Pujan Thapa: Immigrant Stories

When I remember my childhood back in Nepal, I always picture a small house made of bamboo and tiles. We live in harsh, freckled tents like a house, crowding people into the camps like chickens on a farm. It was so horrifying and painful. My life in Nepal, where I spent 16 years, I would like to define as a desert. Living in a place that is deprived of basic necessities for life such as food, electricity, and a home was a miserable life. Everyone in the camp searched for something to eat in order to survive. But we found little or nothing until an international organization called UNHCR provided rations and camps for all the Burmese refugees to live in. Even though it was really hard for me to survive, I had a happy life with my friends, stayed connected to the relatives, and spent time in a supportive community whose first language was the same as mine. In contrast, my parents and grandparents were born in Bhutan. We know that Bhutan is a landlocked country located in the Himalayas and it was ruled by the king from 1907 until now. Our parents live as Bhutanese, but early in 1980, the king of Bhutan introduced a dreadfully harsh new citizenship law, which was against the majority of the Bhutanese of Nepali origin called Lofthampas, or people of the south. Knowledge of the Dzongkha language, Bhutanese customs, and traditional values became requirements for a citizenship, but the Bhutanese of Nepali origin, which were my grandparents and parents, had their own language, culture, and traditional customs. Thus, they wanted to flee the country. However, they protested and claimed their right to stay where their generation were born. They didn't flee because they considered Bhutan to be their motherland. Unfortunately, our parents couldn't continue the routine, became a cultural cleansing begin. Language, culture, and customs became the tools of precaution. Bhutanese soldiers were ordered by the government to kill people of Nepali origin. As a result, many children became orphans, many women were raped, many properties such as land, jewelry, and domestic animals were lost. All of the violence compelled my parents to leave their land and flee from Bhutan to Nepal. Even though our culture, language, and customs were Nepali, Nepal didn't accept us as citizens. My family and millions of Bhutanese Nepali lived in Nepal for 27 years or longer. Thus, the organization called International Organization of Migration, IOM, started to take us to different countries such as the USA, Canada, Norway, etc., that had a place to gain education 24-7, electricity, shiny cars. These were the things that we had never seen or received in our life. So, my dad made a huge decision for our life. We decided to move to a new country, the USA, where there was a sufficient amount of opportunity and facilities. However, we had to adapt to a new environment, learn a new language and new culture. It was tough for me. We departed from Nepal on December 2, 2016. On our journey, it was really fun and scary. As a second language learner, I was totally silent on the plane while I traveled. We arrived here in the USA on December 8. Our first destination was Miami, Florida. We stayed at a hotel for one day and after that, on December 9, we finally reached our final destination on 8.45 p.m. in St. Paul, Minnesota. We were picked up by some of the organization members from the Blue Cross Society. As the time went on, I got a chance to continue my aim, which was to go to school and get knowledge. At first, language made me lonely in school. I had difficulty having conversations with school teachers and friends. In my first half year in America, people would just walk away from me because they couldn't understand me. But overall, I learned the language because of my hard work and with the help of teachers. There is a vast difference in the living standard of people. The USA has a better education system with modern technology and health care service. Generally, life in Nepal was simple and good life. If I were in my country, I would never imagine that my life would be like this. And I would never expect to continue my study further, but I'm glad that I came to Land of Opportunity. I must be thankful to the agency who helped us and they were like the god of the refugee. Here in the USA, it was really always fun with my family, friends and community. Living with love and trust despite different culture, language, rituals and customs. Though my life is busy in the USA from doing hard work, I can say that I can make my future bright and make my family proud and full of happiness. Being a refugee, adapting in a new culture and learning a new language were difficult, but I learned a lot from it. Through pain comes opportunities and we should never give up and always be resilient. It was the Land of Opportunity, so hard work pays off later.