not have been life without uncertainties.
  • So now that you're living through a pandemic,
  • is it bringing back those memories?
  • How are you responding to the pandemic?
  • Just how are you doing?
  • Just you, how are you doing?
  • Personally, myself, I'm doing OK.
  • You know, there's some emotional changes.
  • There's some financial hardship, as well.
  • But overall, I think I'm doing better than other people
  • because I have gone through more worse than this.
  • Living in Nepal was very uncertain for us.
  • We were living without a future.
  • We were not allowed to work there legally.
  • So there's no financial future.
  • There's nothing like that.
  • So at least here, I know that we'll go through this.
  • And then this will end one day.
  • And then we still can start doing things, you know?
  • So I'm not worried about it too much.
  • And also, I had a lot of friends from Nepal
  • that are living in China when the pandemic broke,
  • when this virus came out.
  • So I was reading a lot about it.
  • And then I was kind of mentally prepared, you know,
  • this might come to us.
  • And then it will have an impact on our lives.
  • So I was kind of mentally prepared.
  • And then I've been telling people, if that happens,
  • we have to deal with this compassionately,
  • not worrying too much.
  • Taking proper precautions.
  • But we have to deal with this with compassion
  • and with information, you know?
  • At that time, we didn't have much information.
  • But now we have so much available.
  • So I think we can be safe, and this will end one day.
  • Mhm, so if you were to speak for your community--
  • even as communities from South Asia,
  • you know Indians, Pakistanis, Bangladeshis, I
  • mean, they are spoken about far more than Nepalis or Bhutanese.
  • So if you were to speak for your community,
  • how is the Bhutanese community doing in the pandemic?
  • You know, our lives have been impacted like as others.
  • I think people lost jobs.
  • Most of the people, they work in restaurants and airports.
  • And they lost jobs previously.
  • But now I think, other than that, yeah,
  • I was telling that we didn't have a culture of going outside
  • and eating at restaurants or dining-in-a-restaurant culture.
  • So most of the time, we prepare food ourselves at home,
  • and we eat.
  • That's that.
  • And we're pretty connected with each other.
  • Every single day we talk about it.
  • And since I am a microbiologist, people know about that.
  • And they always ask me, what can be done, in certain situations.
  • So I've been advising them because I have an access
  • to more scientific information through my work
  • and through my own research, as well.
  • So I've been providing them some information, how
  • to be safe in this pandemic.
  • And people are very serious about it.
  • And they're taking serious precautions.
  • Overall, you know, within the United States,
  • we are at least 90,000 here so far.
  • I think I know a couple of families, a couple of them,
  • they passed away because of COVID.
  • But the death is not more than five percent.
  • So I would like you to talk a little bit about your work.
  • But I also was interested in how you talked about your coming
  • together.
  • And just today I read on New York Times, David Krugman
  • writing about the social safety net, which
  • is missing in American society.
  • And you talked about how your community comes together.
  • And even if someone is out of job, money,
  • you are always helping that person out.
  • So is this something that you as a community leader
  • consciously try to hold on to, these
  • values that you sort of came with into the US?
  • Yes, you know what?
  • I want to tell one thing positive about living
  • in refugee camps, because we had nothing there, right?
  • So we share whatever we had to save ourselves.
  • So we have that philosophy as a brethren.
  • Refugee brothers are, as a community,
  • we always have a willingness to help each other.
  • So we pitch in some money if some family needs it.
  • We try to organize some kind of helping hands to the people
  • if they really need it.
  • For example, if a family needs to pay rent,
  • we pitch in some money.
  • And then we try to help them out.
  • So we have that.
  • We bring it in.
  • And we just wanted to hold onto that
  • because I think this is very, very essential at this time
  • of difficult times.
  • Sure.
  • And now back to your work, briefly explain your work
  • as a virologist.
  • What do you do?
  • And you'd also mentioned that your lab is basically
  • at the forefront of this work.
  • What's your work?
  • And also, if you would like to say,
  • what do you think about state handling
  • of the pandemic in the US, and also your thoughts
  • on how it is being handled in Nepal and Bhutan.
  • Sure.
  • I have a graduate degree in microbiology.
  • And then I am a medical laboratory scientist, also.
  • So I work for a blood bank right now.
  • And then I also go to work with the virology lab, which
  • was the first lab in a private sector or public sector
  • after the CDC developed the test for COVID-19.
  • So I go there and help testing all these patients
  • and everything.
  • As far as I look into it with all my expertise and all
  • the information, I think the United States initially
  • didn't do very well in handling this situation.
  • But I think things have improved now as the information came in.
  • This Washington State handled it, I think,
  • in a very good way, an effective way.
  • Although initially this state also struggled
  • to obtain some essential PPEs and all kinds of test
  • kits and stuff like that.
  • When you're talking about Bhutan,
  • the current prime minister is a physician himself.
  • So Bhutan did a wonderful job in handling this COVID-19
  • pandemic.
  • There was not deaths reported.
  • And there are very minimum cases in Bhutan.
  • Nepal is still struggling because there's
  • a lot of countries that don't have a lot of expertise on it.
  • So Nepal is struggling.
  • I think it's been mismanaged by the government.
  • There's a lot of political push and pull in that country.
  • Overall, Washington State and my home country,
  • Bhutan, did a wonderful job combating this pandemic.
  • Mhm, so you are a US citizen right now, is that right?
  • That is correct.
  • Uh-huh, so in future, is the US home for you now?
  • Or would you consider going back to Bhutan
  • or going back to Nepal?
  • Well, I think going back to Nepal is very challenging to me
  • because Nepal doesn't have a provision to give citizenship
  • or any other rights to me.
  • So if I go back in Nepal, there's
  • nothing I can do legally.
  • So there is no question going back to Nepal.
  • Bhutan will not allow me to go back because they don't still
  • consider me as a Bhutanese.
  • So I don't have any rights to go back to Bhutan.
  • If I go there, they probably will throw me in a jail.
  • So there's no point I can go back to Bhutan.
  • So I think this country is mine now.
  • This country's adopted me.
  • So I'll work here as a good citizen.
  • And I'll be friendly with the fellow citizens.
  • And I try to help my community drive through this path
  • of being citizen.
  • We're responsible citizens, you know?
  • And I believe with all these communities coming in,
  • I believe we'll have a good life here, too.
  • Mhm, so how do you look ahead?
  • Do you think in a year or two, how
  • will your community, your state, this country,
  • where do you think you'll be?
  • If you're more specific about pandemic,
  • I think we'll have a solution to this problem
  • in the recent future, if not maybe next year or so.
  • I think human civilization has fought more dreadful diseases
  • than this.
  • It's just the nature of the virus is airborne.
  • So we do not know who is carrying it.
  • And it's evolving so fast, it's mutating so fast,
  • so we do not know the exact nature of the virus.
  • So it's a little challenging to the medical community.
  • But I'm very hopeful that we'll have an end to this,
  • and we'll come over this.
  • We'll defeat this virus.
  • And we'll have a good life.
  • And we'll return to normal very soon.
  • My community, I think we are doing very good.
  • Many of us are houseowners here.
  • Our community juniors, our kids, are going to school.
  • And they are doing really good.
  • They're adapting to the new life already.
  • They are already like Americans.
  • Seniors, they now understand that this is their new home,
  • and they have to adapt to it.
  • So it's a very beautiful and happy community here.
  • Mhm, so you talked about financial hardships
  • along with one of interrelated problems of the pandemic
  • has been talks of the recession, like a depression
  • that's coming here.
  • How do you think an immigrant community or refugee community,
  • asylee, I mean, how do these communities respond
  • to such new which is different for people who are from the US?
  • I think my community's not a wealthy community, right?
  • Nobody has a lot of money on these stocks or bonds.
  • And they don't worry about losing it.
  • So we just do a minimal work.
  • We just get something.
  • We try to save a little bit.
  • And then we live our life.
  • So as long as we have a job, we can go and work and get
  • a paycheck, I think, people are OK with that, you know?
  • So they're not really worried about racism or something
  • like that or losing a lot of money into it.
  • But what they're worried is if the businesses do not open
  • and if the businesses go to bankruptcy
  • and then they lose their job, they
  • might lose their livelihoods.
  • So that is the big concern here.
  • And we will hope and we pray that that does not happen.
  • We hope that business thrive and that our community
  • people have a job.
  • And then they can live a very easy
  • and a very simple lifestyle.
  • Mhm, OK.
  • So a question that I'm asking everyone in this series
  • is if there was a particular moment when
  • you realized that you're living through a pandemic.
  • And if there is one, can you describe it?
  • Oh, yes, you know what?
  • I've been hearing all this news even when
  • the virus first broke in China through my friends there.
  • And they were telling me it's very dreadful.
  • And if they have to go to lock-down,
  • it'll be a difficult thing, right?
  • So here in Washington State, when
  • I realized that there was an order from the governor,
  • a stay-home, stay-safe order from the governor, and then
  • my hospital started restricting visitors.
  • There is no people in the hospital except
  • for the employees.
  • There was less traffic in Seattle.
  • And there was news about scarcity of the toilet papers
  • and a store ran out of grocery items.
  • And I saw scared people.
  • And there were no outdoor activities.
  • Those kind of things, you know, were the indicators
  • that are telling me, OK, we are in not a normal time.
  • Maybe this is a pandemic.
  • Mhm.
  • So is there anything else you would
  • like to share with us, Yug?
  • Anything else for our listeners?
  • Maybe a question I didn't ask.
  • Maybe a response that you didn't get to share with us.
  • Well, I think what I would say is
  • I think we all are going through a very
  • emotional phase of our life.
  • And we're living in uncertainties, which in one way
  • it's correct.
  • There's a lot of things uncertain.
  • But I want you listeners and everybody listening to me,
  • would listen to me--
  • we'll go through this.
  • It's not the end of the life, OK?
  • There are situations where I was, personally myself,
  • in a bad situation than this.
  • And these bad things do not remain too long.
  • It will go through.
  • We'll go through.
  • Let's be positive.
  • Let's try to work out.
  • Let's follow precautions.
  • And then I think this virus, we'll
  • defeat this virus for sure.
  • And thank you for--
  • and then I want to share these fellow American people,
  • thank you for letting us come in into this country
  • and share the resources and this space with you all.
  • Hopefully we'll meet one day in person and talk more about it.
  • Thank you so much, Yug.
  • And I may have lied when I said that was my last question.
  • What does "Yug" mean?
  • What's the name?
  • It means 100,000 years in Sanskrit.
  • 100,000 years, OK.
  • Yeah, one yug.
  • One yug, OK.
  • Yeah.
  • OK, so that's that.
  • And if any of you have questions for Yug, you're welcome to ask.
  • But I also give it over to Athena right now.
  • She will unmute you if you have questions for Yug.
  • Hello, yes, you are all able to unmute yourselves now and ask
  • any question you would like.
  • So please feel free to.
  • Hi, I'm always the first person to ask a question.
  • But I'm just going to keep up my trend.
  • Thank you so much, Yug, for your story and--
  • Sure.
  • --for what you are bringing and giving.
  • And I'm really stricken listening to your story.
  • I wrote it down very early on--
  • refugee elders.
  • And that turn of phrase just was so
  • beautiful to me, that sense of respect
  • for teachers and the sense that they're, even
  • in the environment of displacement
  • that you've lived in so much throughout your life,
  • that you are also building community, sustaining
  • community, within the refugee camp,
  • creating new families of elders and youngers.
  • And then later you referred to brethren or refugee brothers.
  • It must be a common language for you in your community.
  • But for me it was really stunning and beautiful.
  • So thank you for teaching me that.
  • That kind of led me to--
  • the next thing you said, you talked about,
  • in the refugee camp, we had nothing.
  • So we shared everything.
  • And that points to an attitude of abundance, a sense
  • that there is enough to go around if we make it so.
  • And I think one of the things that
  • has been challenging in the United States
  • is that people have, in many cases,
  • not responded during the pandemic with an attitude
  • of abundance but rather with an attitude of scarcity.
  • And with an attitude of scarcity, we hoard.
  • We keep for ourselves.
  • We turn against.
  • We create barriers and boundaries.
  • And so I'm wondering if you could just
  • speak a little bit about that contrast in your experience
  • as someone coming from South Asia, both Bhutan and Nepal,
  • and then coming to the United States.
  • Sure, my father, he is a very educated guy in the community,
  • right?
  • So I was born in a very remote village, you know?
  • Until I was born, we didn't have roadways, right?
  • So I knew they were constructing roads in Bhutan.
  • So after that on, there was a lot of communication.
  • So between there it is a whole drastic area.
  • My father is an honored guy.
  • So if people had to write letters,
  • they would come to my house.
  • And my father would write letters
  • to someone serving in the military or somewhere else,
  • right?
  • And if they had no food, then we had a lot of fields.
  • So they would come and work for us.
  • And my father would give it to them.
  • So I came up in that culture.
  • I grew up by giving.
  • And serving people is the way my philosophy is into it.
  • So when you first came in the refugee camps,
  • there were people who were at different levels in each group
  • and different levels.
  • So some were ran out of the colleges.
  • So they were in the college, the only one college in Bhutan
  • at the time that ran an undergraduate school.
  • So they ran out of that.
  • And they had nothing to do in the refugee camps.
  • So they say, you know what?
  • Why don't you gather some kids and start teaching them?
  • So we started that way.
  • So our classes were, like, under the shade of the trees
  • sometimes, you know?
  • And they built a little attached room
  • and bamboo leaves on their huts.
  • And then we used to go and read there.
  • And the next day, the wind would blow away.
  • And we would have nothing there.
  • So we sat there again, and learning happened.
  • If you have a mentality, I think if you
  • have a mindset of doing something,
  • I think that will happen.
  • So human mind is very, very strong.
  • And human belief I think is very stronger than anything.
  • If you believe in it and if you work on it,
  • you have patience to do it, you'll get it.
  • So a refugee camp was like that.
  • So later on, we established schools.
  • And then there was one agency that
  • came in called Caritas Nepal.
  • They supplied a little bit of textbooks.
  • So not all of us got textbooks and copies, right?
  • So whatever we got, like in a group of five,
  • we get one set of books.
  • That's it.
  • So we shared those books.
  • One day, someone would take one, geography.
  • Other would take science book or math or anything like that.
  • We sat in a very small group and learned.
  • So learning happened.
  • You know, UNHCR and the whole United Nations
  • rated that school as one of the best schools in this planet.
  • And that was done by UNHCR.
  • So that was the best school.
  • So we are taught in the English language.
  • But the local people, they had to pay a lot of money
  • to get that quality education.
  • So there was a contrast, you know?
  • And then when you compare that thing in the pandemic, I saw--
  • I mentioned earlier, people are running out of toilet paper,
  • and they are hoarding things and keeping in their garage
  • while the other one is suffering without anything.
  • So I think that's why I told everybody,
  • we need to deal with this with compassion.
  • If you're lacking compassion, you're inviting problems.
  • So it's more of compassion.
  • That's why I'm telling people, they
  • are scared to go to work in the virology lab.
  • So I told them, you know what?
  • You want to get out of this fear,
  • we have to go and work there, feel
  • what it is, because if you don't do it, nobody's going to come
  • and do it.
  • Nobody from the street is going to come and do
  • the PCR testing for this COVID, because we
  • are trained to do this.
  • We have to deal with this with compassion.
  • If you put the compassion factor to it,
  • I think we'll do things a little bit better
  • than ordinary people with ordinary mentality will do it.
  • So that's the whole point I'm trying to give to my community
  • and to my friends, as well.
  • So I think I want to leave with this.
  • And I want to pass on to other people, as well.
  • If I write an email to my younger generation here,
  • you know what?
  • We're going to have a soccer tournament here.
  • Would you guys sort of volunteer?
  • I'll have 10 or 20 or 15 people come
  • in [?] on that day.
  • So I have no problems, you know?
  • We have this thing going on.
  • And we want to set up this example to everybody.
  • So thanks for asking that question.
  • Well, you're such a young man, but you're clearly
  • one of the elders in your community.
  • And it's so beautiful to know that that's the lesson, that's
  • the teaching that you're doing.
  • I always laughed about the toilet paper thing
  • because so many people in South Asia don't use toilet paper.
  • No.
  • So it's just totally a non-issue, you know?
  • It's like--
  • No, that's what I told my friends.
  • They were worrying about it at work.
  • You know, I don't have a toilet rolls.
  • I told them, I have a couple of them.
  • I'll give it to you because I have no use.
  • Yep, water works.
  • I'm used to use water.
  • So come on, you are really running out of it,
  • I will give it to you.
  • But do not worry about it.
  • I [?] toilet paper before I arrived in the US,
  • so yeah.
  • Yeah.
  • Well, thank you again so much for sharing your story.
  • I really feel so uplifted by hearing your story.
  • And I think that really means a lot in these times.
  • Thank you, Amber--
  • Thank you.
  • --for the question.
  • Anyone else?
  • Any question?
  • Nothing else?
  • OK.
  • No?
  • Again, thank you so much.
  • I feel like I have to pause when this is done
  • and process because there's so many wonderful things to think
  • about and take away from this.
  • So thank you, thank you, thank you.
  • And thank you everyone for being here today.
  • Thank you to Amber for your wonderful thoughts
  • and questions.
  • We're grateful.
  • Like I said, our audience is a very important part
  • of this process.
  • And I'll hand it over to Dharitri for any closing
  • thoughts here before we go.
  • But thank you so much.
  • Thank you for attending.
  • And thank you, Yug, for joining.
  • And we'll see you all again on Thursday and, for the next one
  • month, every Tuesday and Thursday.
  • Great, thank you to you all.
  • All right.
  • Thank you, Yug.
  • It's so wonderful to meet you.
  • Thank you.
  • Thank you.
  • Yeah, thanks for having me.
  • Thank you.
  • All right, you guys have a good day.
  • Thank you.
  • You, too.
  • Bye.
  • Bye.
  • Bye, everyone.