Wednesday, December 29, 2010

2011 Annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Service Award honors Craig Gilbert

Guest author: Tamar Orvell

Craig Gilbert sporting his topi hat
and Nepalese doko basket

An appreciation and kudos to a tzadik [Hebrew: righteous person] — Craig Gilbert, my friend, mentor, sounding board, and role model, and Atlanta Bhutanese Refugee Support Group volunteer.

Emory University (School of Public Health and Goizueta Business School) will honor Craig and other recipients at The 2011 Annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Service Award ceremony on Thursday, January 20, at 4pm. The event will be in the auditorium of the Claudia Nance Rollins School of Public Health (1518 Clifton Road, Atlanta, GA 30322); a catered reception will follow. Parking from 3pm in the Michael Street Parking Deck (off Clifton Road) for faculty, staff, and students. Stay on the faculty, staff, and students side, and do not venture over to the visitors lot.

The theme for this year’s program of the 19th annual MLK Jr. Birthday Celebration is “Reinventing Communities: Turning Misfortune into Opportunity.”

This prestigious award recognizes Craig's accomplishments in the early days of the organic food movement, and for lifting up people in the refugee community (to earn fair wages for honest work, to access educational opportunities, and to preserve and transmit along the generations human dignity, cultural heritage, and ethnic identity).

At the event, Craig will speak briefly and share photos to highlight the Bhutanese Kudzu Basket Project and the Gardening Project, among enterprises he has initiated, championed, and given to with energy, imagination, and love!

The Atlanta Bhutanese community and many friends, allies, advocates, and supporters, are warmly invited to join in honoring Craig.
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. inspired America to grant human rights to all people using nonviolent means, a philosophy that Mahatma ("great soul") Gandhi, a son of India, pioneered. It is fitting that an Atlantan is recognized for upholding Dr. King's ideals by helping to resettle refugees from Bhutan (on the Indian subcontinent) whose homes and fields were stolen and whose lives were put on hold in refugee camps twenty years and longer.  
— Craig Gilbert

Related posts by or about Craig
Cross-posted at Only Connect

    Thursday, November 25, 2010

    Tulasi's Thanksgiving Letter

    Guest author: Tulasi Ghimirey

    Ryan observes his dad, Tulasi, wearing
    Bhutanese garb to honor his homeland flag

    Editor's note |  In 2000, Tulasi Ghimirey arrived in the U.S. from United Nations-run refugee camps in southeastern Nepal. Last month,Tulasi's parents joined him in an emotional reunion (photos here) at Atlanta's Hartsfield International Airport. Thousands in his community are still living in the camps' squalid makeshift huts of bamboo and plastic. These homeless, stateless victims who have been enduring years of struggle and poverty were exiled from Bhutan, their homeland, in an ethnic cleansing, in 1991. 

    Dear friends, elders, brothers and sisters, and community leaders,

    We traveled several thousand miles from Bhutan to Nepal and than to America and came to this wonderful land where we can call home. In 2003 there were four Bhutanese immigrants in Atlanta. Today we are 6, 000. Thank you to all the Ambassadors who reached to the Bhutanese people in the refugee camps in Nepal and today we are here because of you.

    This land is so wonderful and citizens as well. Anywhere in the world if there a disaster both man made or natural American Citizens will reach there to help and rescue the needy. I salute all the people on the uniform for making us safe. Here, we can work, wear the clothes of our own choices, read, write, and speak freely. We can also hire an Attorney if we need. If you go to bed there is 100% chances that we will see the next day.

    Generally, Bhutanese are doing well. Many have changed their job for better prospects. Many families have a car. Everyday they are looking for the better opportunity. No one is homeless yet.

    We have enjoyed such a warm welcome and positive response. I am thankful for everyone who has taken time to say hello or meet with me and bring your gifts and talents to our community. As I celebrate the holiday with my family, I remember faces and names of all the volunteers, some as little as six and seven yrs old. A little girl collected her lunch money and bought a pair of sleeper for a Refugee child. Teamwork can be summed up in five short words: "We believe in each other."

    Thank you for embracing us at the time of economic downfall. We saved our families from eviction list from the apartment because of you. You stepped in to help with your expertise running the kudzu basket project where many folks made some cash by selling the baskets made out of vine. You helped set up tutoring, and collecting and distributing clothes, household items, calculators, and study guides. Training were given in basket weaving, driving and preparation for the learner permit test, and working in food industry and construction. After people got training in grass cutting and edging, they made money to help pay their rent.

    I am thankful to all Bhutanese friends who go to work daily with smiles on their faces, realizing that the work that they do makes our community and the world a better place. Work is worship. Our goal is to keep away from FOOD STAMP.

    Thanks to all who introduced us to other communities. Today we are known in Jewish, Indian, Burmese, Spanish, Jamaican, and Nepalese communities. Still, Bhutanese is a new word for many.

    Today I have several hundreds of people to take care of me in case of any disaster in my life. When my niece died at Gwinnett hospital, the staff was shocked to see the numbers of visitors who came before she died. These visitors were from Bhutan, India, America —Black and White. She was new in Atlanta, and many visited because they knew me. Even the staff asked me whether I am a political leader.

    After I was evicted from Bhutan, I discovered that the most powerful tool we carry is the power of love and kindness. Lets continue to keep our culture and tradition and treat our guests as dear mother.

    I wish I can download all the pictures from my heart or the retina of my eyes.

    Lets glorify our new motherland by singing this song.

    God bless America
    Land that I love
    Stand beside her
    And guide her
    Through the night with a light
    From above.

    From the mountains, to the prairies
    To the oceans white with foam,
    God bless America,
    My home sweet home (2x).

    Related posts
    Emory University article on Tulasi
    Bhutan refugee finds Shangri-La in Atlanta

    Wednesday, September 1, 2010

    Atlanta Bhutanese refugees want jobs

    Guest author: Tamar Orvell

    Meet the Dulal brothers: Jaga, Tila, and Buddha. During the past 15 months, they resettled in Atlanta, joining their parents and community of 6,000 fellow Bhutanese refugees. They arrived from refugee camps in Nepal, where they had been living 18 years with 100 thousand fellow victims of ethnic cleansing in their homeland, neighboring Bhutan.

    The Dulals and their community are aching for work to help feed and support their families. And while the Dulals speak halting English and are open to work opportunities, in this tight market they have not yet found jobs. Unless they earn money to pay for their modest housing and other basics, they face potential eviction.

    Watch the video (1:50 minutes).



    Bhutanese refugee men and women seek work in —
    • Restaurants: cooking, cleaning, and serving
    • Childcare and elder care
    • Landscaping, maintenance, and other service work
    • Factory assembly lines
    • Bakery processing plants
    • Sewing, tailoring, and weaving
    • Designing and making beaded necklaces
    • Henna painting
    The young adults and high school students also seek work — after school, summers, and weekends. They speak English, and the teens attend local high schools (where many are in Advanced Placement [AP] classes). Many young adults study part-time in local community colleges where they must pay fees while helping to support their families.

    Contact us
    Please send job leads and offers to BhutanBaskets@Gmail.com.

    How Bhutanese refugees come to Atlanta
    The refugees arrive in Atlanta and nationwide through combined efforts of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Third Country Resettlement Program and the U.S. Refugee Resettlement Program. The UNHCR also works with the U.S. and many other countries to resettle other refugee groups from around the globe.

    Thank you and Namaste*
    *Sanskrit greeting, meaning, I bow to you

    Cross-posted at Only Connect 

    Sunday, July 18, 2010

    From Bhutan to the Emory Eye Center: a long road to good vision

     Pediatric ophthalmologist Amy Hutchinson
    and Birendra Odari (Photo: Tamar Orvell)

    Tamar Orvell's Editor's note |  When Birendra Odari visited the Emory Eye Center last fall, Dr. Amy Hutchinson was the first pediatric ophthalmologist ever to examine the Druid Hills High School teen, who arrived in the USA two years ago. A respectful and respected leader in his community, Birendra is an avid soccer player, active member of his school International Club, and vice- president of the Bhutanese Kudzu Project (profiled in the Atlanta-Journal Constitution here).

    Emory Eye, a publication of the Emory Eye Center, published a news story (Summer 2010 issue, page 7) on Birendra's visit. (Because of an editing error, the publication misreported the current number of Bhutanese refugees in Atlanta. It is 6,000, not 1,600.) The story is reprinted here.


    “We were glad that Birendra Odari had come to us for treatment,” says Dr. Hutchinson. “He had severe astigmatism and hyperopia (farsightedness).” Both conditions were untreated, and because Birendra had never worn glasses or contact lenses before coming to the United States, he had developed amblyopia (decreased vision in both eyes).

    “Before visiting Emory Eye [Center], Birendra had been seen by an optometrist in Atlanta. We advised him to continue wearing the contact lenses prescribed by that doctor,” Dr. Hutchinson says. “His vision continues to improve. That’s a welcome situation for this bright and ambitious young man.”

    Craig Gilbert and Tamar Orvell, volunteers with the Atlanta Bhutanese Refugee Support Group, accompanied Birendra to the Emory Eye Center.

    Tamar noted that Dr. Hutchinson immediately established a caring relationship with Birendra. “After the exam, she asked him about his life up until now. Dr. Hutchinson explained that she could relate in some ways to his experiences in the refugee camps because she volunteers her professional services in third-world countries and sees many difficult situations there.”

    Craig added, “Birendra’s mother felt so much relief when we returned home. It was almost overwhelming for her to know that after 18 years of no medical help and no vision correction, her son has had the best possible care. She is thankful to Dr. Hutchinson for her top skills and gracious, gentle ways.”

    Sunday, July 11, 2010

    The Fugees: our Atlanta refugee neighbors



    For more information, visit the Fugees Family web site.

    Friday, June 25, 2010

    Pabitra Rizal's gifts

    Guest author: Tamar Orvell


    A two-hour Q&A punctuated by a salvo of Oohs, Ahhs, Reallys? and Nevers! followed the hug fest that launched Pabitra's and my reunion. We had recently returned to our lives in Atlanta; I, from my life in Israel, and Pabitra from visiting her "mum" in a refugee camp, in Nepal. 

    On the ferociously hot and muggy Sunday afternoon, over an early dinner we exchanged gifts. (One Israeli gift was from flag store owner Yehudit Liman, who instructed me to "Please deliver these [Bhutanese flags] to your friends in Atlanta, the Bhutanese refugees about whom you speak so fondly.")

    And, when Craig dropped by to welcome back the one whom I call the Mayor of the Atlanta Bhutanese Community, the conversation took deep dives as the Bhutanese-born visionary, leader, activist, advocate, and go-to person answered our questions.
    • How did you feel returning to the camp you had left five years ago and continued to call home?
    • Why were you initially afraid to return there?
    • What do people in the camps know about life in the U.S.A.?
    • How much did you pay for dental work in Khathmandu when you visited the capital city? 
    • What did it cost to treat your ingrown toenail, and what were the doctor's credentials?
    The back story
    In 1991, Bhutan expelled Pabitra, her family, and roughly 100,000 native-born fellow ethnic Nepalis after countless people endured imprisonment, separation, torture, murder, and rape. For decades since, these exiled, stateless people have been living in seven U.N.-run refugee camps in neighboring Nepal. In 2005, Pabitra left her camp to attend a conference in the U.S.A., where she sought political asylum. She had not seen her mother until last month.

    In 2008, the chance to seek resettlement in a third country (the U.S.A., Canada, Australia, Denmark, New Zealand, Norway, and the Netherlands) under the United Nations Third-Country Resettlement Program for Refugees reversed the fortunes of more than 60,000 Bhutanese refugees.

    Today, Pabitra and a community of 6,000 Bhutanese refugees live in Atlanta (more members are steadily joining them here and the others nationwide). Craig, I, and other Atlanta Bhutanese Refugee Support Group volunteers are helping our new neighbors to resettle and rebuild their lives. And our dear friend who laughs easily and often, and relishes her mother's Nepalese cooking is a key cultural interpreter and go-to person in helping us and her community to navigate the challenges.


    Craig's (abridged) list of Pabitra's gifts
    • Pabitra is a shining light. You know she is in a room because people listen. She carries regally the weight and future of her community, and she is busy, productive, and planning her next move and next month’s move.
    • Pabitra knows what family really means. She traveled around the world returning to a refugee camp to see her brother and mother. The last leg of her journey she completed on foot and carried only a small satchel of clothes (having left her passport and documents in Kathmandu with friends). If people living in the camp had known she came from the U.S.A. or advocated resettlement, she would have been at risk.
    • Pabitra is thankful that she has been given a great gift of freedom in the U.S.A. She remains positive and understands that she is responsible for managing her life and helping others to navigate their way. Tired and tireless today, twenty years from now she will be the same focused, driven person with big dreams and major accomplishments.
    Related posts
    Cross-posted at Only Connect

    Saturday, May 15, 2010

    Bhutanese artisans at Inman Park 39th Annual Festival


    Photos: David Foster 
    (Click images to enlarge them)

    Atlanta’s eclectic and revered annual Inman Park Spring Festival, a two-day celebration of parades, entertainment, dancing, and open houses the last weekend of April, took place Friday through Sunday, April 23-25, 2010.

    Festival features
    Atlanta’s largest street market (including a first-time Bhutanese Booth with beaded necklaces, henna body painting, and kudzu basket weaving!).

    Also, food, music, fun, a most outrageous parade, and a home tour of Victorian-era treasures, Craftsman Bungalows, contemporary gems, and stunning renovations.

    Bhutanese artisans and community volunteers
    Atlanta Bhutanese Refugee Support Group "previously indefatigable" volunteer Craig Gilbert initiated, managed, and coordinated the project to include Bhutanese artisans among the festival vendors.

    Henna artists: Bhima Thapa-Magar, Sanita Thapa-Magar, Nirmala Regmi, Bishnu Odari

    Beaded necklaces: Mrs. Oma Odari

    Kudzu basket weavers: Misters Dulal, Pulami, Rimal, Rudra, MarMagar, Mapchan, Samal, Timshina

    Sales: Birendra Odari, Tilchand Mapchhan

    Drivers: Barbara Dorfman, Craig Gilbert, Deb Tawil, Leslie and Jeff Sokolow, Tika Rizal

    At the Collective: The Inman Park gallery hosted weaving demonstrations of Bhutanese kudzu baskets, and sells them year-round.

    More information
    Buy kudzu baskets
    Contact Bhutan Baskets

    Additional photos
    by Vernon Gross






















    Related posts

    Monday, March 22, 2010

    Look what you missed at the Magar program

    Guest author: Sarman Samal
    Photos: Craig Gilbert


    Editor's note |  Magar is one of the largest indigenous ethnic nationalities of Nepal. The Magar Association of Georgia (MAG) organized a Magar cultural program for the community and friends on February 27, 2010, at the Presbyterian Church, 5140 Memorial Drive, Stone Mountain, GA. 

    I N V I T A T I O N
    This is Sarman Samal. I would like to invite everybody to the Magar cultural show on 27th Feb. 2010. Magar is a ethnic group in the Bhutanese community with a unique culture and traditions. Please join us, Bhutanese Magar people, and enjoy the Magar cultural show with typical dances, songs and a skit by high school students.

    For further information, please contact me at 678 598 1245.

    I would like to thank everybody for helping Bhutanese people. Your great efforts have made the Bhutanese community a better place.

    Tuesday, February 9, 2010

    Brothers who share only a few words

    Guest author: Craig Gilbert

    Durga Dulal and Craig Gilbert wearing
    a topi hat and Durga's scarf

    To the Bhutanese community, Thank you for the recent "Thank you" party for Atlanta Bhutanese Refugee Support Group volunteers. It was very powerful to me.

    At the party, I was honored to be given a beautiful kudzu basket and a topi, a type of hat popular in Nepal. Topis come in many in different colors and patterns, and I find them all striking.

    And then, Durga Dulal stepped forward and placed his scarf on my neck. It brought me to tears. How can I take from someone with nothing? It was like giving the shirt off his back. I could not take it, but now it is mine.

    He wore and used that scarf; it kept him warm all winter. I always believed it to be something that someone gave as charity. Its bright Day-Glo pink does not go with anything, and its origins seemed obvious: something that someone had to get rid of.

    He, too, was full of emotion. We used napkins to wipe our eyes and blow our noses. We were not embarrassed crying. It turns out that the scarf is from Nepal, and he brought it with him to America. It is now in my house, and if my house were to catch on fire, Durga's scarf would be among the first things I would save.

    Durga Dulal is a leader. He impressed our kudzu basket-making teacher when he used his bare feet to turn and hold the baskets as he was weaving. He has been weaving baskets since he was twelve, and now he is my age: 54.

    After four months of going together to farmers’ markets, artist markets, Christmas markets, and stores; relying on each other; problem solving; and working together, Durga Dulal is a brother. We know each other though there are only a few words we share.

    Related posts

    Friday, January 22, 2010

    2010 calendar with Bhutanese and Nepalese festivals!

    Guest author: Tamar Orvell

    The Bhutanese Community of Georgia (BCG) has created a stunning content-rich calendar. (Click the image to enlarge it.)

    Printed on 11-x-17-inch top-grade paper, the calendar is spiral bound with drilled holes for easy hanging.

    The handy organizer is packed with —
    • Bhutanese, Nepalese, and USA festivals and special days
    • Atlanta Bhutanese community photos
    • Spiritual teachings from the Vedas, Gita, Buddha
    • Horoscopes
    • Essential refugee resources: resettlement agencies, health organizations, radio stations
    Purchasing calendars
    Calendars are $5 each and can be purchased from the BCG. To order by mail, please send a check or money order of $5 per calendar, plus $1.50 shipping and handling to —
    Bhutanese Community of Georgia (BCG)
    3448 North Druid Hills Road, Suite L
    Decatur, GA 30033

    BCG contacts
    Pabitra Rizal, 678/313-5444
    Sanjay Dahal, 404/718-9323
    Sarman Samal, 678/598-1245

    Sample spiritual teaching: Sahanavavatu Mantra
    AUM saha navavatu, saha nau bhunaktu
Saha veeryam karvaavahai
Tejasvi naa vadhita mastu
maa vid vishaa va hai
AUM shaantih, shaantih, shaantih.

    Let us together (-saha) be protected (-na vavatu) and let us together be nourished (-bhunaktu). Let us together join our mental forces in strength (-veeryam) for the benefit of humanity (-karvaa vahai). Let our efforts at learning be luminous (-tejasvi) and filled with joy, and endowed with the force of purpose (-vadhita mastu). Let us never (-maa) be poisoned (-vishaa) with the seeds of hatred for anyone. Let there be peace and serenity (-shaantih) in all three universes.