Posted By Kymelya Sari on Thu, Dec 20, 2018 at 6:00 AM

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Courtesy of Aaron's Photography

Shrishty Chhetri wins the Voice of Glory

According to Pahalman Darji, his family members are music lovers and enjoy watching reality singing shows. So when his teen daughter, Shrishty Chhetri, asked if she could take part in a singing competition, he and his wife gave her their full support.

Last month Chhetri, 16, was crowned the inaugural winner of the Voice of Glory, a Christian singing competition for Bhutanese-Nepali residents in the New England area. “I was in shock,” said the Burlington High School junior. “I never thought I would win.”

Tags: Shrishty Chhetri , Voice of Glory , Bhutanese , Nepali , Grace United Church , vocal competitions , Image , Web Only

Posted By Kymelya Sari on Mon, Apr 23, 2018 at 1:10 PM

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Kymelya Sari

Sakela dance rehearsal at the Old North End Community Center

For the past three years since he resettled in Vermont in 2014, Harka Rai was unable to perform ceremonial rituals to celebrate Ubhauli Sakela. On that day, members of the Kirat Rai community ask Mother Nature for healthy crops and protection from natural calamities.

Last week, the octogenarian was at the Old North End Community Center in Burlington to watch a dozen people practice a dance that they'll perform on Saturday, April 28, to mark Ubhauli Sakela. "It's good. This is the way," Rai said of the dance rehearsal.

And Rai will lead the day's rituals, as the local chapter of the Bhutanese Kirat Rai Organization of America hosts the festival in Vermont for the first time.

Tags: Ubhauli Sakela , Bhutanese Kirat Rai Organization of America , Vermont Nepali Heritage Dance , Vermont Folklife Center , Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Program , Battery Park , Old North End Community Center , Harka Rai , Bidur Rai , Mon Rai , Birman Rai , Image , Web Only , Video

Posted By Kymelya Sari on Wed, Mar 28, 2018 at 1:29 PM

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Samantha Lord-Konare

From left to right: Taysir Al-Khatib, Abd’Llah Al-Ansari, Yusuf Ali

The Islamic Society of Vermont has hired Abd'Llah Al-Ansari, a U.S. army veteran, prison chaplain and scholar of Arabic and Islamic studies, to be its new imam. Al-Ansari's first day as ISVT imam is April 1.

Islam Hassan, the ISVT's former imam, relocated to Ohio last summer.

Detroit-born Al-Ansari was one of three shortlisted candidates, said Yusuf Ali, head of the imam-hiring committee. The 10-member group includes ISVT president Taysir Al-Khatib, two women and two University of Vermont students.

Tags: Islamic Society of Vermont , Abd’Llah Al-Ansari , Taysir Al-Khatib , Yusuf Ali , Image , Web Only