My Tibetan friend in Nepal

One of my Nepali friend lives in Tashi Palkhel Tibetan refugee camp, north of Pokhara at place called Hyanja on Pokhara Baglung Higway.

Her parents has been among the first Tibetan refugees arrive to Nepal in the beginning of  fifties and she has been born in Pokhara 1963 where she has lived all her life so far.

There are more than 20,000 Tibetan refugees living in about 12 settlements across the country. However, the true number of Tibetan refugees is not known. Some estimates suggest that 30,000 Tibetans live in Kathmandu alone.

Refugee identification

One of the neighbors

Tibetan refugees still lives without protection of citizenship which means they can not own properties, work, study, travel... Which is reason that most of them do handicrafts and sell them in the streets to earn money to support their families.

My friends situation is worse than most of her friends. She lost her parents when she was a young girl and was raised by a neighbor. In a country where the social system IS your family, being a single woman without support of any family... I can`t imagine. Can you?

She is a devoted Buddhist like most of the Tibetan refugees and introduced their monastery and religious traditions to us on a day when the monks were preparing the upcoming Tibetan new year. A lot of colorful decorations made out of flour and water was been prepared all over the Monastery.

 

Running a big prayer wheel

This country has shown me so much during this six months. My Tibetan friend is one who showed again a new side of the story of Nepal. I thank her for that and hope that she among all the people in Nepal will have the future they deserve.