When the COVID-19 pandemic hit New Hampshire in March 2020, Rup Timsina quickly realized the transition to remote learning wouldn’t be a seamless one for many new American students and their families.
Timsina, the district’s bicultural liaison – also called the family literacy facilitator – knew a combination of quarantine isolation, language barriers and lack of access to tech support meant that many students weren’t successfully connecting with their teachers and accessing their online classes.
Timsina and Concord High social worker Anna-Marie DiPasquale mobilized, creating a makeshift office in the trunk of DiPasquale’s car with a laptop, wireless Internet hotspot, baggies of school supplies and snacks. They would drive around to the homes and apartment complexes where students lived and get the families to come outside, where they would help them access online classes, fill out paperwork and troubleshoot technology problems.
“I used to go and knock on the door, knock on the windows sometimes because on many apartment doors the bell doesn’t work,” Timsina said. “Call somebody – even if they were the wrong house – ‘can you go and knock on somebody’s door?’ Get the family or students outside and show them how to connect to the schools.”
When they realized many students were having trouble waking up in time to attend their online classes, Timsina and DiPasquale got a bell and rang it loudly outside students’ homes each morning to roust them from their beds.
“In the name of helping, we disturbed so many,” Timsina recalled, laughing.
DiPasquale, who nominated Timsina as a Hometown Hero, said his dedication to Concord families was clear during those difficult days early in the pandemic.
“Everyone went remote, except for Rup,” DiPasquale said. “When everyone was running away from the pandemic, Rup was running toward it.”
In his role as bicultural liaison, Timsina is responsible for educating new American parents and students about the New Hampshire school system, to make them feel welcome in the schools and to give them support with things like registration, filling out forms and communicating with teachers.
“Most of our parents, they’ve never seen the school and they never got a chance to go to the school. They do not know the importance, sometimes,” Timsina said. “It is not easy for them to communicate directly to the school. It is not easy for them to fill out the forms or do the registration. So there is a need for somebody to educate with all those things.”
Much of Timsina’s motivation to help students access their education comes from his own experiences. Timsina grew up in a remote village in Bhutan, where he had to walk up to three hours through the forest to school each morning, and three hours home at the end of the day. He was the only child from his village who attended school because for most families, farm work was a higher priority than education.
“I tell my stories to the kids here: what is education and why do we need education?” Timsina said. “I went through difficulties to acquire my education, and because of that I am in this position right now, I’m able to help others.”
As an adult, Timsina became a teacher in Bhutan, and continued working even after he and his family had to flee the country due to ethnic cleansing and were relocated to a refugee camp in Nepal. During the almost two decades Timsina lived in the camp, he helped establish a school for the approximately 40,000 children who lived there. He recruited and trained teachers, designed elementary level math curriculum and acted as a liaison between the school and organizations like the UN Refugee Agency.
Timsina was resettled to Concord in 2008 where he still lives with his family. He started working for the Concord School District in 2012 via Lutheran Social Services (now Ascentria Care Alliance), and has been an official district employee since 2016.
Here in Concord, there is high demand for Timsina’s attention. His work hours aren’t always regular, because families call him for help at all times of the day and night. Many families call Timsina to report a student absence instead of the main office. His assistance isn’t limited to educational things either – Timsina has responded to families’ homes in the middle of the night during instances of illness and even to de-escalate domestic violence disputes.
“He manages to find the joy in everything. He exudes goodness and he exudes peace,” DiPasquale said. “He truly leads by example. You watch him live his life and you just think ‘this is a good way to experience life.’ ”
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“He’s just fun,” Eissa said. “Last week, we played a game and we talked about how we should all be together with different cultures. He wants everyone to be included.”
One big project Timsina took on this year was organizing a COVID-19 vaccination clinic for new American families, held at Broken Ground School last spring. Timsina worked around the clock through February break, phoning hundreds of Concord’s refugee families via the interpretation service Language Line, to tell them about the vaccination clinic and encourage them to attend. The clinic ended up being full, with 350 attendees.
As for Timsina, he will tell anybody who listens how much he loves his job.
“It’s the best. I devote my life in education,” Timsina said. “And I believe education is the only tool that gives freedom and opportunity to the people.”