Bhutan to Blacktown: Om Dhungel talks about his refugee journey, eventually finding and making community in Australia

Friday, 7 July 2023 - 10:00am to 10:30am

Om Dhungel tells his story as recounted in his book; Bhutan to Blacktown: Losing everything and finding Australia, written with James Button.

Brought up in a remote village in southern Bhutan, Om is a gifted student and becomes a senior civil servant overseeing Bhutan's first modern telecommunications system. But things change with government crackdowns on southern Bhutanese people of Nepalese ancestry. Eventually he and others are forced to flee, becoming refugees in Nepal.

Om tells the story of how he and his family and others  made their way to Australia and recreated a hopeful and flourishing community in Blacktown. Love and care for each other, and focusing on people's strengths and talents were key to their success.

Friday 10:00am to 10:30am
Think Again offers weekly conversations and reflections about current events, trends and public pronouncements on contemporary and emerging issues. The show moves beyond what we read and hear via the public and ‘social’ media, to invite alternative possibilities to guide our thinking, living and organising.

Presenter

Jennifer Borrell & Jacques Boulet

Topic