I.O.M

Its been tough to have the energy or desire to shoot this past few months. That's why when a couple friends ask me to join them for a photo trip to Kathmandu, Nepal, I jumped at the chance. We had a great trip and it was very refreshing, but one thing struck me as I board my flight back to Singapore. A big group of people all with a huge I.O.M sticker on their chest was being escorted to the plane. All seem to be disoriented, seem to be flying for the first time in their life. On my last night in Kathmandu I met a Nepali friend who worked for WFP, a UN organization fighting world hunger. He told me about the work their doing in supporting Nepali Bhutanese refugees that fled Bhutan in the 80s and 90s after their citizenship were revoked. These stateless people then have to live in camps awaiting relocation to other countries. I realized that these are the same people that he was talking about. IOM actually stands for International Organization for Migration, that works with UNHCR to resettle refugees. I asked a guy in his 20s in the group, who were so busy making farewell calls to his friends. They were being resettled to Sydney with IOM's help. For them the long wait is over. As the Silk Air jet climbed over the Kathmandu Valley with the Himalayas in the background I realized how lucky I am not to have to go through their pain. I wish them well in starting a new life in Sydney.