Dear GBNC Members,
ESP has been vocal in criticizing GBNC. S/he labels GBNC as
ýpretty much deadý
ýcouncil members are too busyý
ýthey need to start doing somethingý
ýmost inactive council to dateý
ýcommunity needs more social programsý
ýnetworking ý you canýt call that a community eventý
ýorganized two events to dateý
ýnooneýs gonna give a rats assý
ýlet GBNC die outý
I know many of you appreciate what we have been doing, yet many have criticisms of us as ESP does. I will take this opportunity to analyze your criticisms and inform you how GBNCýs scope and work has changed this year.
Dear members, the GBNC exec council is NOT dead. But it is different!
Let me ask you members what GBNC did in the past? The answer is mostly social programs. You probably went to our programs, met friends, partied and went home feeling good. But is partying your only human need?
Why just organizing social programs is inadequate?
---------------------------------------------------------------
GBNC is a microcosm of Nepal. We have students, Monday through Friday 9-5 professionals, food service professionals, families, children, non-resident Nepalese and lots more in the community. Yes we periodically want to get together and have fun. But is that our ONLY need? Are we JUST party animals? The answer is a big NO!
In life we have much more to wish for, than just a party. Students face financial difficulties and want to transfer to a cheaper college. Professionals might be sick of their job and want to move to something better. Food service professionals with a green card wish to get a higher paying job. Children want to learn Nepali and parents wish to introduce their kids to other Nepali kids. Women may be facing domestic violence. Many of us want to help Nepal.
Given these myriad of problems, please tell me how these needs are satisfied by just a social program. Yes there are non-Nepali organizations in Boston that cater to the issues we outline above. But do you know of them? If you donýt, would you not want GBNC to inform you of them? Would you not prefer to have a Nepali help you on the issues? As the Greater Boston NEPALI communityýs council, we believe we are responsible for helping our Nepali brothers and sisters with these more serious concerns as well.
With this in mind, our GBNC council is adopting the following comprehensive mission statement this year:
Provide Education, Connection and Entertainment to our members
We believe it is our responsibility to educate our members on the available resources and connect them through social and informational programs. Our events this year have been following this guiding principle.
What we have done?
---------------------------
Special Interest Groups
Student Help Special Interest Group
----------------------------------------------
We have spun off special interest groups to cater to the diverse needs of the Boston Nepali population. Firstly we established a Student Help Special Interest Group. This group is exclusively dedicated to help Nepali students in the Boston area. We organized our first informational program in March to help students who were transitioning. If you were a student wanting to transfer from a two year to a four year college, or you were graduating and wanting to enter the working world or wishing to go to graduate school, this program was very helpful for you. We had four Nepali students who provided advice to other students in transition. Details of the workshop are on the second edition of E-Khabar. If you donýt know about this, you either did not attend the event or arenýt subscribed to the GBNC list. Thanks to our active members Ishwar Khatiwada, Anil Shrestha, Manas Adhikary, Hem Kumar Pokharel and Niraj Gorkhali for leading this group.
Professional Development and Networking Special Interest Group
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The US is made up of immigrants. Some groups have advanced tremendously over others. Look at the Indian population in Boston. They have become one of the wealthiest and most powerful groups in the country. Why? Because they network and help each other. Why canýt we Nepalese do the same? We have many talented Nepalese. Many are experts in their fields and hold high positions in companies. These fellow Nepalese might have job openings in their company. Or they might be seeking other Nepalese to jointly open a new venture. On the other end of the spectrum, we have many Nepali looking for good jobs. Why canýt we bring the two sides together? Why canýt we create an environment where enterprising Nepalese meet? There are many food service professionals with a green card who want to capitalize on the opportunities in this country. Who is going to help them polish their resume and give them tips on the job searching?
Folks posed this question during cocktail parties and eventually blamed GBNC for not doing anything for this market. Heeding to our members calls, our council started the Professional Development and Networking group in April 2004. We organized the first Nepali professional networking event in April to bring together Nepali professionals to discuss how we can move forward and help each other. More than 50 professional from New England and New York area attended the event. We envision this group to be formed in other cities of the US and eventually all over the world so that we Nepalese can truly network and help each other.
Professional Development and Networking group will be shortly organizing an event for Nepalese who have a green card but havenýt been able to find a good job. We will provide tips on job hunting, resume writing, networking and interviewing skills.
The GBNC council is really proud of this group and truly believes it will help the Nepali community come together and help each other. Thanks to our active members Shailendra Yadav, Diwaskar Adhikari, Bijay Ghimire, Ishwar Khatiwada, Bhawesh Raj Sharma, Sworupa Khadka, Subarna Basnet and Dibesh Karmacharya and many others for leading this group.
Social Issues Special Interest Group
--------------------------------------------
Another group we recently started was the Social Issues Group. This group will be a resource and support center for Nepalese who are facing social problems. You might be a new comer to Boston and not know how to get a job or find housing. You might get sick but not have health insurance. You might be facing immigration issues.
Where do you go for help? GBNC Social Issues Group will be able to help you. Thanks to our active members Niva Shrestha, Anil Shrestha, Hem Kumar Pokharel, Sonja Darai and Netra Darai for leading this group.
GBNC is actively helping other Nepali groups. We support INLS Society ý a group formed to promote Nepali literature. We work with ýChalphalý and ýHelp Nepalý Groups. We appreciate the great work done by Tamu Samaj, America Nepal Foundation and other groups for the Nepali community in Nepal and extend our support to their wonderful programs.
Quarterly E-Khabar
-------------------------
To bring the community together, our council launched the Quarterly E-Khabar in the Spring of 2004. This newsletter informs our members of our past and upcoming events, noteworthy achievements of our members and interesting news. Everyone who has subscribed to our email list gets this electronic newsletter. We have also left copies at Bombay Market if you would like to read a paper copy.
Dear members, the above list what the executive council has been doing this year. It was easy to continue organizing social programs as we did in the past, but we felt that wasnýt adequate to address the myriad of problems we Nepalese in Boston face. This council takes pride at having launched these innovative programs that will help our community in the long run.
Yet you might still wonder why we havenýt organized many social programs. We do organize social events as well but not as much as before. Over the past year we organized MoMo evening, Baisaki Sanjh program and Sur Sudha event. We realize that the Baisaki Sanjh program wasnýt great. We have learned from our shortcoming and will make improvements in the future.
But Sur Sudha was a grand success. Sur Sudhaýs performance was exhilarating. The audience was enthralled by their intoxicative mind boggling performance. The wall was filled with an international audience that was dazzled by the superior quality of Nepali music. As part of this effort the council has established connections with professional music organizations in Boston.
What are our upcoming programs?
---------------------------------------------
In terms of what is coming up, we are organizing the Summer BBQ on the third week of August. We will be holding a 5K walk/race as well and contributing its proceeds to ýHelp Nepalý, an organization helping good causes in Nepal. We will also be organizing our annual fall gala event during Dasain-Tihar season.
If you have thoughts on organizing other social or fun events, please step forward and take the lead. The council will early extend its full support to you.
Call for leaders, not just talkers
-----------------------------------------
Finally GBNC members have to realize that we are a volunteer organization and donýt get paid for working for you. Our council members are organizing events for you - members for FREE. I have a full time job. Even if I wanted to, I could not spend all my time on GBNC. If I did ý I would get fired. Would you GBNC members pay my salary if I got fired? I donýt think so
This is my third year in the GBNC council and I have spent countless hours working to bring you exciting programs. Many in my team have dedicated the same level of commitment and time. I would especially like to point our Ishwar Khatiwada, Niva Shrestha, Shailendra Yadav and Diwaskar Adhikari for their help to GBNC. Recently I along with my senior associates were distributing flyers for a GBNC event until 12 at night on a weekday. You have to realize I did this after spending nine hours at work.
Our members are very quick to complain, yet when I ask them to step forward and help ý they generally say ý ýkaam cha.. mildaina.. bhyaudai bhayaudainaý.. You have to realize, we exec members have the same problem ý yet we come forward and bring these programs to you.
Last year I was the Vice President and encouraged a new person to lead GBNC. Yet no one stood up. Not a single Nepali in the 1500+ Nepali population stood up to lead the community. What does that say about the level of commitment our members show! My question to you is ý Why canýt you come forward?
I frequently go around asking people for help. I ask members to perform on our programs. Yet most of the time I get the following answerý ýtime chainaý.
You might think GBNC programs are boring. You might wonder why we donýt have good songs and dances. The answer is pathetically simpleý our artists donýt want to perform. Months before our program we request our Nepali artists to perform in front of our Nepali brothers and sisters. Yet many turn down the offer saying ýTime chainaý ý. When you folks show such lackluster response, what do you expect the executive council members to do? Do you expect council members to pay Nepali artists from their pockets to perform on GBNC events? You have to realize, GBNC is YOUR organization, not just the executive councilýs.
Faced with questions and accusations of incompetence, I am being honest. We Nepalese are very quick to complain. Yet when we are asked to come forward and help ý we step back.
Dear members, despite the challenges we have faced, I am proud to say that we have steered GBNC in a positive novel direction. We have introduced many new programs that will have a positive long term impact. We have tried our best with social programs yet not been very successful. So we have instead re-directed our energy into other dimensions. You might not feel the effects of our work today, but you will in the long run.
As I said in my earlier comment, the organization depends on its members. Our term is coming to an end. If you donýt think we have done a good job, come forward and show the Nepali community your way of running the show. I want to reiterate, GBNC is NOT the councilýs personal property. It is a common asset of all us Nepalese ý it is the club that belongs to us Nepalese in the Greater Boston area ý not a club that belongs to the executive members.
So please come forward. Election Day is approaching. File your nominations, run the organization and show us your style of leadership. Or step forward, join our executive council help us organize the type of programs you like.
Thank you.
Prasanna Dhungel
GBNC President 2003 ý 2004
Office Hours every Thursday 9 ý 10pm EST.
