NEPALESE People In Québec

By philippe ringuETTE

Bhutanese refugees from Nepal refugee camp

Camps mostly composed of Bhutaneses who escape from Bhutan : Violence against hindouist Bhutaneses.

Most of them are from Nepalese descent/kinship. They speak both bhutanese and nepali.

Miserable conditions although some can go temporarely in India : Studying, working.

Low life expectancy

Low hygiene and presence of animals like monkey in the surrounding areas.

Need a certain amount of money (few thousand of rupee) to be able to emigrate to another country.

Popular destinations : Australia, New Zealand, USA

Bhutanese/Nepalese in Québec

Stats for Québec City :

2008 : Only a few (number unknown)

2012 : over 800 (it’s still growing up)Demographic concentration : Vanier (Nepaltown), Limoilou, Basse-Ville.

Interesting socio-cultural facts

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=thgpPEcAoK0

Solid solidarity but great openmindness; being sociable and hospitable is very important.

Manav Dharma : hinduist religion promoting sharing and exchange with others persons from different religions (Faith in Jesus and Buddha)

Most of them are vegetarians (no meat, fish, seafood) except for children. Way to reach higher conciousness and do not drink any alchool.

Integration : the great challenge

Obstacles : -Language boundaries- Socio-cultural structure and taboos (especially physical ones)- No education

- Learning french is extremely difficult- Interacting with Québécois is also difficult though most of them really

want to meet Québécois.- Getting a job is nearly impossible if you can’t speak french

Now some Nepalese words

Namaste : Hi

Kosto Onounja : How are you?

Sansechu : I’m fine

Dagnebat : Thank you

Swagatam : You’re welcome

My Favorite : Mon timilay maya garsu : …

And now let’s sing a song!!!

Jagunna sathi jagunnaDarmako Bato LagunnaDarmako paran Garera HamileJiwan Bitanu Cha