The time right now at the Jawalakhel Tibetan refugee camp is to take action. The administration staff can be seen engrossed in their work at all times. They are either pouring over paper work and sitting in meetings, or making phone calls and running errands. Their schedule these days is hectic because they have a pressing issue to address. Before anybody jumps to conclusion though, they are keen to clear the air. It does not involve the usual matters of documentation or the subject of fundamental rights.

"If anybody wishes to discuss these affairs we are obviously up for it," says Tenzin Paljor, General Secretary of the Jawalakhel Tibetan refugee camp. But then, he quietly waves off the topic, insisting that they have a new concern at the moment.
 

Paljor points to the three storey building that occupies most of the compound at the Jawalakhel Handicraft Center owned by the camp. What was a sturdy carpet weaving factory now stands deserted and wrecked by the recent earthquakes. Cement has fallen off from large sections of the building laying bare its bricks. One can also see distorted iron bars poking rather ominously out of several pillars. The insides too is still littered with chunks of bricks, pieces of wood and cement debris. The verdict is in: The building has been declared unusable and that's a big worry.

"260 people from our camp used to work in that carpet factory. It has been open since 1961. At the time, political Tibetan refugees had no option but to rely on foreign aids and relief for survival. There was a need to change those circumstances and since many Tibetans were already familiar with carpet weaving, we came up with this idea with the help of International Red Cross and Swiss Development Committee. It all began with 9-10 people but soon we turned it into the first and biggest Tibetan carpet weaving factory in Nepal," explains Paljor.

The immense pride the entire camp feels for their carpet weaving factory is apparent. It was a crucial part of the camp's Jawalakhel Handicraft Center. The showroom that was situated on the first floor of the now depleted building used to earn an average of two to three hundred thousand rupees per day during tourist season by selling its carpets. Many visitors also enjoyed witnessing the whole carpet making process in the ground floor's massive 'Weaving Hall'. But after being shut down for two whole months, now the carpet factory is all set to be dismantled.

"The earthquake left us all terrified and then when we came here to the center and saw the state of the building we had been working at for all these years, my heart hurt. It was incredibly upsetting. Weaving carpets is how I, along with many people in the camp, sustain our living. So there was a horrifying moment when we thought that our livelihood would be in jeopardy," shares Dawa, 40.

Directly or indirectly, the carpet factory's success had also proved to be advantageous for the 780 people living in the camp. Not only are the undocumented political refugees getting a job opportunity with a handsome salary that would have been tricky to obtain elsewhere, the factory was also offering provident funds, stipends as well as a yearly bonus. Further, the factory also financed free primary schooling for the camp's kids and free health clinic services for their community. Similarly, for the benefit of their workers, it had also helped provide housing for those who didn't have anywhere to go.

"Thus, the urgency," says Karma Gurmay, 45. He used to work in the top floor of the carpet factory by helping keep tabs of their stocks in storage. "We had to get the carpet factory back to work. If we had it our way, we would be back to 100%, however, the best we could do was empty the shelter that we used to keep our yarn in, bring in the looms and start weaving. We couldn't even fit half of the weavers we have, but it is better than nothing. Many complain about the heat that comes in from the tin roof but they still keep at it," he adds.

So while some of the factory workers have finally begun to weave away in a rather uncomfortable setting, the administration office is trying its best to work out the logistics. They predict that it might take two to three months to dismantle the building itself. They are also trying to collect the required resources to reconstruct a new carpet factory. From skilled manpower to the finances, they have many arrangements to make.

Sadly, perhaps to nobody's surprise, even in such trying times, the Jawalakhel Tibetan refugee camp is left standing alone. "Nobody from the government has come to inquire about the difficulties we might be facing after the earthquake. I'm certain the ward office is well aware of the damages that our carpet factory has sustained but they haven't offered any assistance either," confirms Paljor.

Despite the fact that by now majority of those in the camp were born in Nepal and that there are 2nd to 4th generation descendants of the political refugees from Tibet, they still find themselves neglected by the government. In fact, their status has been manipulated so many times to rob them of their rights that when asked about their hope of Nepal's government offering some help in the future as they try and rebuild the main source of the refugee camp's sustenance, the answer from all of them is a smile and a shrug.

"The subject of documentations and fundamental rights has proven to be such a controversial one for us. That's why you will find that most here will choose not to discuss the issue with outsiders. Instead, we prefer to focus our energies on more constructive projects for our community," says Tsering Youdron, 28, during a short break between her classes. Youdron is a teacher at the free primary school for the camp's kids supported by the carpet factory.

The school too had suffered damages so they have relocated their Kindergarten to class four students to an open field nearby. It stands as an example of how the Jawalakhel Tibetan refugee camp is determined to overcome the challenges that have created massive roadblocks on their already complicated life. It appears like they don't have the country on their side but they are working very hard to make it on their own once again.

Published on: 21 August 2015 | Republica