www.awnw.com.au
Issue #317 – Wednesday, 10 February, 2016
Albury Wodonga’s largest circulating newspaper
Cancer research cash boost Border Medical Oncology Group, which conducts world class research into ovarian cancer treatment, received a generous donation of over $108,000 from the Border Ovarian Cancer Awareness Group, to help cover research costs for the next three years. FOR MORE DETAILS, SEE PAGES 8-9.
Ram’s lucky break By MONIQUE KUZEFF BORN and raised in a Beldangi refugee camp in Bhutan, Ram Khanal has seen and experienced a great deal in his young life and feels extremely lucky for receiving the opportunity to resettle in Australia. Twenty years ago, Ram’s parents fled Bhutan due to an ethnic cleansing policy that was being ordered by the Bhutanese government, targeting the ethnic minority in the south. This policy divided the country causing conflict and violence, forcing his parents to flee to escape persecution. Having spent 16 years living under extreme adversity, the 22-year-old said life in the refugee camp was in stark contrast to life in Australia. “You never knew what to expect from life, or what life should be,� Ram said. “It was tough, and when I compare being in the camp to being here in Australia, I realise I am lucky to have survived that sort of situation. In the camp, food was rationed fortnightly, access to health services and education were very basic, and there was no electricity or technology. Ram said food generally consisted of rice, lentils, oil, salt and potato. “Mum and dad had to portion how much we could eat in a day because what we got at the beginning of one week would have to last two weeks.� Reflecting back, Ram said the most difficult thing for him was hearing someone else had passed away from a preventable disease. “I saw people die almost everyday,� he said. “The health service was poor, very poor, and the worst thing was finding out that a friend I had played with would die of something not so serious like diarrhoea or fever because of the lack of sanitation.� Soccer was a popular activity in the camp, but there was limited access to sporting equipment, Ram said. “I still remember my friends and I having to scrape together material to make a soccer ball out of rags.
Ram, his parents and three brothers waited many years for a solution to their undesirable situation and wondered whether they could go back to their country, but that wasn’t an option. “Australia was our solution,� Ram said. In 2007, Beldangi camp refugees were given the opportunity to sign up to a resettlement program which saw the Khanal family being offered entry into Australia a year later. “We then had to go through medical and other screening processes which took another year and a half and then finally got here at the end of 2009. Ram said the transition to Australia had been massive. “The first few months, I was in a state of disbelief as I couldn’t believe what I saw. “To me it felt like a movie and it took me some time to adjust to the lifestyle. “I feel that Australia is a very welcoming and inclusive country.� Ram said he mostly appreciated the opportunities that Australia could offer him, which the Beldangi refugee camp could not. “There was so much limitation in the camp and no opportunity to become who I wanted to be and to do what I wanted to do,� he said. “I appreciate how here we have the opportunities to maximise our potential and achieve things that once looked impossible and improbable in the camp. “There is no point in surviving if there is no living - they are different things. In the camp it was more about survival, whereas here it is about living.� Ram said growing up in the camp taught him to become resourceful with what he had. “It’s an experience that not everyone has in life, but I have found it has enlightened me. Ram has settled well into the Border communities with his family, and is now vice-president of the Bhutanese Association in Albury. He also works at Murray High School as a learning and support officer for immigrant students.
Ram Khanal spent 16 years in a refugee camp in Bhutan before resettling in Australia. 149588 Picture: MONIQUE KUZEFF
Simply the best choice of LAND, both sides of the Border MOUNTAIN RISE - FINAL RELEASE ‡ 3ULFHG IURP
EXISTING
2,500
N SO T W UI LA IRC C
$
pt Prom nt e m e l t Set unt! disco tails
‡ /RWV VL]HG IURP VTP WR VTP ‡ &ORVH WR VKRSSLQJ FHQWUHV
HOLD
HOLD
r de Call fo
LAND SALES 02 60 567 111 www.nordcon.com.au
Â&#x2021; )UHHZD\ DFFHVV QHDUE\ Â&#x2021; <RX PD\ EH HQWLWOHG WR D N 16: JRYHUQPHQW ÂżUVW KRPH EX\HUV JUDQW RU N QRQ ÂżUVW KRPH EX\HUV JUDQW
NG
TI
RESERVE
S XI
E
EXISTING VICKERS ROAD 1213239-CB6-16