Narrator: Som Subedi

Date: 2/21/22

Location: Portland, Oregon

Content Warning: Briefly discusses his work with suicide prevention.

Summary: Som shared his experience coming to the United States as a refugee from Bhutan. He described his childhood in a refugee camp in Bhutan, his experience being resettled in Portland, and the work he does to support other refugees from around the world in his Portland community.

Topics: Religion, Cultural adjustment, Entrepreneurship/Leadership

Outline

Section 1: (00:00-22:27)

• Childhood - grew up in a refugee camp in Nepal after being forced out of Bhutan by the king; remembers not having enough food to eat, water to drink, or activities to do; would sleep on a mud bed that would be washed away if the rain was too hard; when he grew up, he became a soccer player, community organizer, and teacher; was very committed to giving back to his community

• Religion - family was persecuted because they were Hindu and the Bhutanese king was Buddhist; doesn't identify strongly with a religion now because of the trauma related to being forced out of Bhutan

• Sports - soccer was a huge part of his life in the refugee camp; he used to play with other Nepalese soccer players and it helped him gain a purpose; he shared that knowledge when he came to Portland and organized a soccer league for refugees from around the world

Section 2: (22:29-40:00)

• Immigration process - community was one of the first ones to be resettled in the United States; didn't have a choice of where to go, but he's grateful to have landed in Portland; was vetted six times by various intelligence agencies and wants us to know that refugees are vetted more seriously than US politicians and Supreme Court justices; came in 2008 and struggled to find work; lots of cultural shock when he first came to the US

• Employment/Service - was very involved in combatting the mental health crisis among resettled Bhutanese refugees; tried to organize culturally appropriate response measures; was committed more in serving his community than in investing in his future; took a job at a knife factory for a few months, then a medical part production company; eventually became a case manager with Lutheran community services and helped refugees being resettled in the US

• Family - lived with his family in Portland; would share their incomes so they built a community together and were each able to buy houses

Section 3: (40:00-51:00)

• Sports - organized World Cup soccer to involve different refugee communities in a shared activity; many communities would come watch and enjoy the matches

• Leadership - organized a protest against the refugee ban that the Trump administration instituted in 2018; protest was the first one to ever happen at the Portland airport; was very involved in advocating for refugee rights and supporting his community; later in the year, Senator Jeff Merkley sent him a video message for his 10 year anniversary in the United States that they played before a crowd; his work has been covered by many major national and international news outlets

• Cultural Adjustment - coming to the US was a very huge culture shock; case managers can help at first, but he needed to learn how to navigate America’s complicated bureaucratic system; needed to work on his English because people couldn't understand him through his accent

Section 4: (51:00-1:12:41)

• Leadership - as a case manager for incoming refugees, he makes sure to reach out to their community to best meet their needs; he learns how to get them culturally appropriate food and to match them with people who speak their language; tries to promote cultural awareness for the people working with refugees upon their arrival to the US

• Politics - wants to help resettle Afghan refugees; refugee resettlement agencies were really dysfunction under the Trump administration, and he's working to try to boost their capacity; also, a lot of the media made refugees look bad and he wants to disprove those myths

• Religion - explained that religion plays a major role in refugee resettlement, but it doesn't coerce people to convert or change who they are; religion is behind many of the conflicts that lead to people becoming refugees; even though he isn't interested in religion, he respects other people who are involved and appreciates the help from faith communities

Section 5: (1:12:41-1:32:13)

• Leadership - over the years, he's learned how to properly organize events and how to rally a community; has many wonderful mentors in his life who are always eager to support him; he's eager to support younger leaders as they too work to serve their communities

• Family - tries to teach his kids to be grateful for what they have; wants them to know how hard the world can be and how lucky they are to have the opportunities they have;