Nepali Bhasha Kakchya (Nepali Language Class)

Our Vision: Every Nepali or person of Nepali origin living in the Baltimore Metropolitan area will be able to speak, read and write Nepali language.

Our Objectives:

• Teach Nepali language and culture to children of Nepalese and friends of Nepal to facilitate communication among themselves and Nepalese in Nepal who speak only Nepali.
• To promote Nepali culture to younger generation of Nepalese in America (Nepalese Americans') to preserve Nepali cultural heritage in the US.
• To promote Nepali language and culture to friends of Nepali in the US.
• To advocate teaching of Nepali language as an official foreign language in schools and colleges in the US.
• To establish an “ Institute of Nepali Language and Culture” to teach and promote Nepali languages and culture to everyone interested.
  

Rationale: It is our common experience that many children of Nepalis or of Nepali origin who were born here or who came here very young can not speak and read Nepali. This has limited their interactions with people who can speak Nepali only. This has led to very unpleasant situations where they can not interact with their own family members when visiting Nepal or with their relatives who are visiting the USA. This problem was most exemplified by the language barrier between the grandparents visiting USA and the grandchildren born/raised here. Second, all immigrants want to preserve their cultural heritage and pass it on to their children. Language is en entrance door to many aspects of culture and is so always the first step in the preservation of cultural heritage.

Background: With this in mind, many Nepali communities in the USA have started Nepali language class and Baltimore Association of Nepalese in the Americas (BANA) explored the possibility of starting the Nepali Bhasa Pathsala (Nepali Language School) in 2009 in a community meeting and subsequently decided to start the School and appointed a nine member subcommittee comprised of the following and charged them to start and manage the Nepali Bhasa Pathsala.

Nepali Bhasha Kakshya Sub-Committee

• Dr. Shyam Karki (Coordinator)
• Dr. Bhim Prakash Kattel.
• Krishna Ghimire
• Chetan Poudyal
• Padam Pun
• Binod Upreti
• Durga Prasad Shrestha
• Pooja Chand
• Yagya Man Shakya.

The committee met a number of times to discuss the logistics as regards to location, syllabus, teachers and funding and decided to start the first class on September 27. Invitations were sent to as many community members as possible over the phone and by public notices in the Nepali media, BANA website and the BANA site on the Face book.  The inauguration ceremony was attended by current and past officials of the BANA, parents and 40 children. An hour-long  class with Nepali national anthem, and spectacular dance by Yagya Man Sakya was held. The subcommittee members collected data on potential teachers, parents, students and suggestions for the school.

BANA made it a special feature in its Dashain celebration Porgram and dedicated half an hour to show the documentary film of the inaugural class and to share information about the class with more than 500 attendees. Fund raising at the time raised $614.00 in cash and more than &2,000 in pledges which have yet to come.

Nepali Bhasha Kakshya Sub-Committee (Advisory body)

1. Mrs. Rabina Thapa, President, BANA
2. Mr. Dhurba Karmacharya,  Myagdi Samaj
3. Mr. Dharma Bishwokarma, President, NASU Committee
4. Mr. H.B. Bhandari, INLS
5. Mr. Season Shrestha, Newah Samaj, Baltimore
6. Mr. Arjun Hamal, Nepali Baptist Church, Baltimore

Routine classes:
Currently classes are held every two weeks on Sundays and registration fee for this session of five classes is $25.00 (at the rate of $5.00 per class). Sixteen students are registered in this session. There are two teachers in the class. Current classes are held at the Rosedale Library meeting room. Each class lasts for two hours with half an hour  intermission when fruit juice and snacks are served to students. The first session is dedicated to teaching Nepali alphabet, basic conversation skills and main cultural festivals.

Finances:
Costs are minimized as much as possible. Renting the hall at the Rosedale Library is the most cost effective way as it does not require insurance, donations, house keeping and the room charges. When the number of students and consequently the number of classes increase, there will be a need to look for other sites and explore additional revenue sources to meet increased expenses.

Current expenses for one class are as follows:

Snacks and drinks for students are often contributed by the parents and subcommittee members as a token of support for the project.

Every financial transaction is reported to the BANA through President Rabina Thapa and a new sub-account has been started for the School project.

Note;  Records indicate every class being attended by the following subcommittee members; Shyam Karki, Bheem Kattel, Kris Ghimire, Padam Pun & Binod Upreti which makes discussion and resolution of many issues very convenient and timely and promotes very positive interactions between parents and subcommittee members .

Contact persons: For any information on the Nepali Language class, Please contact

• Dr. Shyam Karki;  410-592-3933 ( home), 410-459-8070 (cell)
• Kris Ghimire;  443-858-1491 (cell)

Any change in schedule and location is informed in the preceding class  and parents are contacted by the phone 24-48 hours in advance as a reminder also.

Thanks for support: I personally and on behalf of the subcommittee members will like to thank BANA President Rabina Thapa and her leadership team for their trust and confidence in our team by entrusting implementation and management of the project to us. We feel very honored and privileged to get this opportunity to serve the community. This program would not have come this far without the full support of the BANA leadership, community members, many volunteer parents and young students enrolled in the class. We look forward to continued support from everyone as we go on expanding the program. Our thanks to everyone for their encouragement and support of the program. 

Thanks for support: I personally and on behalf of the subcommittee members will like to thank BANA President Rabina Thapa and her leadership team for their trust and confidence in our team by entrusting implementation and management of the project to us. We feel very honored and privileged to get this opportunity to serve the community. This program would not have come this far without the full support of the BANA leadership, community members, many volunteer parents and young students enrolled in the class. We look forward to continued support from everyone as we go on expanding the program. Our thanks to everyone for their encouragement and support of the program.

• Director:- Srijana Khanal
• Teacher:- Yubraj Kharel
• Sports Teacher:- Ratna Shahi
• Art Teacher:- Bishal Man Shrestha
• Art Teacher:- Bikrant Man Shrestha
• Art Teacher:- Sushan Manandhar