By Tenzin Choephel
Phayul Correspondent
James F. Moriarty, the ambassador of the USA in Nepal today inaugurated a new 3 storey building block at the Tibetan Refugee Reception Center in Kathmandu (TRRC). This is an additional facility that would be primarily used to accommodate newly arriving Tibetan women and children who usually have to use the older facility that gets overcrowded during winter season when new arrivals from Tibet usually increases. At the occasion, important persons like the Country Representative of UNHCR Mr.Abraham Abraham, Country Representative of Lutheran World Federation Mr. Marceline P. Rozario, Tibetan officials were also present.
Mr. Kelsang Chung, the director of the Center thanked His Excellency the Ambassador for inaugurating the new facility and gave a brief talk to the people present, he said, “the TRRC was established with the sole purpose of taking care of newly arriving Tibetans fleeing Tibet due to deprivation of basic human rights, education, discrimination and religious freedom in the homeland and are forced to leave their homeland in search of a better life in India under the kind leadership of our temporal and spiritual leader His Holiness the Dalai Lama. The center provides food, accommodation, counseling, transiting and sometimes help new Tibetans to come from border to the center under the assistance and protection of the UNHCR”.
Mr. Abraham Abraham also addressed the gathering of dignitaries and new Tibetans and said that it is a very joyous day for him to be here today and to see the completion of this additional facility intended to improve the living condition for women and children, “I would add that we all have individual responsibility to contribute. I would like to see more community support and input into making your stay here comfortable and together we can make things less difficult. I hope you enjoy your stay here and I wish all the best for all of you here”. The additional facility was built with an estimated contribution of over 6.7 million rupees from various contributors.
