CINCINNATI — Few people can tell you what the estimated 50 Afghan refugees relocating to Cincinnati will go through quite like Tara Dahal.
Dahal, 46, is a member of the board of directors at Catholic Charities Southwestern Ohio. That's the local agency the federal government works with to help resettle refugees in Greater Cincinnati.
Refugees are people who must flee their home country out of fear of violence or persecution because of their race, religion, nationality or political beliefs. A person must apply for that designation through the United Nations.
These latest refugees — most of whom are weeks, if not months away from coming stateside — are part of a contingent of 855 Afghans who will relocate to Ohio. Each of them fled Afghanistan last month as the United States withdrew its last troops from the country.
Before joining the board, Dahal was a caseworker in the organization’s refugee resettlement program. From 2016 to 2019, he helped locally resettle more than 400 refugees from various places around the world — Vietnam, Iran, Democratic Republic of Congo, Syria and Eritrea, to name a few.
In his past job, Dahal would have been their sort of liaison to help them settle into their new life in Cincinnati. He'd help find them a furnished home, teach them how to use public transportation, setting up medical appointments and help them enroll in public benefit programs. He'd even get their children enrolled in school.
But it's not all his professional background. Dahal has also gone through the same processes, struggles, heartaches and footsteps many refugees have.
Dahal and his family immigrated to this country after fleeing persecution and ethnic cleansing in Bhutan and spending two decades in a refugee camp in Nepal.
Bhutan is a small kingdom on the eastern edge of the Himalayas. It separates China from India.
Dahal lived with his parents and his seven siblings in a remote village called Dorokha Gewog. He described it as a two-day walk to the nearest town.
Over several decades, the Bhutanese government implemented a series of political and economic policies that essentially made it illegal to be a Lhotshampa, a Nepali-speaker, which Dahal and his family are.
In 1990, when he was 15, the Bhutanese king at the time issued the “One Nation, One People'' policy, which forced the practice of the dominant culture, Drukpa, through a compulsory dress code and the termination of Nepali language instruction in schools.
Dahal was separated from his family and was one of an estimated 10,000 people who fled the country at that time. He and a few friends initially ended up in India.
In total, about 100,000 people fled Bhutan between 1990 and 1993.
Things were difficult, culturally and socially, especially being away from his family. But he was able to complete high school in Nepal. He stayed at the home of one of his maternal uncles.
His immediate family wasn’t quite as lucky. He said they suffered a fair amount physically and socially, in part because he had escaped. Dahal said his father was forced to do menial labor on behalf of the government and his siblings were essentially unable to leave the family home.
After two years, his parents and other Lhotshampas were given just 15 days to gather what they could, leave the family's home and leave the country. The Bhutanese government planned to reclaim their property at that time — whether they had left or not.
Dahal joined his family at a United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) camp in Nepal in 1992. The grass was greener but not necessarily better.
The UNCHR camp in Nepal where the Dahals stayed had about 20,000 Bhutanese people. There were five similarly sized camps in the city, Dahal said.
Even though they had escaped Bhutan, life was still hard. Dahal cited limited access to quality food, health care and education in the camp. Dahal said schooling went up to 10th grade inside the camp, but higher education there was "impossible." He managed to leave the camp to attend university in Kathmandu, Nepal. That's where he met his eventual wife, Sulochana.
"We were under the plastic roofs, our house was literally made of bamboo sticks.” He said his family sometimes feared a "big wind would blow it away.”
"I cannot imagine what life would have been like if we weren’t able to relocate. It was better than our previous circumstances, But life in such a busy camp was totally not good,” he added. "If we had stayed, the situation would be deteriorating and our kids would not have any future. We did not have any job to work or any place to go. We were bound inside the refugee camps."
In 2009, Dahal's parents and siblings were part of a group of refugees who resettled in Denver, Colo., about 19 years after they entered the camp. They didn't know anyone in the country.
Dahal had to wait another three years before having a chance to resettle alongside his family. He moved to Denver as well with his wife and young son.
He still recalls meeting his caseworker, Megan, and a small support team at the airport. Megan worked for a separate agency in Denver, but Dahal said Catholic Charities and most other agencies take similar approaches. Refugees are given a cultural orientation before they resettle. Dahal took his class in Kathmandu. But nothing could compare Dahal for what he experienced when he arrived in Colorado.
“After living in a camp for 22 years, Denver was like a completely different world. I was ready for a completely new life,” he said. “As a newcomer, it was all totally new — a new environment, a new government, a new system, just everything was totally different.”
While some may most recall the mountains, for a man who grew up next to the Himalayas, the Rocky Mountains weren’t as a big deal. He most recalls the “big roads,” and how "expansive" everything was.
"For me, it was convenient because my parents and others had already settled in Denver. It was much easier for me than it was for them because I could follow in their footsteps,” he said.
Dahal found a job and had been stateside for several years before relocating with his family to Cincinnati. But finances were still a concern for a family looking to start over.
"Denver is a very expensive city comparatively, and we think Cincinnati provided us a chance at a better way of life. Still, life can be very hard and adjusting takes time," he said. Having a strong local community is part of the reason Dahal and his family, which now included a second son, made the decision to relocate to Cincinnati in 2014. His mother and siblings decided to join them as well. Dahal and his wife became naturalized U.S. citizens four years later.
“There are a lot of Nepalese people in Ohio, relatively speaking, particularly in Columbus and parts of Cincinnati,” he said. The Dahals moved to Colerain Township, but other areas include Liberty Township and Fairfield.
The Bhutanese Community of Cincinnati nonprofit was created in 2012 to represent the nearly 20,000 Bhutanese people who have resettled in Cincinnati and its peripheral cities since 2008.
Dahal said Catholic Charities is gearing up for the arrival of the Afghan refugees in the coming weeks and months.
The organizations receive federal dollars and other support from service agencies to help administer the resettlement program and to assist refugees. But they still need help — and a fair number of toothbrushes, pots and pans, clothing and other essentials as well.
They also need volunteers to help with things like setting up the new homes and providing transportation to and from appointments. Interpreters who speak Pashto or Dari are also in demand right now, Scheid said.
One of the biggest issues is housing. Dahal said Catholic Charities is always looking for clean, affordable apartments and homes to rent.
Anyone interested in renting out a property can reach out to Catholic Charities, Dahal said.
More information about the Catholic Charities Southwestern Ohio Resettlement Program and ways to help are available on the organization's website.