Who are Bhutanese Community? – A Brief Background

Bhutan is a small Himalayan Kingdom located at North-East of India and South of China. It is ruled by absolute hereditary king since 1905. The Bhutanese Community refers to the people from Bhutan, also called Lhotsampas or Southern Bhutanese. In 17^th century the Dharma Raja of Bhutan requested the ruler of Nepal to send skilled artisans to Bhutan to build infrastructures, they later resettled in the southern belt of Bhutan and were granted citizenship. These Nepali speaking people contributed a lot to the infrastructure development of Bhutan. In the National Census of 1978, the Royal Government of Bhutan imposed policy that the Lhotsampas were asked to produce the Certificate of Origin (CO) that if the citizens were unable to produce CO of 1950, were categorized as non-nationals and were asked to leave the country. During the reign of fourth king of Bhutan, Jigme Singye Wangchuck, in the 1987 national census, the Government implemented “One Nation, One People” ethnic cleansing policy resulted into mass violation of fundamental rights, banned Nepali curriculum, burnt Nepali textbooks, asked to speak only National Language “Dzongkha” that culminated into peaceful demonstration for restoring fundamental rights and then democracy. The outcome was mass eviction for over 115,000 Lhotsampas who were victims of racism and sought asylum in Eastern Nepal as refugees and stayed for twenty-two years with hopes for repatriation with dignity.

Having no amicable solutions, the Lhotsampas chose the options for third country resettlement. 2,000 people have resettled to Utah since 2007. A nonprofit charitable entity called Bhutanese Community in Utah was formed in 2009 to serve 80% of dependent families, and over 400 youth through case management, referrals, and workshops. Due to many unmet, underserved, and emerging needs for the Bhutanese community, captured the attention of social service-oriented leaders. A newly emerged nonprofit organization called Community Building Services (CBS) was formed in 2020 to offer high quality program services under the versatile leaderships of Tek Neopany, MSW, MA and Chandra Sapkota, BA who has served the same community since 1990.

Within the short range of time, CBS was able to make tremendous progress in operating its high-quality need-based programs and services to earn credibility from various corners. CBS offers programs specialized in life skills, social services, language and cultural development. Although much has been accomplished, lack of sufficient funding threatens emerging needs to not be addressed. Currently, the short-term case management, referrals, parenting and access to technology, programs and services are prevailing. Today, CBS is working with dozens of partners to close those gaps. The ultimate goal is to integrate, tend self-reliance and preserve cultural identity.

The Bhutanese community is a cultural-based community which celebrates New Year in mid-April, the Women’s Festival “Teej” in late August/early September, and Dashain and Tihar, other major festivals that the Hindu community celebrate in October and November according to Nepali Calendar.

A dance class program was started in 2016 under the initiative of Tek. The participants perform dances at World Refugee Day Celebration, the Living Tradition Festival and occasionally at the Craft Lake City DIY Festivals. The dance class is operated at Community Opportunity Center (inside Columbus Center).

New Year

For Nepalese and Bhutanese folks, New Year is the first day of the month Baisakh. On western calendar, it usually falls on April 15 in the year of 2023. The new year is marked by the day in which the sun ends its Pisces indulgence and begins its Aries indulgence. The belief is that when this happens, the older year of sambat ends, and the new year begins. Therefore, it is the day for every person to evaluate the successes and failures of the work done in the past year, and to create goals and plans based on the lessons learned in order to achieve success.

Bikram Sambat – Nepali Calendar

The Bikram Sambat (BS) Nepali Calendar is 56 years and eight months ahead of the western calendar. While there are 12 months, the number of days per month changes each year with a maximum of 32 days. The calendar does not have a leap year. It is a solar calendar and is based on ancient traditions. King Vikramaditya of Ujjain gave the name and starting date for a new year.

New Year Celebration

Just as last year, CBS will celebrate New Year to welcome 2080 BS on Saturday, April 15, 2023 from 2:00pm – 4:30pm at 2530 S 400 E Columbus Center, Auditorium. This event is free and open to all. Any individuals, groups or communities are welcome to present a performance. The goal is to learn cultural aspects from each other and enrich diversity. The activities include dance, drama, and singing performances are welcome. We also note and appreciate the volunteers, our partners and anyone who has contributed to our events and overall mission.

Website: www.my-cbs.org

Sixth-graders explore their dream careers at the U with a new community partnership

Imagine, and then do—that’s the U’s raison d’être. And nothing embodies that more than inspiring the next generation of scientists, artists, and leaders. This past spring, University of Utah Health and University Neighborhood Partners teamed up with Whittier Elementary in West Valley City to pilot a new tailored career-exploration experience for local sixth-graders. Dubbed “Imagine U Day,” it aimed to illustrate to the nearly 70 students that a secondary education is obtainable when they follow their passions.

Students wrote essays on what they would like to be when they grow up. The major employment themes from the essays helped organizers determine the six career experiences scheduled across the U campus.

For Whittier Elementary School Principal Jennifer Bodell BS’04, Imagine U Day presented a unique opportunity to encourage her students to think about college. “As a new principal, I’m constantly imagining new and improved ways to spark an interest in my students to further their educations and open unique opportunities,” says Bodell. “When I connected with the team from U of U Health and University Neighborhood Partners, a wide world of connections opened for these students.”

Imagine U Day is part of efforts to build lasting partnerships with residents of all ages near the future U of U campus in West Valley City, which will include a world-class hospital and a variety of education and career pathway opportunities. Much like the city, Whittier Elementary has a minority-majority student population, with close to 40 percent of students identifying as Hispanic or Latino. “The new hospital and clinics can address community priorities in creative and innovative ways,” says RyLee Curtis BA’12 MPP’14, community engagement director for U of U Health. “But only if we truly partner with the community and build on existing assets. Imagine U Day is an example of working with some of the community’s most important residents—our young people.”

The university will build on the first Imagine U Day as the relationship between the university and the West Valley City community evolves.

Article originally featured in the University of Utah Magazine, Fall 2022 edition

UNP has just released its Network Evaluation Report for 2021-2022. At the end of each spring, UNP works with its partners to conduct an annual evaluation. The goal is to understand the impact that our partners and partnerships are having, and to learn how we can do our work better. It is a chance for self-reflection as well as celebration.

Our approach to evaluation has evolved over the years, with input from community and university partners. We have developed a multi-method approach that combines partner surveys, network analysis, activity reports, and storytelling.

In the infographic below, we share some highlights from our 2021-2022 Network Evaluation. Click on the image for a pdf.

Download the Full Report

University of Utah and University of Utah Health are concurrently undergoing a Strategy Refresh Process. Together as One U we serve communities and the region, lead education and discovery, and innovate care, all while being accountable for outcomes. We believe that communities, partners, and people make us who we are, and we are fully invested in their health, wellness and success.

As we are going through our strategy refresh, we have observed senseless killings of black men and women across our nation and we are living through the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic, which has had a disproportionate impact on people of color—further highlighting health inequities that have always existed but may not have been top of mind for many.

University of Utah Health’s Report to Our Community.

University of Utah Health is committed to addressing racism to reduce inequities. Our vision is to actively value equity, diversity, and inclusion and see the reflection and impact of these values at all levels of the organization—by recruiting and retaining diverse faculty, trainees, students, and employees. We are also striving to ensure that Utahns who seek care from University of Utah Health have easy and direct access to our services and are working to improve access to foundational health resources in languages other than English.

None of these goals can be met without community partnerships. An example of how we are forging partnerships is our Mental Health for Salt Lake (MH4SL) partnership. University of Utah Health, University Neighborhood Partners, Salt Lake County, and Latino Behavioral Health Services are coming together to review mental health resources available to residents of Salt Lake County’s west side. We understand that we can’t fully comprehend the needs of west side residents without bringing their voices to the table. In the near future, we will be convening community conversations around mental-health specific needs to conduct a gap analysis of mental health resources. Additionally, we will work side-by-side with community residents to make recommendations to improve mental health access to both Salt Lake County and University of Utah Health leaders.

In addition, University of Utah Health temporarily retrofitted our Wellness Bus (which typically provided diabetes screening, prevention, and education in west side communities) to a COVID-19 testing location. It was apparent a few months into the pandemic that the virus was disproportionately impacting people of color. We partnered with community organizations such as Comunidades Unidas, Urban Indian Center, Consulado de Mexico, the PRIDE Center, and many others to bring no-cost COVID testing to west side residents.

Communities are made up of the bonds that tie us all together. The COVID-19 pandemic has shown just how interconnected we all really are. We strive to be an equal partner, both in offering our expertise and listening to the experiences of the individuals who make up our community. It is our commitment to collaborate with the intent of better understanding community needs. Thank you for providing us the opportunity to partner with you, and to learn from you.

Content provided RyLee Curtis, Director of Community Engagement, University of Utah Health for the 2021 issue of UNP’s Community Voices magazine. 

Featured Photo: University of Utah Health workers demonstrating solidarity in spring 2020 as White Coats for Black Lives.

In March 2020, COVID-19 hit the country. It illuminated unprecedented challenges and exposed other pandemics, including racial, economic and environmental issues which were already impacting the Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) communities throughout the U.S. More specifically, the pandemic left many families with various crises — food and home insecurities, loss of work, as well as illness. In spring 2020, when sirens were constantly ringing, we educators were thrown into pandemic teaching mode, which required us to shift our teaching to online. This brought about much confusion and the digital divide became more apparent, as many students were not able to log onto the internet to access and continue their academic learning. This was a very frustrating experience for educators, BIPOC students, and families. Families were all of a sudden expected to become co-teachers, yet many were excluded from online classroom settings.

When we, the Family-School Collaboration Design Team, recognized the increased disconnection between families and educators caused by COVID-19, we considered ways that both groups could share their experiences, hopes, frustrations, and needs. We thought that it would be important to share their voices through recorded zoom videos. This was a powerful approach as families and educators taught us about how COVID-19 was straining their relationships, and they challenged us to be innovative about how to consider school and family engagement during the pandemic and beyond. We published a piece on what we learned in this past October’s Education Week.

As a first generation Purépecha/Chicana scholar who grew up along the San Diego-Tijuana border, the educational inequities I have witnessed during this pandemic have resonated with the experiences my family and I had of being excluded from the educational process. Being a daughter of immigrants who tremendously value education has guided my community-based approach to research. Listening and learning from the voices of families and educators is extremely impactful. We must do better by BIPOC students and families by providing them with access to education, as their input is valuable for us as a community to improve our practices.

The Family-School Collaboration Design Research Project is a team of parents, scholars, and educators working to increase family voice in school decision making. It is also a part of the Family Leadership Design Collaborative.

Content provided by Leticia Alvarez, Associate Professor, University of Utah College of Education for the 2021 issue of UNP’s Community Voices magazine.

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