By Leah Kostamo
They arrived at the A Rocha Brooksdale Environmental Centre on a big yellow school bus – forty or so Bhutanese refugees, most of whom had spent nearly 20 years in refugee camps in Nepal living in plastic tents. They had been expelled from Bhutan during the early 1990s during the country’s “One Nation, One People” campaign, which resulted in the forceful expulsion of over 100,000 people (almost all of Nepali ethnicity), nearly one-sixth of the country’s population. Most had been farmers in Bhutan, a country perched between India and Tibet with rich agricultural fields of maize, buckwheat, millet and cardamom.
Having lived in an ecologically rich and lush region of Bhutan, then experiencing many harsh years in refugee camps, these folks were delighted to spend the day at Brooksdale, relishing the gardens, forest and river as they participated in A Rocha’s Fun on the Farm program. One woman was even heard exclaiming, “It looks just like Bhutan!”
We at A Rocha were delighted to provide these dear people with a day of refreshment and restoration by giving them the opportunity to get out of their apartments and connect with creation and community. By the effusiveness of their farewell hugs and “namastes” we have a feeling we’ll be seeing them again soon!
