lo-Nyamship association USA

The Lo-Nyamship Cultural Program was started in June 2014 in a rented space in Elmhurst, Queens. This program began with about 15 children, two teachers and four parents’ groups. It was born out of the need for cultural and language learning opportunities for children from Lo – a space for children and their parents to come together and create a basic foundation for learning, preserving and conserving our culture, values, and faith in the context of American and New York life, given all of the pressures and possibilities this entails, especially for young people, whether they moved from Nepal to New York as children or were born here in the United States. Before starting the program, community members discussed the importance of such a program and several individuals from the Lo-Nyamship community began to make this vision a reality, even though they had limited resources, logistical support, or experience in planning such activities. However, what they lacked in experience they made up for in passion and commitment. Initially, this children’s language and culture program was run by volunteer parent committee members, volunteers, and important members of the community. Over time, this initiative has grown and flourished. The program has now been running for almost eight years, serving nearly 60 children, and supported by 6 teachers, 2 volunteers and 4 parents committee members. In future years, we envision this program continuing and expanding to include other programs such as after school programming and summer camp programs. We also know that this program will need to continue adapting over time to new community needs while also remaining steadfast in its commitment to imparting Lo language and cultural traditions to next generations.

In the Lo language, like Tibetan, “mani” simply means “prayers.” Getting together to share in Buddhist practice is a core cultural activity for people from Lo, especially elders. Mani gatherings are an opportunity to earn merit, to pray for the deceased (either here in New York or back in Nepal), and to mark auspicious days with prayers. In the Lo-Nyamship community, organized mani gatherings began in 2007. Gradually the number of people participating in these weekly and monthly events has been growing and we now routinely have gatherings of more than 200 members. When these events first began, we only gathered on Sundays once a month, whether or not this was an officially “auspicious” day according to the Tibetan Buddhist calendar and astrology, because this was a day when most people did not work. While the timing remains the same, we have continued to increase the number of mani gatherings that we hold. Our new community center has become an important physical location for these events, allowing more people to participate than when we held these mani gatherings inside Lo community members’ apartments or houses. We look forward to the day when our community center is renovated and we have a more spacious place for such religious practice, where we can also host visiting religious teachers and feel a sense of care and pride in bringing people together in a renovated and decorated shrine room. We also look forward to expanding the community services that we can offer to our elders and to meeting the needs of this growing segment of our community.

The Lo-Nyamship Youth Group operates under Lo-Nyamship Association and is a group dedicated to the unification of Lo youngsters. It was started in August 2015 with 23 members and has continued to grow. Initially this group was formed to help people of Lo financially by participating in rotating credit systems, and also coming together through our shared love of sports – especially soccer! The youth benefit from these events by getting to know each other better and relax, not only by playing soccer but also organizing other recreation, entertainment, and gathering over traditional meals related to our culture. The Youth Group also plays an important role in connecting the Lo community in New York to the Lo community back in Nepal – a crucial way of keeping culture alive and recognizing the ways that migration does not end ties to a homeland but rather transforms how people find a sense of meaning, belonging, and identity in the world. For example, the Youth Group was able to raise $5,000 toward the restoration of religious sites that were damaged in Nepal after the 2015 earthquakes; to support emergency medical needs for friends and family members back in Nepal or in New York; to raise money and supplies to address the deadly second wave of Covid-19 in Nepal in the summer of 2021; and to donate to the construction of the Lo-Tso Dhun Samaj in Pokhara, Nepal – a community center for people from Lo in an urban area of Nepal where many have also migrated or live seasonally in the winter. Having a physical space within our community center that can be dedicated to Youth Group activities will be central to ensuring that such activities grow and flourish, now and in the future.

The Lo-Nyamship Women’s Group was founded in response to a critical need – the tragically difficult pregnancy of one Lo woman and her need to get urgent medical care back in Nepal. This initial event galvanized more than 300 women of our Lo community to come together to support the needs specifically of women, both in Nepal and New York. The group provides supportive counseling to women in both locations, supports young students, and also supports various monasteries and religious centers. This Women’s Group is also dedicated to providing women of all ages with education and opportunities to become engaged in cultural and religious practice, including through religious instruction and literacy efforts.