| "This
past year, we went from strength to strength. Our magazine’s
quality has improved, we have a stronger pool of writers,
the topics have diversified and so have our writers. We
have tried in each issue to address a particular need of
the community, and in doing so have left arenas for discussion
within and beyond the community" |
 |
| Tenzing L. G. Chadotsang, Editor-in Chief |
As we complete our first wheel — the first turning and
look behind at the past year I am glad to report that it has
indeed been an eventful one — a learning experience for
each one of us volunteers with this first ever Himalayan community
magazine. I had personally never worked directly with the community
and did not know the issues we faced nor had I ever been a part
of a magazine — like the volunteers who work for the magazine,
so the completion of the first year holds feelings of achievement
and great satisfaction.
However, this does not mean the road stops here — it
continues, The journey has just begun. I had heard of expressions
such as “the one who rides the horse — falls”
or as one of my friends quotes an Australian adage — The
Tall Poppy Syndrome — “those who grow tall will
be cut down”: We, the volunteers dared to ride the horse
and we mustered our collective efforts to grow and are glad
that we did take this first step towards bringing the community
together, unabated by fears of falling or being cut.
This past year, we went from strength to strength. Our magazine’s
quality has improved, we have a stronger pool of writers, the
topics have diversified and so have our writers. We have tried
in each issue to address a particular need of the community,
and in doing so have left arenas for discussion within and beyond
the community. As we have done this, our volunteer base has
increased, support for the magazine has increased too and you
will be glad to learn that the costs for the fifth issue has
come out entirely from advertisements, making this not only
a free resource for the community but — for the first
time — it has not taken a toll on our very limited funds.
We are still too early in our goal of bringing the community
together and we are trying to make the magazine truly representative
of our Himalayan communities here in New York, and we continue
to identify areas of common interest and need for the community.
As the year goes on, our volunteers have committed to work with
various Himalayan communities who express a desire to do programs
within the community, which will be of benefit to us.
This annual issue is the first of our efforts in our community.
As we interacted with parents and students this past year, it
has come to our notice that a lot of parents and children have
no direction when it comes to sending children to college and
preparing for it. While this is a big challenge to all of us
volunteers here at Migyul, I can now proudly say, please email
us at migyul@yahoo.com
and express your concerns and what you want addressed and the
editors will look at each case individually and will try to
help out students or parents as the need arises. Believe me
when I say that these volunteers are all the cream of students
from our own communities and the advice given will be based
on personal experiences and to the fullest knowledge and abilities
of these volunteers.
This tax season, volunteers will be working with our Himalayan
communities that express a desire to help out low income community
members for free tax filing and help with Earned Income Tax
Credit. Some Migyul members in the next few days will be attending
pre-screening trainings so that they can help our community
members with making referrals to free tax filing agencies. Please
email migyul@yahoo.com
if you have any need of our services.
The past year, we at Migyul volunteered our time to the magazine.
This year with an increased number of qualified volunteers and
with the support of our communities, we hope to host some programs
and projects in the community.
Again we can only do this with your support and as we walk
from strength to strength, riding new horses and growing taller
in the poppy fields, I take this opportunity to wish all our
communities a very Happy and Prosperous Losar.
