Computer Association of Nepal - USA

Greater San Francisco Bay Area Nepali Community1/15/2010

1. Call to order

Bineet Sharma called to order the ad hoc teleconference meeting of the Greater San Francisco Bay Area Nepali Community at 7:00 PM PST on 1/14/2010.

2. Roll call

A roll call was called by the facilitator. The following persons were present:

 

Amod Pokhrel                 CAN-USA

Anil Pandey                     Motherland Nepal

Ashish Hada                    Sahayata (Attended from East Coast)

Bineet Sharma                 CAN-USA

Bishnu Thapa                   NRN/NAC GS (Attended from East Coast)

Govind Sahi                     Community at large

Harihar Dahal                   Sunny Sagarmatha Society

Ishwor Sapakota               Sunny Sagarmatha Society

Jain Thapa                         BACC

Nisha Thapa                      Sahayata

Pratik Pandey                    Community at large

Roger Adhikari                 Community at large

Suresh Ojha                      CAN-USA

3. Purpose of the meeting and discussion

Bineet stated the purpose of the meeting was to establish a coordination committee to methodically and deliberately approach the issue of bringing together growing Nepali community for this devastation suffered by Haiti.  CAN-USA general secretary stated that this would be a good exercise for the Nepali community as KTM could be facing similar fate as the 8.0 magnitude earthquake is long overdue.

 

It was agreed after passionate discussion that earthquake preparation for Nepal is critical but there should be a follow-up meeting to discuss this issue specifically.

 

Anil Pandey cited an Emergency Fund ($4,500) which has been in the works for such calamity in Nepal.  Roger Adhikari, Govind Sahi concurred that a bylaws are being written for proper disbursement of such fund.  There was a concession that such hard earned fund may not be needed to be tapped for Haiti’s purposes.

 

Suresh Ojha asked for a research committee to investigate and analyze what could be needed in a similar situation in Kathmandu which shares a lot of similarities with Haiti.  He also requested a quarterly meeting of all of the Bay Area organizations to share the information.

 

Roger Adhikari cited that there has already been couple of such meetings in the past.  It was agreed that information on all future meetings should be widely disseminated to all interested parties.

 

At the end of the meeting a general concession was agreed upon to establish an ad hoc co ordination committee which will be comprised by representatives from Bay Area Organizations and volunteers from the community at large.  The fund will be raised and coordinated through NAC/NRN organization which is a 501 (3) © tax exempt organization and disbursed through US Red Cross.  All the organizations and well wishers will help in sending emails and rally around for the fund raising.

4. New business

a)   Haiti Fund Raising Coordination Committee:  An ad hoc co-ordination committee was established with Bineet Sharma leading the effort.  Other members include Harihar Dahal, Govind Sahi, Roger Adhikari, Nisha Thapa, Bishnu Thapa, Ashish Hada, Ishwor Sapkota, Anil Pandey, and Jain Thapa representing their respective organizations.  Other organizations are encouraged to nominate their members as soon as possible.

 

Action Items for the coordination committee:

 

1.      Brochure: Bineet Sharma will work together with Bishnu Thapa and other members to draft a brochure.  After approval by the full committee members the brochure will be used to solicit the donation from the community members.

2.      DJ Night: Nisha Thapa is organizing a DJ night specifically to raise funds for the Haiti victims. She is contemplating travelling to Haiti later to provide her medical service as well.  Coordination committee will work together with her to advertise her event and help in fund raising.

3.      Donation Solicitations with community members:  Coordination committee will work together with local community organizations to spread the call for donation through emails, meetings and other means.

4.      Next meeting: Coordination committee will meet in a regular and ad hoc basis until this fund event is closed.

b)   Nepal Disaster Research Committee:  Suresh Ojha will head a research committee to investigate specific actions that the members of the Nepali Diaspora can take to prepare for the expected 8.0 earthquake in Kathmandu and make recommendations for an efficient and coordinated response once the quake hits.  The goal is to present the recommendations by the ANA conference in July.  The members of the committee include Amod Pokhrel, Nisha Thapa, Ashish Hada.  The committee is expected to grow to include members from all facets of the community and multiple different disciplines.

 

c)   Quarterly Meeting of Bay Area Organizations: The meeting already in progress organized by Roger Adhikari will suffice this purpose.  The meeting notification will be circulated to include all interested organizations.

5. Adjournment

Bineet Sharma adjourned the meeting at around 8:45 PM PST.

Minutes submitted by:  Bineet Sharma

Minutes approved by: Roger Adhikari, Gobind Sahi, Harihar Dahal, Iswor Sapkota, Amod Pokhrel, Suresh Ojha, Bishnu Thapa, Anil Pandey