My name is Durga Khawas. I came to the United States on September 22 of 2009 from Bhutan. I was born there but I am ethnically a Nepali. Because of our Nepalese heritage, my family and many other Nepalese families in Bhutan were harshly discriminated against and we ended up in refugee camps in Nepal for a long time. It was wonderful to be allowed into the United States 5 years ago. There are over 250 Nepalese families living in Worcester now who originally lived in Bhutan.
Through Literacy Volunteers I have had fantastic opportunities to learn how to speak, understand, read, and write English. I never learned to read or write any language in Bhutan so learning this new language, English, is very difficult. I attend every Literacy Volunteers class I can and I have a tutor. We work together almost every week on my pronunciation, and understanding of English. My English is slowly getting better.
On December 23, 2014 I passed the US Citizenship test. This was my dream. I am so happy for what Literacy Volunteers has done for me. America is a great place. I spend a lot of time studying in the Worcester Public Library and now I hope to one day work there helping others to improve their lives. I will keep on working on my English until I fulfill that dream too.