26 May 2010
Dear fellow members of Nepalese Community in Canada,
Namaskar!
It is a matter of pride for the people of Nepali origin in Canada that NRN-Canada is co-organizing the 4th NRN Regional Conference on May 28-30, 2010 in Houston, Texas, USA. Please visit the pre-conference press release here for details:
http://www.nrn-canada.org/images/stories/press_release_nrn_conference/nrn_conference_pressrelease_may2010.pdf
This is a gathering of global scope in terms of Nepali Diaspora and NRNs in Canada have worked hard for the last several months alongside with colleagues from NRN USA and the International Coordination Council. A number of NRN-Canada members have taken lead roles within the steering committee and special conference committees that made it possible for us to have arrrived at the final stage of preparation for this significant event. Here is the final program outline:
http://www.nrn-canada.org/images/stories/press_release_nrn_conference/nrn_conference_final_programs_052010.pdf
Finance and Fundraising: Durga Adhikari and Bharat Paudyal have been in the fore front representing Canada to this committee. NRN-Canada is thankful to Krishna Timsina, Real Estate Sales Representative based out of the Greater Toronto Area for providing financial support to the conference. Similarly, financial contributions from Subedi Law Office (Atul Subedi, Barrister and Solicitor) and Calgary Nepalese Community Association are highly appreciated. In addition, NRN-Canada NCC members and advisors made financial contributions at the range of $50 to $150 to meet finances towards holding this conference.
Souvenir Magazine: Dr. Naveen Vaidya of NRN-Canada Chaired the Souvenir Publication Committee. As well, Mukti Gautam, Govind Singh Rawat, Gopi Kaphle and Dr. Pramod Dhakal served on this committee. Due to the excellent work of the committee, the Souvenir is ready for distribution at the conference. A number of NRN-Canada members such as Dr. Betman Bhandari, Chandra Rai, Bhanu Paudyal, Shilu Ghimire, Naresh Koirala, Anup Neupane, Dr. Raju Tuladhar, Dr. Drona Rasali, Dr. Pramod Dhakal, Michel Casey have contributed to the Souvenir with articles, project updates and opinion pieces.
Open University and Distance Learning Session: A day long session on May 28th has been planned by a team led by Dr. Pramod Dhakal and Dr. Drona Rasali, with support from Dr. Tulsi Dharel and Dr. Hari Deuja. Several NRN-Canada members are going to play active role in this session at the conference. Please see bios of the participants http://cffn.ca/conf/2010/bio.php and the program schedule for the day: http://cffn.ca/conf/2010/ProgramSchedule.php
NRN-Canada expresses sincere gratitude to Dr. Frits Pannekoek, President of Athabasca University for accepting our offer of being chief guest and keynote speaker of the conference.
Similarly, Model village development initiative is another unique concept that NRN-Canada is bringing to the global forum.
Other Sessions: A number of NRN-Canada members helped plan various other sessions and will be actively participating in them at the conference. Many of us will serve as panelists or moderators of a number of sessions during this 3-day gathering. For example, Anup Neupane and Naresh Koirala will be panelists at the NRN-Charity sessions, while Mukti Gautam an Govind Singh Rawat will be taking lead roles at the literary festival. NRN-Canada Advisor Dr. Kunjar Sharma will be one of the panelists at the session for Dual Citizenship. Radha Basnet will a panelist in women’s Forum.
There are several other colleagues from NRN-Canada whose name have not been mentioned here but have contributed towards this conference in one way or another. Once again, thank you to those who have worked hard in planning this conference, to those who are travelling all the way to Houston, and also to all of you have been continuous source of encouragement and inspiration. It has been a matter of great honor for the Canadian NRNs to have worked very closely with fellow NRNs in the USA and internationally. What makes me proud is that NRNs in Canada have shown our significant presence at the global stage with interesting insights, perspectives and valuable contributions.
Sincerely,
Naba Raj Gurung
President
NRN-Canada
&
Member of the 4th NRN Regional Conference Steering Committee
