Refugee Camp Assignment

Teddy Anderson
Geog 1300-001
Spring 2014

Throughout the past 50 years, and focused most particularly in the 1990s, tens of
thousands of ethnic Nepalis were forced out of the southern lowland region of Bhutan. Many of
them are beyond fifth generation Bhutanese, but because their language and customs are
different than the ethnic Bhutanese, most of whom settled from the north centuries before, they
were seen as outsiders and therefore as a liability to the government of Bhutan. They were
settled into a number of refugee camps in eastern Nepal, and there many remain.
This camp will focus on those refugees who have shown exceptional leadership and
cooperation skills within their camps. While most of the 100,000 plus refugees in the existing
camps will eventually become assimilated citizens of Nepal, 1000 of them will be chosen to
move to another camp near Kathmandu while they await refugee visas to the United States. This
is the Crossover Camp. They will be selected and screened for transfer to this camp by camp
workers, and also through an independent review board which will verify not only that they are
legitimate refugees forced to flee Bhutan, but have consistently shown an ability to cooperate
and innovate while living in their present camps. The purpose of this camp is to provide a middle
ground to prepare them for a life in the United States. Their acceptance of this opportunity will be
completely voluntary.
Once moved to the United States they will be set on a track to receive higher education
and work in high-skilled jobs, with incentives for their future participation in refugee operations,
from their home country or another. While the details of planning their lives in America are
far-reaching, this document will focus on the arrangement of the crossover camp itself.

The camp is arranged for the following population groupings, with 1000 people total:
Group 1:
Women and Men who are married: 180 (90/90)
Unmarried women with children: 30
Children under 18 of these men and women: 400
-of these women, 15 are presumed to be pregnant

Group 2:
Women and girls age 13-17 with no parent: 30
Women and girls age 18 and up with no parent and no children: 170
Children age 12 and below with no parent: 20

Group 3:
Unaccompanied boys age 13-17: 40
Men age 18 and above with no attachment to a woman: 150

While this population demographic is not to be strictly adhered to, the aim is to keep
these ratios generally intact to ensure a migrant population to the United States which roughly
represents the population as a whole, in order to give people of many different circumstances
the equal opportunity to succeed. The three groups will be assigned to different areas of camp,
where they will eat and sleep as a group, though different tasks during the day will bring larger
groups together. The staff of this camp will be 50% employees and 50% volunteers. The
volunteers will focus on helping to arrange care for group 2, and for the under-18 boys in group 3,
while the employees will focus on arrangements for the other groups. The focus of these groups
will be to build on the strengths of their members, further discussed below.

The Crossroads Camp:


Map Irom Human Rights Watch: hrw.org. Crossroads Camp is in the center oI the Sagarmatha state.
Existing reIugee camps are shown in the southeast corner oI the country. It is Irom these camps that
participation Ior Crossroads will be selected.

This camp will be located near Ubu, Nepal, two hours east of Kathmandu by car. t is
situated roughly half-way between the existing refugee camps of eastern Nepal and the main
urban center of Kathmandu. This makes transport and resource management much easier, and
a one hour walk from camp gets people to the north fork of the Sun Khosi river, as seen in the
center of the above map (yellow section). Here they can bathe, launder their clothes, and
practice the water-related customs of the Hindu and Buddhist faiths. The camp will be roughly
evenly split with these two faiths, which have historically enjoyed a peaceful coexistence. There
will be no temple for them to use for worship, but the construction of altars in and near camp will
allow them an alternative. The river's proximity to camp will also be a good opportunity for people
to leave the camp and enjoy the countryside. Because this area is sparsely populated, the local
population will not feel ill effects from the new visitors.
Cognizant of this possible impact, one purpose of the refugee camp will be to set up
infrastructure amenities which can be used by the small local population as well. This will include
more sophisticated irrigation, improvement of roads, and a supply of solar-panels to provide
evening electricity. The camp will be set up as a farm, with group #3, the men and boys,
comprising most of the work force. The food grown on the farm will provide for roughly half the
needs of its occupants, and will consist mostly of grains and root vegetables. The rest of the
food needs will be met by resupply from Kathmandu twice weekly, as described below. Nutrition
will be a high priority, especially as it mimics the diet which the population of the camp is
accustomed to. The camp's occupants will be asked to help local farmers with their needs as
well, another means of ensuring the success of this camp for the local population.
Water needs will be met by the tributary river near-by, with an advanced, high volume
filtration system on site. Durable fabric wall-tents will be erected with 4 sets of simple bunk beds
in each one. Each person will have sufficiently warm bedding, and some of the camp's refugees
will be selected to spin wool to make more blankets. The bedding will be washed weekly at the
river to prevent the spread of disease. The camp will be cordoned off with separate, secure
sleeping quarters for group #2, consisting of children 12 and under, and unattached women and
girls of all ages. n this way the women over the age of 18, presumed to number about 170, or
17% of the camp's occupants, will be primarily focused on caring for the others in their own
grouping, who number about 50. Under this model the orphaned children will get a very high
level of care for their particular needs, and the women will be able to trade duties to ensure a
good match between caregivers and receivers. They will also care for boys age 13-17 as
needed, but that group will be primarily associated with the working men. While the focus of the
camp is to educate younger refugees for a future life in America, concessions will be made for
those campers with elderly family members who are with them in the camp, and keeping them
together will be high priority.
The elderly, while numbering quite low, will need a higher level of medical care, and the
24 hour medical team will have a geriatric specialist on hand in Kathmandu should any special
concern arise. Pregnant women will deliver by local Nepali midwives, with general doctors on
hand to assist in emergency. t is likely that there will be higher medical needs for the young
children, many of them already suffering physical problems upon their arrival to their original
camp, and then carrying over to this one. The medical team will consist of volunteer providers
from abroad, plus 8 local staff on hand: 2 doctors and 6 nurses. They are expected to stay quite
busy, and any special training they require will be assisted by volunteer specialist doctors from
Kathmandu, or out-of-country medical staff. This will operate under a non-profit medical mission
model, which has proven very successful in other countries, and in many other locations in
Nepal. There will be one main medical tent with several beds, and four private tents off to the
side for those in need of continued care.
Because Nepal is a popular tourist destination, and the camp is located very close to the
international airport, a majority of the volunteers will be young travelers who commit in two-week
intervals. At any given time the camp will have about 50 employees and 50 volunteers. Many
volunteers will be on a program to earn college credits from their Universities at home. The
volunteers will focus initially on helping with construction and maintenance of the facilities, but a
big part of that work force will be utilized in the acquisition and distribution of supplies.
While much of the produce and some of the grains needed will be provided for by the
farming operations on site at the camp, a massive amount of infrastructure will be necessary to
keep everyone fed, healthy, warm and dry. As mentioned above, the close proximity to
Kathmandu will allow for efficient transfer of people and goods, once they are obtained. The
primary subsistence will be rice and lentils, as is the custom of the people. Once a week each
camper will have a can of meat, and daily bread and powdered milk will round out their diet.
Each truck load, appearing twice weekly, will contain 500 lb flour, 500 lb lentils, 500 lb rice, and
500 cans of sardines or other meat. A vitamin-enriched powdered milk will be delivered in
similar quantities to the other dry goods, but adjusted as is needed for its actual use. Curries
and sauces will be kept in supply, and camp members will be encouraged to help the local staff
make the food tasty, incorporating as much produce from the garden as is available. A contract
with the Nepali government will ensure the supply of these foods, and a warehouse in
Kathmandu will organize and stage their distribution. The staff and volunteers will eat in the
dining tent, or in the open air, with the campers.
While helping in the kitchen is a job any camper can select for him or herself on an
ongoing basis, all will be expected to rotate in and out of kitchen and supply distribution help.
Each day there will be 20 campers on the food distribution line, along with 20 or so staff and
foreign volunteers. A secure tent will store all supplies as they arrive from Kathmandu. Along
with food, supplies will include clothing and blankets, much of it donated from US and other
foreign charities, medical supplies, and educational supplies. All will be stored in a common tent
with a 24 hour distribution staff member at hand, providing other distribution services while
watching over the contents of the storage tent. Two staff members will sleep in here, one at
each end, and security of the tent's style itself will all lend to the safe-keeping of the supplies.
Their distribution will be arranged and catalogued by the distribution staff, and orders for any
supplies will be placed 2 days prior to the delivery truck date via satellite phone.
Education in camp will be focused primarily on preparation for American schools. Camp
members of all ages will spend 4 hours daily in studies. Many of them will be learning English,
while others will be finding areas of special interest on which to focus. Because they were all
chosen for their acumen, solid performance will be expected in their studies. Their studies will
also focus on how to maintain daily life once they are settled in the new country, and how to
provide leadership to refugee communities in the States. Much of this education will be provided
by the volunteers from abroad, who will work under professional local and foreign staff.
One of the most difficult aspects of this camp will be communication. While staff
members will have minimal access to satellite phones and internet, their use will be available
only in very limited amounts to the refugees themselves. Because of its remote location there is
no phone service, and any communication with family members outside the camp will have to be
done by letter. Of course, once in the States, it is a given that all the refugees will have internet
and cell phone access. One of the challenges of the camp is to train people in the use of these,
within the confines of the limited availability on site. Emphasis on communication with family
members by whatever available means will be a priority.
Recreation will be mostly innovated by the campers themselves, and any necessary
supplies will be provided. Because this camp is located in a low-density lower-elevation
mountain setting, there will be less of the psychological aspect of confinement. Psychological
issues are more likely to revolve around missing separated family members, or the fear of an
unknown future, and the memories of a violent past. The camp structure will encourage
leadership and support for each other within the refugee community, though staff members will
be specially trained in helping refugees to work through these issues, and in making all possible
efforts to remain in contact with family. Relations within camp will not be restricted by
authoritarian rules, but family planning education and availability of resources will be
emphasized. Of course, all children under 18 will be closely monitored to ensure their safety.
Most people will spend between 6 months to a year in this camp, depending on how
ready they are to transition, and whether preparations have yet been made in their host cities.
Once arriving in the States they will be under the guidance of a sister organization to help them
on their paths for the first several years, including with career choices and college attendance. t
is hoped that all the people moving through this program will find a career that suits them, and
continued incentives will be provided for using their skills to help the next generation of refugees.
n this way people become empowered to use their own ability and skills to forge a better way for
other, under-served people the world over.
This camp will provide a platform for a largely volunteer-based organization to thrive not
only in its country of origin, but also for the country (in this case the US) which will then host the
refugees. People will find easy ways to get involved with these communities, whether on a trip
abroad or right at home in their own city.



These four pictures were uploaded from
Google Earth, and were taken from within a
few miles of Ubu, Nepal. The first one shows
the level of access road for the last 5 miles of
the drive into Ubu.




This picture shows the terraced hillsides
which will be leased and utilized for farming to
provide for some of the camp's food needs.








This picture shows the river access within a
one hour walk of camp, which will allow people
to wash, and perform religious ceremonies.







This picture provides a view of the local
villagers' houses. We will work closely with
them to ensure our camp has a positive
impact on their community.