Vol. 15 ISSUE 3                                         JULY 1998

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THE NEWSLETTER OF
THE ASSOCIATION OF NEPALESE IN MIDWEST AMERICA

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ANMA HOLDS A SUCCESSFUL ANNUAL CONVENTION AT BIG RAPIDS, MICHIGAN

ANMA Convention: May 23-24, 1998, Memorial day weekend
Venue: The Holiday Inn, Ferris State University, Big Rapids, Michigan
Host: Dr. Khagendra Thapa, Mrs. Rajani Thapa
Supporting Volunteer: Mr. Dhruba and Mrs. Anita Shrestha, Ms Kala Sharma, Mrs Shashi Bhatta

Meeting began by starting on an informal atmosphere on Saturday evening. Many participants drove long distance to reach Big Rapids which is located at the north western part of the Michigan. People drove over 12 hours from Texas, St. Paul Minnesota, Washington D.C, Illinois, Columbus. Many more came from Chicago, and Detroit and its suburb. Dr. Khagendra and Mrs. Rajani Thapa hosted Friday night's dinner at their residence for out of town guest.
Saturday evening was for socializing, refreshing old acquaintances and making new friends and it was made even more enjoyable over the dinner table. Almost all the guests were lodged in at Holiday Inn so the camaraderic was even more immediate!

While adults exchanged their ideas and experiences with each other children had an opportunity to enjoy the movie in a hotel auditorium. Since there was plenty of space in the hotel, a Swimming pool, and a Golf Course with a walking trail around it there was plenty to do for everyone interested.

Sunday morning the meeting was promptly started on time at 9:30 AM and was moderated by Dr. Khagendra Thapa. After the welcome speech by the President, ANMA, Dr. Maheswor Baidya, forum had three distinguished speakers. First, Dr. William Sederburg president of Ferris State University welcomed the participant on behalf of Ferris State University and emphasized the importance of meeting organized by the ANMA to bring Nepalese in America to such a gatherings. He went on to say that we all need to reflect and try to reach out for our roots (ethnic background) while we are busy trying to grow up and belong to the mainstream society in America. He gave an overview of Ferris State University, its mission statement, achievements and its role in fulfilling the need for training the people of Michigan for the job market. Of interest was the fact that Ferris State has an active liaison with Universities from Malayasia, Fermany, Netherland, Japan, Korea and Indonesia.

We were welcomed by Dr. David Russell who were representing the Mayor of the city of Big Rapids. He gave a brief history of Big Rapids. In spite of his tight schedule, His excellency, the Nepalese ambassador to the U.N., Mr. Narendra Bickram Shah took time out to attend the convention for half a day. He fielded few questions about America-Nepal Tax laws, and issues of Dual citizenship.

YOUTH FORUM

The youth forum was a new panel discussion that was introduced this year. The executive members and the president of ANMA were the individuals that put this together. The purpose was for the audience to ask questions to the first generation Nepali-American youths to better understand the lifestyle and cultural differences youths face on the everyday basis. It consisted of teens ranging in age and grades, from high school to college graduates. The participants were Sudip Subedi, Sukti Dhital, Pooja Adhikary, Reena Koirala, Rajan Rajbhandari, Robin Shrestha, Pragya Pant, Samrat Thapa, Manoj Sharma, Pradeep Bashal, Ravi Bashal, and Meenakshi Gyawali. The panel was moderated by Dr. Mohan Shrestha.

There were numerous questions that were asked during the discussion but some were discussed more in depth than others. These questions were concerned more about growing up as a Nepalese American in the States, knowing your culture, living in a dual culture and even our thoughts on reverse migration to Nepal. On knowing your culture many of the participants said that when we were growing up it was hard to explain to friends and classmates why we were not allowed to do certain things but as we grew and matured, our Nepalese culture became more relevant to our lives and thus played a more important role. As an individual said, America consists of people that can speak any other language but English but the incentive for us is that we are given the choice to attend conventions, have gatherings for various festivals and speak a different language. Parents, as participants agreed, were for the most part very supportive but we acknowledged that there are hard choices and compromises to be made on both sides. Manyagreed that communication, respect and listening on both sides are extremely important to have agood relationship, to understand one another and to become closer. However, it was also acknowledged that social events at school, issues of friends, dances and fun times were hard for parents to understand and hard for us not to attend. On the question of reverse immigration many audience members were curious to know if we as young adults have or have not considered to go back (after our education) and settle in Nepal since our parents came and settle in the United States. The best way to answer such a question as was stated in the panel is that the two situations are very different. While are parents came to the US for economic advancement and status or higher education (no one came because they disliked the Nepalese culture) our situation as a first generation Nepalese Americans is different. If we were to go back to Nepal it really would not be for the economic betterment or necessarily for higher education but more for the love of our mother-land. With the various topics discussed, it was also noted that the topics that were needed to be discussed and addressed were not really brought up at the panel by both sides on marriage, dating and the social lives of young adults.

As a whole the panel was a success and as the president announced this new feature will be permanent in the convention. Next year however there will be new panels consisting of parents and the group of New-Older generation Nepalese Americans. So get ready with your questions everyone this is your time to shine!

Dr. Prahlad Pant gave a talk on Undergraduate education and ways to find a college of choice for your youngster out of High School. Dr. Padam P. Sharma introduced the audience to newly founded Empower Nepal Foundation. Mr. Mukesh Singh updated the current, relevant immigration laws of the U.S. for the benefit of participants.

In the afternoon new executive committee was duly elected by the ANMA general body meeting. Quiet a few new blood joined the committee: Rajan Rajbhandari (Chicago)as a general secretary, Rajani Thapa (Big Rapids) as the chief editor of View Points, Samrat Thapa (Big Rapids) as assistant editor, Dr. Balkrishna Sharma (East Lansing) as executive member, and Sudeep Subedi (Lansing), Maebaxi Gyawali, Surendra Chaudhary (Chicago) as new members. The executive committee was unanimously welcomed by the participants. Dr. Mohan and Mrs. Vijaya Shrestha offered to host the next annual convention in Bowling Green (Ohio) and everyone present gave their thundering seal of approval to such a gesture.

At the Sunday evening dinner, State Senator Mrs. Joanne Emmons and her husband were welcome guests. She gave a nice dinner speech and stated that Nepalese women seem to be very beautiful and friendly. There was a superb Cultural program organized by Mrs. Rajani Thapa, Mrs. Saroj Prajapati, Mrs. Sharmila Bhandari (Stage Makeup Artist), and the Phoolbari Club (Washington D.C.). Quite a few local talents (Michigan, Chicago, Columbus) presented their skills with instruments, solo songs, and/or dances. Raffle tickets sold during the dinner time were drawn and a luckey few were happy to receive the prizes. Mrs. Indira and Ms. Reena Koirala helped ANMA by selling the raffle tickets to everyone. After distributing the certificate of appreciations to people that made it successful the President, Maheswor Baidya thanked the participants for making the convention a big success. Special thanks were to the host family of Dr. Khagendra and Rajani Thapa. We parted with the anticipation that next year's convention would be as exciting as the one we had this year!

This section was written by Dr. Gaury S. Adhikary. Thank you, Dr. Adhikari.

  • NEPALESE CONVENTION DRAWS MORE THAN 200
  • PIONEER
  • A SUCCESS STORY IN PICTURES
  • ANMA HOLDS A SUCCESSFUL ANNUAL CONVENTION AT BIG RAPIDS, MICHIGAN
  • SIGHTS AND SCENES FROM THE ANMA CONVENTION

  • NEW EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

    Association of Nepalese in Midwest America
    c/o Prahlad Pant
    2367 Springdale Road
    Cincinnati, OH 45231-1854