December 2014 – Children of Shangri-Lost

Introducing our team: Amanda

December 27, 2014 Alicia No Comments Blog

Amanda is the Director of Education for Junior Achievement of Western Pennsylvania. In her role at Junior Achievement she oversees partnerships between JA and the school districts in the City of Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, and its six bordering counties. She and her staff recruit approximately 3,000 volunteers each school year to teach JA’s curriculum on entrepreneurship, financial literacy and workforce readiness in the classroom to over 40,000 local youth in grades Pre-K-12. She has initiated and leads a refugee and immigrant initiative at JA which has led to hundreds of local refugee and immigrant youth being exposed to in-school JA programming, specialized job shadow events, increased media attention and scholarships.

Prior to JA, Ms. Laichak graduated with a BA from the University of Pittsburgh and participated in the Semester at Sea program. She began her professional career as an English as a Second Language (ESL) instructor to adults and children in Poland and later in Pittsburgh. She has worked extensively in refugee resettlement at the federal and local levels. She holds a Master of International Development degree from the University of Pittsburgh’s Graduate School of Public and International Affairs. Ms. Laichak has published work on immigrant entrepreneurship in Poland and Ukraine. She is also a current doctoral student in the School of Education at the University of Pittsburgh with a research focus on refugee and immigrant K-12 education. Originating from Johnstown, PA she also owns and manages several rental properties in the City of Pittsburgh.

COSL Volunteer of the Month: Alicia Quebral

December 25, 2014 Diwas Timsina Leave a comment Recognition

On the behalf of Children of Shangri-Lost (COSL) we would like to express our sincere gratitude towards Alicia Quebral for her unselfish support for the enrichment of Bhutanese Community in Pittsburgh.

Alicia has been actively engaging in COSL as an advisor and the editor of the COSL website. Despite her busy work schedule she has been continuously supporting COSL and it’s team to carry out activities and projects.

At COSL she is the source of inspiration and her past works with the Bhutanese Community encourage us to do what we are doing right now. It is our great privilege to have you in our team and we would like to thank you for your kind help.

Introducing our team: Bandhana

December 13, 2014 Diwas Timsina No Comments Blog

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My name is Bandhana Phuyal. I am 13 years old and currently attend middle school as an eighth grader. I was born in a country called Nepal in a refugee camp, but my parents were from Bhutan. I was born in a country where there was no hope of living a better life. We were under a roof where we never knew when the wind would blow it away. Our food was given to us by the government but it was unhealthy, and our education was not good either. In 2008, when I was 8 years old, the United States government started to accept Bhutanese refugees to their country, so my parents thought about our future and decided to leave the refugee camp and come here for a better life.

On May 7th, 2008, we arrived in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. We didn’t know anything about the language barrier, how to use things in the house, or where to buy food from. For a while my family and I regretted coming America; we thought everything was too difficult and we were so lonely and scared. Still, we knew giving up was not a good idea so we tried hard to adapt to our new country- its rules and its people. After five months, I started going to school from the second grade. I barely understood anything the teacher was saying, but there was a class called English as a Second Language (ESL) that I was placed in. After a year I was able to communicate with American people and made lots of new friends; that was the proudest thing for me.

By then my parents had learned basic English and found jobs, and most of my family had come to the United States, so my parents were happy. We never expected this life where we have our phones in our hands 24/7, the technology and everything else. I’m so happy that life gave us another chance to make it better. Today I’m so proud to represent myself and my country through Children of Shangri-Lost, and I would like to say thank you so much for giving me this chance.

I’m a girl with a dream of becoming a doctor and I hope to contribute to making a better society. I am not afraid of falling down and getting hurt. In fact, I have the courage to take big steps and do something in life. I’m a girl who believes in confidence and hope.

Introducing our team: Tulshi

December 6, 2014 Diwas Timsina No Comments Blog

My name is Tulshi Dahal and I am a 17 year old former Bhutanese refugee currently living in Atlanta, Georgia. I was born on the 5th of January and raised in a refugee camp in Morang, Nepal. My family and I came to the United States of America in 2008. We were resettled in a great Atlanta neighborhood called Kristopher Woods. We have been in the United States for over 6 years now. The first school I attended was Freedom Middle School, and I am now a senior at Tucker High School where I play soccer for the school. I also played soccer with an organization called Fugees Family for over two years. Fugees Family is a group of youth from several different country, who were also refugees. I have always wanted to be an automobile mechanic, and now that I am in this country I have many more opportunities to be one, and I am working hard to become who I want to be.