Down the Braided River: My Journey as a Deaf Refugee

By Julia Freeman-Woolpert and Bhawani Prasad Dangal

Bhawani was seven years old when Bhutan expelled his family in a little known ethnic cleansing campaign. He arrived in a Nepali refugee camp having lost not just his home, but shortly after, his hearing and his mother. He endured loss, stigma, and profound isolation. In the refugee camps of Nepal, the arrival of Nepali Sign Language classes changed everything: for the first time, Bhawani and other Deaf refugees could communicate, and a community took shape.

Two decades later, resettlement in Concord, New Hampshire brought a new form of invisibility. The local agency was unprepared to serve Deaf refugees. Isolated again, Bhawani responded by learning American Sign Language, teaching it to others, and becoming an ASL-to-Nepali Sign Language interpreter so that Deaf Bhutanese could finally speak with their doctors and caseworkers. He has since emerged as a leading voice in the Deaf Bhutanese-American community.

Bhawani tells this story simply, with warmth and wit.

More than 31 million people are currently refugees worldwide. Those with disabilities are among the most endangered and the least heard. Bhawani's book is a rare exception -- a Deaf refugee telling his own story, in his own words, on his own terms.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1963714245
• ISBN13: 9781963714241
• Release Date: December 2026
• Publisher: Peter E. Randall Publisher
• Length: 240 Pages