Iruna : An inspiring youth

Iruna Rana , a confident soul with a beautiful mind and intellectual thought, was born in Pokhara to the Magars parents. She completed her Bachelor's degree in Management from Apex College, Kathmandu, 
Nepal in 2011. Her parents were living and working in  Hong Kong since 2003.  Consequently, after her graduation, she moved to join them. In the beginning, like many other new comers, she was engaged in odd jobs, working in cafes and restaurants, but she yearned to pursue her further studies.

As a saying goes "Nothing stops to a willing heart." Currently, she is a part-time student in Hong Kong University, doing her Masters degree in Education. And at the same time working as a Research Assistant in the Education department.  For over an year now, she has been fulfilling the duties of a Research Assistant in HKU.  

As a Research Assistant, she has to deal mainly with two types of projects. Primarily the projects include providing supports to Designated Primary and Secondary schools.  This program is called School Support Programs(SSP). Research assistants are often required to visit the schools and intensive supports are given to these schools to enhance the learning and teaching of the non-Chinese speaking students, particularly in learning of the Chinese language.

So far, she has visited to Sir Ellis Kadoorie Secondary School (West Kowloon), Delia Memorial School(Broadway), Pat Heung Central Primary School  and Bethel High School.  Not all experiences are sweet for her, she recalls her bad experience while visiting to one of the schools where the majority students were Nepalese and  only one or two were of other nationals. Everyone spoke Nepali, she was flabbergasted and at the same time bothered by the students attitudes and their inability to pay attention to their teachers. A negative impression towards them enveloped her. She worries and says "If they continue with their current behaviors, they will not be able to get admission in higher levels."

And not all experiences are bad either, she gets excited when she talks about Salina, a Nepali student, who is proficient in Chinese language and by far no means less to the locals. I am relieved to learn at least one positive vibe about our Hong Kong students.

Speaking further, Iurona continues, " Sometimes we introduce project which includes Teaching Cantonese to the parents. It is sad to see parents' reluctance to such  classes. We have programs and projects for ethnic minorities, for our very own people to participate and take benefits, but there are no parents participation at all. Without parents participation on these vital topics, with no knowledge and awareness, how can they instill in their children's' minds the importance of acquiring languages or knowledge?" There is a tone of disappointment when she expresses her views.

Apart from her studies and full time work, she also contributes to Ethnic Weekly. Moreover, she worked for Ethnic Voice Radio Program, Community Involvement Broadcasting Service (CIBS) which programmed 13 episodes each with a different theme such as employment, housing, culture, food, school dropouts amongst students belonging to Ethnic communities, etc.

She is disappointed with the Nepali social organizations which do not act on behalf of all Nepalese, rather Nepalese community is divided into vast number of organizations formed on a basis of kinship, locality and casts. "If we think and form organizations according to these criteria, how can we all  be united when we have so many differences in dialects, castes, districts, etc? If we cannot integrate with our country men, how can we integrate with others?", she poses a very thoughtful question.

She believes that  partying in India Club and barbequing in Monkey Hill and Tai Mo Shan  are just the excuses for getting boozed and wasting valuable time.  "Instead why not integrate parents  by holding meetings on education, story telling, essays and poetry recitation, tours and musical events for children? Celebrate Dashain not only with a motive to eat, wear new clothes and get money from the elders. Make the festival memorable by educating young generation about it's underlying principles by drama, playing quizzes, etc. and letting youngsters learn more about it."

She believes that the government is working to help ethnic minorities to integrate in the society. There are several facilities and services access to ethnic minorities, we need to grab the opportunities and enhance our learning skills and make our livelihoods better.

"Any suggestions to youngsters?" I asked. She reminiscences about her schooling days in Nepal when everything was written on a blackboard. Still schools and colleges are deprived of facilities. In contrary, 
Hong Kong is international country, the melting pot of Asia. Those who grow up here and gets through schooling and universities are fortunate souls. They should create a good environment for their future generation. Let's say in a decade or two later we will be proud to see our people integrating and climbing the ladder of successes.

I was enchanted by a young scholar's  thoughts and experiences so much that time passed so quickly .  It was over an hour and her phone had rung twice already. The call was  from someone seeking her help with some paper work so we said good bye to each other. On my way back home, I was feeling happy and hopeful about her, not all our youth in Hong Kong are losing direction but some are setting example by leading.